How Many Cups Of Ground Coffee Do You Need To Make Cold Brew?

Just when you think you've mastered the old Mr. Coffee, a new brew renders that vintage drip a has-been. Well ... cold brew isn't exactly new, having gone from independent coffee house item to major chain staple around the twenty-teens with an origin stretching back centuries. And we definitely aren't ready to toss our classic glass pots any time soon, even if they are has-beens in comparison to making cold brew. But, if you've landed here, you're obviously looking to learn how to make the notable potable at home, and we can help you there. So here's your first hint: Cold brew is not simply iced coffee, but rather a steeped, often more caffeinated beverage.

Cold brew, for one, uses one cup of ground coffee for every four true cups of water. It also takes at least around twelve doggone hours to prepare, and some home baristas will even double that time. Iced coffee, on the other hand, is made by making the java any which way you please, cooling, refrigerating, and typically adding that other titular ingredient. You'll likely use about two tablespoons of ground coffee for every "cup," which here amounts to six ounces of water. It can be optimally ready in about an hour, or even — this iced coffee hack involves using your machine to brew an extra-concentrated batch. 

Once you've got your proportions arranged, all that stands between you and your cold brew are your choice of instruments and all those hours and hours we previously mentioned. Unlike the countertop fuel you might be used to, where the water passes through the grounds and ultimately a filter, cold brew really soaks the stuff up. Your grounds spend all that time in the refrigerator steeping right in the water to eventually transform from a wet, sludgy mess to the smooth sips of Joe you're about to become accustomed to.

There are, of course, dedicated cold brew makers on the market like the Cuisinart DCB-10P1 Automatic Cold Brew Coffeemaker. It's great for devotees, but newcomers to the genre don't even need all that. You can soak your ingredients right in a French press for half a day or more before plunging and then filtering. And you can even use a mason jar, adjusting your measurements to fit before basically marinading the water in the grounds before straining. A filter in a Chemex works terrifically in this instance. Cold brew can then keep in the refrigerator for about a week without losing any of its flavor or potency.