Perfect Cold Brew Coffee

vegan, gluten-free, grain-free, nut-free, refined sugar-free, soy-free

​If you ever want cold coffee, this is the best way to go! The cold temperature and long brewing time mean you'll get a rich flavor without bitterness. This method produces a more concentrated coffee, which won't get too diluted if you want to add creamer and ice. It's a perfect summertime treat that brews while you sleep!

Yield: about 3 cups / Active time: 5 min / Inactive time: 12-24 hours

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cups (50 g) coarsely ground coffee
• 3 cups (745 g) room temperature water

Optional additions:

• ice 
• non-dairy milk 
• sweeteners/flavorings such as maple syrup, vanilla extract, or almond extract 

Directions:

1. Pour the ground coffee into a French press OR large glass jar and top with the water.*
2. Stir with a wooden or plastic spoon.
3. Put the lid on, making sure the plunger is still in the up position OR cover glass jar and place in the fridge.
4. Steep the coffee overnight, or up to 24 hours.
5. Remove French press from fridge and plunge to separate the coffee from the grounds OR line a mesh strainer with a coffee filter and pour coffee through strainer into another glass jar (be patient - it takes a while to strain all the grounds!)**
   
6. Fill each glass with ice and desired amount of milk, sweeteners, and flavorings, and top off with the coffee.
   

*When using a French press, the grounds need to be coarse so they won't clog up the mesh. Bags of pre-ground coffee will probably be too fine. I like to buy my coffee from the bulk bins and grind it in the store using one of those industrial burr grinders on the coarsest setting. I know coffee snobs frown upon grinding coffee any earlier than a few seconds before brewing, but the ground coffee stays pretty fresh and aromatic for a day or two (or way longer if kept in the freezer), and I think it still beats using a cheaper blade grinder at home. For more coffee snobbery about grinder types, check out this article.
**Cold Brew keeps in the fridge for about a week, so if you have a large French Press or glass pitcher, feel free to double or triple the batch using the same coffee to water ratio. Plunge and pour any unused cold brew into another container before returning to the fridge. I love to use large maple syrup jugs to store cold brew since I can get that last bit of maple syrup out of the jug while slightly sweetening the brew!

Shown here is about 1/2 coffee and 1/2 Almond Breeze unsweetened vanilla almond-coconut blend milk. I don't like ice, so this is my perfect cup of cold coffee!