Three Cold Brew Recipes

With the success of our Iced Coffee recipes, we've decided to roll out three Cold Brew recipes for the best Cold Brew at-home!

One of the questions we get often is: "What's the difference between Iced Coffee and Cold Brew?" The simple and short answer is that Iced Coffee is brewed hot (either at a concentrate, or a ready to drink ratio) then chilled after the brewing and served over ice. Cold Brew on the other hand is brewed with room temperature or cold water (either at a concentrate or a ready to drink ratio) for a much longer period of time.

With the long brew time of Cold Brew coffee and room temperature or cold water, it results in a much different flavor and with different characteristics than coffee that is brewed hot. For example, Cold Brew will typically taste much less acidic than coffee brewed with hot water, it will taste richer as opposed to coffee which was brewed hot, and it will taste much smoother than coffee that was brewed hot.

Cold Brew popularity has grown significantly in the U.S. over the past 10 years and has proven itself by being a smooth, rich, delicious way to enjoy cold coffee. We enjoy our cold brew with a splash of half and half and a touch of agave for decadent coffee drink that tastes like coffee ice cream.

Below are three of our favorite recipes for our KAHA Cold Brew Blend:

KAHA Cold Brew using a 1 Quart (32 oz) Mason Jar:

• 3 oz (85 g) of KAHA Cold Brew medium ground coffee (drip coffee consistency)
• 16 oz (473 ml) of cold or room temperature filtered or bottled water.
• Add your ground cold brew coffee grinds to the mason har. 
• Pour your 16 oz (473 ml) of water to the mason jar.
• Using a spoon stir the water and coffee grind together to saturate grinds.
• Steep/Brew the coffee for 8 hrs at room temperature or refrigerated.
  
• Use a separate container, and some sort of paper coffee filter. It could be:
  • Drip coffee filter basket with filter on top of a coffee pot
  • Clever Dripper with filter on top of large jar or mug
  • Chemex coffee maker with filter
  • Any type of coffee filter over any type of vessel or container
• Pour the mixture of coffee grinds and water from the mason jar into the paper filter and over your dispensing vessel, carafe, etc. You may need to do in a couple of batches.
• Let drain completely.
• Yields about 12 oz of cold brew concentrate (1:6 ratio)
• Dilute to 1 part coffee, 2 parts water or milk, or to taste.
  

This is our favorite recipe for making single batches or small batches. You can use a Mason Jar, Pyrex dish, pitcher or any vessel where you can add coffee grinds and water to soak for a long period of time. This is our favorite method because we grind finer, brew for less time, use regular items we have in our kitchen, and we believe the finer grind and shorter brew time produces a brighter, more lively cup with the same richness and smoothness as a longer brewed cold brew.

KAHA Cold Brew using the Toddy Cold Brew System (Dual Filter Method):

• 12 oz (340 g) of KAHA Cold Brew coarse ground coffee (French Press consistency)
• 8 cups (1.9 L) of cold or room temperature filtered or bottled water
• Place your Toddy paper filter bag into the brewing container and leave open.
• Pour your coarse ground coffee into the the paper filter bag
  
• Pour 8 cups of water into the paper filter bag over the coffee grinds. Gently use a spoon or spatula to ensure all coffee grinds are saturated.
• Tightly twist the top of the bag to close it.
• Steep/Brew the coffee for 12-24 hrs at room temperature or refrigerated
• Remove the stopper and let your coffee concentrate drain into the glass decanter.
• Remove and discard the paper filter and coffee grounds.
• Dilute to 1 part coffee, 2 parts water or milk, or to taste.

For this recipe we are using the Toddy Cold Brew System. It was introduced back in 1964 and is one of the most trusted cold brewers on the market. You can do a single or dual filter method (felt filter + paper filter bag). We think the dual filter method results in a cleaner brighter cup. This recipe uses a 1 to 5.5 ratio concentrate that you will then dilute with water or milk. The cold brew concentrate will last refrigerated for up to 2 weeks. A good place to start with diluting your concentrate is 1 part coffee concentrate to 2 parts water or milk. You can then adjust to taste.  We hope you enjoy this recipe!

KAHA Cold Brew using the OXO Compact Cold Brew Maker:

• 4 oz (113 g) of KAHA Cold Brew coarse ground coffee (French Press consistency)
• 24 oz (680 ml) of cold or room temperature filtered or bottled water.
• Add your coarsely ground cold brew coffee grinds to the brewing container.
• Put on the OXO rain maker screen to the brewing container.
• Pour 24 oz (680 ml) of cold or room temperature filtered or bottled water into the rain maker screen to even disperse water over the coffee grinds.
• Steep/Brew the coffee for 12-24 hrs at room temperature or refrigerated.
• Place the brew container on top of the glass carafe to drain.
• Yields 12 oz of cold brew concentrate.
• Dilute to 1 part coffee, 2 parts water or milk, or to taste.

The OXO Compatct Cold Brew Coffee Maker is a great cold brew maker for smaller spaces, and for making smaller batches, but is still able to make 12 oz of cold brew concentrate! This cold brew method uses a steel mesh for filtering (you can also use an additional Aeropress paper filter if you have one for a cleaner cup). This recipe uses a 1:6 ratio (coffee to water) and yields 12 oz of cold brew concentrate which will keep refrigerated for up to 2 weeks. A good place to start with diluting your concentrate is 1 part coffee concentrate to 2 parts water or milk. You can then adjust to taste. Enjoy!