Easy Cold Brew Iced Coffee

Fuzzy Mmmmm!

Whoops-- it's been way too long since I've blogged! Sorry about that, everyone (all five of you, I assume). Today I have a tried and true recipe, and my first liquid recipe: Cold Brew iced coffee! And perfect timing, too-- it's been quite warm here and boiling on the East Coast! So turn a blind eye to your hot and steamy coffee brewer and set your sights on some delicious, bold, and refreshing coffee!

Cold Brew has been a happening buzz word in the coffee world, but few people really know the difference or why it's making such a big hit in cafes. While I don't know the exact science behind the perks of cold brewed coffee, some things make sense to me: making a large batch of concentrated coffee is a lot less messy than overflowing your coffee brewer, cold things should be made cold (I'm guessing on this one), and making a batch of concentrate will also help your coffee to have a full flavor, rather than just pouring some coffee over ice and severely watering it down in the process.

This blog was partly inspired by one of my favorite bloggers who featured a how-to on cold brew, but she made it *way* too complicated! So here's an easy recipe for you readers!

Happy family of ingredients with our local star, Discovery Coffee!

Wet, vaguely messy ingredients. 

Stir, baby, stir!

Drain, baby drain!

Draining part deux.

Voila! Done.

Ingredients

4 Cups cold water

1 1/3 Cups ground coffee (medium-fine, as for a regular brewer)

Directions

1) Add coffee to your container of choice (large Mason jars work great, but any sort of pitcher is fine).  I spooned most of my coffee into the jar to make a bit less of a mess, but you could use a funnel. Add the water and stir until well combined. I used a spoon stick to create less of a mess.

2) Cover and leave out for 8 - 12 hours at room temperature.

3) Using either a cheese cloth, fine dish towel, or nut milk bag (as pictured), drain the grounds from the coffee twice. First, use a large-ish pot to pour the contents of your brewing jar through the draining device of choice. Then, drain again into the initial container of choice for safe keeping for up to a week in the fridge (see photo "draining part deux").

For making coffee!

As a reminder this is a concentrate, so you don't want to drink this stuff straight-up unless you have a stomach of steel. 

1) I use one part coffee concentrate to two parts cold water, but that can be adjusted per your preference.

2) Add sweetener (I use honey because it dissolves easily in cold water) and preferred milk if desired.

3) Add ice cubes and sip happily, hopefully in the shade with a good book.

Yummy in my tummy!

Recipe via Red Book Magazine.