Cold Brew - Why not just iced coffee?

Let's just go ahead and face it. If you're making cold brew at home from scratch, you're addicted to coffee, and well, probably to caffeine as a whole. But that's okay. Let me be of assistance. We used Cafe Holland.

Why cold brew, right? Why cold brew versus iced coffee?  

Cold brew extracts the coffee very slowly over a long period of time, which limits the amount of acidity and bitterness that is already involved in coffee making. The heat in coffee tends to extract a little bit of bitterness and much more acidity, whereas with cold brew, you get lower acidity, lower bitterness, and generally smoother flavors. And, not to mention a much higher caffeine content. So you're welcome! 

Good cold brew comes with good beans obviously. That's kind of a given. Ideally, use your favorite and locally sourced, freshly roasted coffee (ahem, like Mokk-a Coffee). Some wannabe baristas say that older coffee is better. But you know, that is up to you. We're going to explain two different methods here. They both use the same grind consistency in the same ratio of coffee to water. 

Let's go!

Start by grinding one and a half cups or 80 grams of coffee beans. When you're grinding the coffee, keep in mind that you want the grind consistency to be relatively coarse, something like coarse cornmeal. Then simply add that coffee to a half gallon container. 

Method number one: The Immersion cold brew method

To these just ground beans, add six cups or 1400 grams of cold or room temperature water. In other words you just don't want it to be hot. Ideally use filtered water. Give your concoction a good stir to make sure that you've hydrated all the grounds. Put a lid on it. Place it in the fridge for 12 to 24 hours.

24 hours will make a much stronger brew and 12 hours we'll make a pretty light brew. The darker the cold brew the more caffeine. Stop brew after 18 hours for medium dark.

Method number two: The Hot Fluid Jumpstart Method

This is essentially the same thing as immersion but this time you're only going to add a third of the water at first. The water has been heated until it's steaming hot, not quite boiling, but pretty hot. (And, if you want to be specific, probably somewhere around 205 degrees Fahrenheit.) Give that a little stir to hydrate the ground beans. Let it sit for one minute more or no less. Then immediately add the remaining four cups of water. Make sure that the water is cold. You want to cool this mixture back down again. Give it a little stir, put a lid on it, and place it in the fridge for 12 to 24 hours.

Once that 12 to 24 hours is up, remove it from the fridge. Now we get to strain it. Since we’re giving you two different methods to brew the cold brew, it only seems right to give you two different methods to strain it. The first one would be through a fine mesh strainer with cheesecloth laid over it. The downside or drawback to this method is that if you  didn’t get a super consistent grind, then it be be a little bit gritty in your cup. You're gonna get a little bit of grittiness through the cheesecloth. This may not be a good choice for everybody. 

Now the other method uses a portable coffee maker situation, like when camping. Using a paper filter, a holder for the filter and grounds, and something to hold the coffee, of course. Pour your brew through the paper filter and it actually filters out all the grounds, leaving you with a super smooth coffee with literally zero grittiness - no matter how inconsistent your grinder is. It takes a bit longer than the cheesecloth but hey, it works and you don't need to debate reusing the cheesecloth. 

You can also get this thing called a coffee sock. It basically brews it and strains it for you. It works like a tea bag. So, that's sort of 3 methods for making cold brew and straining. LOL.

That is it: cold brew coffee. I don't really know what else to say. It's coffee. It's cooled and ready to drink - black, iced, with milk or mixed. 

Be aware: It's got a lot of caffeine in it - much more than regular coffee. Okay, you get the gist. If you don't already follow Mokk-a on Instagram be sure to check the link below and follow us. DM us your creations or leave a comment below. We love seeing what you're making. And as always, ‘your coffee, your way’.