Cold Brew Coffee

I love my coffee since young. I remembered that when I was growing up with my grandparents, my grandma will brew a pot of coffee every morning and I love the smell of it. Coffee brewing on stove top! And for those who brew their coffee over stove top, you know, you will get a strong brew!

 However, I can't drink my coffee just black. I need, at least, sugar in my coffee. Growing up in Malaysia, that also mean I love my coffee serve cold. I also love my coffee with milk. As such, I love a good cup of coffee with milk from the typical Malaysian coffee shop. I always prefer that over the typical chain-store coffee.

Nevertheless, it's hard to get good coffee bean over in Malaysia. Coffee in Malaysia are always roasted in a traditional roasting house, which sometimes also mixed caramel in it. I love that too, but for some reasons I never tried brewing my own cup at home. I always opted for the instant coffee. 

Now that I am in US, getting a cuppa means you head over to Starbucks or other coffee place. However, most shop here serve to-go. It is also very expensive. Since then, I have learn to brew my own coffee. In these two years, I have tried many ways of brewing my coffee, from coffee machine to dumping my ground coffee into hot water then filtering it! Now, I have my coffee prepared using a dripper. This way, I don't have my coffee ground in my drink. 

Recently, I learned how to cold brew my coffee. It is so simple and effective. Cold brew coffee produce a very smooth coffee without the bitter taste and is suitable for iced coffee too. There are also a few advantages for cold brew coffee. 

1. It's simple and easy to prepare

2. Less caffeine (which is debatable to be good or bad) per cup. But I drink about 2 cups a day, this is good. 

3. Less acidic

4. Less bitter, which promote smooth flavor. 

5. Promote the flavor profile to be expressed. If you are into flavored coffee, cold brew coffee will help to get the flavor out better. 

6. You wont burn your coffee. Brewing a good cup of Joe also means that you need to have your water temperature right. If it's too hot, you will burn your coffee ground. 

7. I can store this stock for a week in refrigerator. This also mean I can bring the 'stock' to office and dilute it with water and milk when I want a good cup at my office without having to settle for mediocre coffee from coffee machine or pay exorbitant price for a cup at the shop. 

Here is how I make my cold brew coffee:

1. I put 1/3 cup of coffee to 4 cup of filtered water. Stir to mix the coffee ground well. I put my coffee ground into my pot before I add water. 

2. I leave it overnight (minimum 8 hours; can be up to 24 hours) on a pot in room temperature. 

3. Filtered the coffee using filter paper to remove any ground coffee. This is my coffee stock. 

4. Dilute 1:1 coffee stock with water and milk. Depending how strong you like, adjust to the ratio you prefer. Remember I love my coffee strong. 

I keep this coffee stock in my office for about 5 days. 

I love iced coffee too. I use my coffee stock to make ice cubes. This way, when I put my ice into my coffee, I don't dilute my coffee. 

Try it and let me know if you like it.

Disclaimer: All shot done using Canon 650D/ Rebel T4i