Easy Cold Brew Concentrate
Cold brew is the easiest coffee you'll ever make: coarse coffee, cold water, time. Steeping cold pulls out less of the sharp, acidic compounds that hot water extracts, so it tastes smooth and naturally sweet even when served black.
This recipe makes a concentrate, so one jar covers four drinks. Diluting it one to one gives a strong but balanced glass.
Recipe card
- Under 150 calories
Ingredients
- 100 g whole coffee beans, ground very coarse (like rough sea salt)
- 800 ml cold, filtered water
- To serve, per drink: 150 ml concentrate, 150 ml cold water or milk, ice
Method
- Put the coarse grounds in a large jar or jug and pour in the water. Stir gently so all the grounds are wet.
- Cover and leave at room temperature for 14–18 hours. Shorter is lighter; longer is stronger and more chocolatey.
- Strain through a fine sieve lined with a paper coffee filter or a clean cloth. Don't squeeze the grounds; that pushes bitterness through.
- Store the concentrate in a sealed bottle in the fridge for up to 10 days.
- To serve, mix one part concentrate with one part cold water or milk over ice.
Nutrition per drink
Approximate, calculated from USDA FoodData Central reference values for the exact ingredients listed. Per drink, served black with water. Add milk or syrup and the numbers change.. Brands vary; check your labels.
For comparison, a Starbucks Grande Cold Brew is listed at 5 calories and 0 g sugar in our dataset. Open it in the calculator.
Getting it right
The grind matters most. Fine grounds make muddy, bitter cold brew that's hard to strain. Ask for a coarse or "French press" grind if you buy ground coffee.
About caffeine. We don't state a caffeine number for this recipe. Cold brew caffeine depends heavily on the beans, the ratio and how long you steep, and a home batch can be much stronger than you expect. Start with a smaller glass.
Calories stay tiny until you add things. Black, it has under 5 calories. A splash of 2% milk (30 ml) adds about 15; each teaspoon of sugar adds about 16.
