How to Make Cold Brew Coffee at Home

For several years now, Cold Brew coffee has been very popular. Have you wondered what it is and how it differs from your typical iced coffee? You can make Cold Brew at home that is super smooth, rich, and flavorful. It’s pretty simple; just follow our how-to below.

Charleston Coffee Roasters Cold Brew coffee in a mason jar

WHAT BEANS SHOULD I USE?

You can use any of your favorite Charleston Coffee Roasters coffees to make Cold Brew, but you might especially enjoy our new Organic Cold Brew blend!

GRIND IT RIGHT

For Cold Brew, we recommend using grounds that are a fairly coarse grind, similar to how you would grind your beans for the French Press preparation method. Use a burr grinder to freshly grind the beans if you can, so that the grinds are higher quality and evenly cut (vs crushed) in size. The grinds should be about the size and texture of coarse sand. 

KNOW YOUR RATIO

With Cold Brew, you are really making a coffee concentrate, that is steeped (like tea) overnight. You can then use the concentrate as-is, but typically, you will want to dilute it with a little more water or ice when ready to drink it. The coffee-to-water ratio you use can be based on whether you want to brew a strong concentrate (to be diluted whenever you want a cold brew) or be able to drink the coffee right away without adding water or ice. Experiment with different ratios and see which one you prefer.

The coffee to water ratio will be a little stronger than normal. We suggest starting with 1 cup of coarsely ground coffee with 1 quart (i.e., 4 eight oz. cups) of cold water. Start with this 1:4 coffee to water ratio, and then if you like it stronger or weaker, you can adjust as you like. 

Additional Coffee : Water Ratios To Try

1:2 (Concentrate-dilute with water before serving)

1:4 (Concentrate-dilute with water before serving)

1:8 (straight-no dilution needed)

1:10 (straight-no dilution needed)

LESS STRAIN WHEN STRAINING

Steep the coffee and water in a jar (preferably glass) for at least 12 hours, and up to 24 hours. You can combine the ground coffee and the water in the jar, and then strain out the grounds with a fine-mesh filter or paper coffee filter once the time is up. Just be sure to double strain it if you don’t want the “fines” (aka, the grit from coffee grounds) in your cup.

Or you can make it easier on yourself, and put the ground coffee coffee into an unbleached cotton or muslin pouch with a drawstring at the top. This makes for super easy straining when your Cold Brew is ready, since you just lift the pouch out of the jar, let the steeped coffee drip back into the jar, and then you are ready to go. The added bonus about using a brew pouch is that it is reusable, and eco-friendly too. Madesco makes a great sized Reusable Cold Brew Coffee Filter Pouch that you can get on Amazon.  You can also try a Toddy unit or many others that are easily found online or in cafes.

Charleston Coffee Roasters pouring cold brew over ice

STEP BY STEP

Now that we have everything ready, here is the step-by-step method for making great Cold Brew coffee at home:

  1. Measure out 1 cup of coarsely ground Charleston Coffee Roasters coffee, such as our Organic Cold Brew blend, and put into a brew pouch.

Or you can place the grounds directly into a glass quart jar, if not using a pouch.

  1. Carefully push the bag into a glass quart jar, and open the top of the pouch so that it covers the opening of the jar.
  2. Slowly pour 4 cups of water into the pouch sitting in the jar, making sure that you wet all of the grounds. Do not pour too fast or the grounds will float and overflow the jar.

If you are not using a pouch, just pour the water into the jar and stir to combine with the grounds. Close the jar.

  1. Once all of the water has been poured through the ground coffee, pull the drawstring closed and close the jar.
  2. Place the jar on the counter or in the refrigerator, and let sit at least 12 hours and up to 24 hours. The longer you wait, the stronger the coffee will be. You might want to experiment to see what you like best.
  3. When ready, open the jar and remove the pouch, allowing the coffee to drip back into the jar. If not using the pouch, strain out the grounds using a fine-mesh filter or a paper coffee filter. Strain twice if desired.
  1. To serve, you can drink the coffee concentrate as-is. Or you can dilute it with ice and/or water, cream or milk, or with your favorite spirit to make a coffee cocktail!

*Note: If using the brew pouch, it is easy to clean and reuse. Just turn the bag inside out to dump out the grounds. Save the grounds for compost or to use in your garden. Rinse the pouch and let dry, and you are ready for your next batch of Cold Brew!