Last Updated on August 2, 2022 by laurenpacek

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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.

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

• 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.

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!

Recommended tools

• A pitcher for making the cold brew
• Wet and dry measuring cups

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.

• How to Make Iced Lattes from A Nerd Cooks
• Iced Brown Sugar Shaken Espresso from Masala and Chai
• How to Make Cold Foam from A Nerd Cooks
• Starbucks Iced Honey Oat Milk Latte Copycat from Coffee at Three
• How to Make Sweet Cream Cold Foam from A Nerd Cooks
• Salted Caramel Macchiato from The Littlest Crumb
• Chocolate Cream Cold Foam from A Nerd Cooks

FAQs/tips and tricks

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