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A Nerd Cooks » Non-Alcoholic » Coffee

Homemade Cold Brew Coffee

Aug 21, 2018 · Modified: Jul 16, 2023 by Lauren Pacek · This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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It could seriously not be easier to make cold brew coffee at home. All it takes is two ingredients and a little time.

Homemade cold brew coffee is amazing. For the vast majority of you out there, this will not be new information. But I only recently discovered this. I've never been a coffee drinker. Like not at all. I realize that this is pretty unusual. In the past, I've even made efforts to like it. I was obviously doing something wrong.

Enter: cold brew. Don't get me wrong, I still love my Iced Chai Lattes. They're delicious. But they can't come close to the cracky goodness that cold brew provides.

Looking for more coffee recipes? Try an Iced Vanilla Latte and my Chocolate Cream Cold Brew!

cream being poured into a glass of cold brew coffee
Jump to:
  • 🌟 Why You'll Love this Recipe
  • 💭 What is Cold Brew Coffee?
  • 📝 Ingredients
  • 👩🏻‍🍳 How do you make cold brew coffee?
  • 🔗 Other coffee recipes
  • ❓ FAQs/tips and tricks
  • 🖤 Share your creations and follow me on social media!
  • ✨ Recipe
  • 📌 Pin this recipe for later!

🌟 Why You'll Love this Recipe

It makes a big batch. This recipe makes a pitcher of cold brew coffee to help you get your day and week off to a good start.
It's so easy to make! There's very little effort involved in making this cold brew. If you can stir some ground coffee into water, then strain it out later on, you can totally make this.
You can customize it however you'd like. Once you have your cold brew, you can flavor and sweeten your drink in any way that you like.

💭 What is Cold Brew Coffee?

When making regular, hot, drip coffee, it's brewed by passing hot water through ground coffee beans. This results in your regular old cup of joe that we're all familiar with.

Cold Brew Coffee, on the other hand, is made by infusing ground coffee into cold or room temperature water. No heat is ever involved!

Because no heat gets applied when making cold brew, you have to instead rely on time. It takes quite a bit of time for cold brew to be ready to drink: anywhere from 12-24 hours, depending on how strong you like your brew.

📝 Ingredients

You only need TWO ingredients to make this cold brew coffee.

ingredients to make cold brew coffee
  • Water: Just plain old water will do. I prefer to use filtered water (just the stuff that comes out of the dispenser in the door of my fridge) when making coffee. I use it in my espresso maker, when I a pour over, and when I make cold brew. I find that it results in a better tasting product.
  • Ground coffee: You can either grind your own beans or use a pre-ground coffee. I've done both with good results. If you grind your own, you want to go with a course grind. I've also relied on pre-ground coffee; use your preference. I've used Dunkin' Donuts and it works out well!

    You can use just regular coffee, or seek out beans that are roasted specifically for cold brew. I love this brand, which is based in North Carolina. This isn't an affiliate link. I just really like them.
a glass of cold brew coffee

👩🏻‍🍳 How do you make cold brew coffee?

It's very simple to make! All you need to do is add your ground coffee to water and mix it all up to ensure that the coffee is fully submerged in the water. Stash it in the fridge or leave it on your counter top. Once it has "brewed," you just need to strain out the grounds and dispose of them. That's it!

You can make your cold brew in a pitcher, a Mason jar, or in a container that's made especially for making cold brew. I have this pitcher, and am kind of in love with it.

Doctor it up however you like!

Once you have your cold brew, you can jazz it up however you'd like.

My MO is to pour some cold brew over (lots of) ice, add a splash of half and half and a bit of salted caramel syrup. Do this and I'll be in caffeinated heaven.

If you like to drink it black, have at it. You can add whatever milk (dairy or otherwise) you'd like, and sweeten it (or not) to your heart's content. It might also be fun to freeze some cold brew into ice cubes and use that instead of regular old watery ones, that way your cold brew never gets diluted!

cream being poured into a glass of cold brew coffee

🔗 Other coffee recipes

Needing other coffee recipes? Because you know I gotchu. Check out the recipes below from my blog, as well as from other fantastic bloggers.

  • iced cinnamon dolce latte topped with whipped cream on a wooden tray
    Iced Cinnamon Dolce Latte
  • a caramel macchiato in a glass mug, with caramel drizzle on top
    Caramel Macchiato
  • a mug full of blonde vanilla latte on a wooden tray
    Blonde Vanilla Latte
  • an iced vanilla latte in a glass
    Iced Vanilla Latte
  • a glass of iced peppermint mocha
    Iced Peppermint Mocha
  • an iced pumpkin spice latte with a metal straw
    Iced Pumpkin Spice Latte
  • two mugs of dirty chai latte.
    Dirty Chai Latte
  • 45 degree angle view of 2 mugs of eggnog lattes
    Eggnog Latte
  • Iced Brown Sugar Shaken Espresso from Masala and Chai
  • Starbucks Iced Honey Oat Milk Latte Copycat from Coffee at Three
  • Salted Caramel Macchiato from The Littlest Crumb
a glass of cold brew coffee

❓ FAQs/tips and tricks

How long will this coffee keep?

This cold brew will keep in the fridge for about 2 weeks. But let's be honest, you'll be making a new batch sooner than that.

What kind of coffee should I use?

You can grind your own beans or you can use a pre-ground coffee. You can also use any flavor or roast that you like!

How should I prepare this coffee once it's been brewed?

However you like! I like to add some half and half and a little flavored syrup. But you do you.

🖤 Share your creations and follow me on social media!

✨ Recipe

cream being poured into a glass of cold brew coffee

Homemade Cold Brew Coffee

Lauren Pacek
It could seriously not be easier to make cold brew coffee at home. All it takes is two ingredients and a little time.
5 from 11 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 5 minutes mins
Cook Time 0 minutes mins
Cold brewing time 12 hours hrs
Total Time 12 hours hrs 5 minutes mins
Course Coffee
Cuisine American
Servings 8 cups
Calories 0.3 kcal

Equipment

  • Cold brew pitcher
  • Wet measuring cups
  • Dry measuring cups

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup coffee coarsely ground
  • 8 cups filtered water

Instructions
 

To make the cold brew

  • Combine the ground coffee and filtered water in a large container with a lid. I use a plastic pitcher.
  • Let the coffee sit for 12 hours (or longer, if you'd like stronger cold brew) at room temperature.
  • Strain the cold brew (see notes) into whatever container you plan to store it in. Refrigerate it until you're ready to use it.

When you're ready to drink your cold brew

  • Pour the desired amount of cold brew over ice.
  • Add your desired amount of milk/creamer/half and half/etc. and/or sweetener.

Notes

  • You can use whatever ground coffee that you prefer. To be honest, I most often use some ground Dunkin Donuts coffee from the grocery store.
  • I like to strain the cold brew through a fine mesh sieve lined with a coffee filter.
  • My current favorite way to drink my cold brew is with a splash of half and half and little bit of flavored simple syrup.

Disclaimer: Nutritional information is a generated estimate and is not guaranteed to be accurate.

📌 Pin this recipe for later!

pinterest pin for cold brew coffee

More Delicious Coffee Drink Recipes

  • a hand holding a glass of irish cream cold brew.
    Irish Cream Cold Brew
  • collage image of cold coffee drinks
    Refreshing Cold Coffee Recipes
  • a glass of cold brew with pumpkin cream cold foam on top.
    Pumpkin Cold Foam
  • a glass of cold brew topped with salted caramel cream cold foam.
    Salted Caramel Cream Cold Brew

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    Recipe Rating




  1. JANNIE

    October 22, 2018 at 11:24 am

    5 stars
    Wow! Brilliant idea. Never thought I can make it at home so easily but your idea has given me that idea. Lovely idea. Thanks a lot for sharing your wonderful thoughts.

    Reply
  2. JANNIE

    October 22, 2018 at 11:24 am

    5 stars
    Wow! Brilliant idea. Never thought I can make it at home so easily but your idea has given me that idea. Lovely idea. Thanks a lot for sharing your wonderful thoughts.

    Reply
    • laurenpacek

      October 23, 2018 at 6:36 pm

      Hi Janine. It really is very easy!

      Reply
  3. Krystical|TheFantasyCooking

    September 13, 2018 at 7:28 am

    5 stars
    Oh, wow! I quit coffee some time ago but when I see recipes like this I always get tempted and make one myself 😀 Thank you very much!

    Reply
  4. Krystical|TheFantasyCooking

    September 13, 2018 at 7:28 am

    5 stars
    Oh, wow! I quit coffee some time ago but when I see recipes like this I always get tempted and make one myself 😀 Thank you very much!

    Reply
    • laurenpacek

      September 13, 2018 at 5:12 pm

      Thanks, Krystal! Glad that I could provide that temptation 😉

      Reply
  5. Kitty

    August 27, 2018 at 10:54 pm

    5 stars
    Welcome to the coffee club! Cold brew is a completely different experience from drip coffee. I'm addicted, so I drink it any way it's made, but I prefer the smoothness of cold brew. Now can you pass me a glass through the computer screen?

    Reply
  6. Kitty

    August 27, 2018 at 10:54 pm

    5 stars
    Welcome to the coffee club! Cold brew is a completely different experience from drip coffee. I'm addicted, so I drink it any way it's made, but I prefer the smoothness of cold brew. Now can you pass me a glass through the computer screen?

    Reply
  7. Anne|CraavingSomethingHealthy

    August 27, 2018 at 5:22 am

    I love my cold brew coffee SO much! I've been making it for about 3 years now and I could never go back to my old way of putting a hot batch of coffee in the fridge.

    Reply
  8. Dawn

    August 21, 2018 at 4:09 pm

    5 stars
    Been loving cold brew coffee lately especially hit with a little flavouring. I've been enjoying so much I think I'll continue to enjoy it through the fall months ahead 🙂 I want to grab one of those glasses right now!

    Reply
  9. Dawn

    August 21, 2018 at 4:09 pm

    5 stars
    Been loving cold brew coffee lately especially hit with a little flavouring. I've been enjoying so much I think I'll continue to enjoy it through the fall months ahead 🙂 I want to grab one of those glasses right now!

    Reply

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Hi, I'm Lauren! I'm the recipe developer, photographer, and writer here at A Nerd Cooks. I'm a 30-something wife, mom, and scientist with a passion for mixing cocktails, brewing buzzy coffee drinks, and making other delicious beverages at home.

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