Today’s “Home Brew”- Secret to great iced coffee without great expense
I love my coffee, especially when its strong and rich with a bold flavor minus the acidity which, in my mind, detracts from the flavor.
Now for those of you not from ’round here, the South is said to have four seasons: Almost Summer, Summer, Still Summer, and Christmas. Based on this, you can imagine that there are times of the year when a iced coffee is relished far more than hot.
If you’ve ever tried to make iced coffee at home, you know that its not as easy as pouring coffee over ice. You end up with a watered down version of coffee which becomes even more watered down and weak when you add milk or sugar. Still, there has to be a better option than heading out and paying someone $5 for a few minutes of divine caffeinated pleasure – and there is. ~smiles~ Cold Brew Coffee Concentrate.
I’ve been making this “home brew” for over two years now, much to the delight of myself and Mama. She recently started making her own but until then I’d brew up extra and share my “special recipe” with her as well. I can only imagine what the neighbors thought when Mama’s car pulled up to my driveway and I’d run her out a mason jar and send her on her way. Come by either of our houses at any given time and you’ll find pint sized mason jars of “the recipe” in our refrigerators ~giggle~. I feel just like one of the Baldwin sisters….
Cold brew coffee is brewed in cold water on your counter top for a period of about twelve to fifteen hours, depending on the strength you prefer. Coffee brewed using this method has significantly less acidity and far more full bodied flavor than coffee brewed with the traditional hot method.
One of the pitys of coffee for me has always been that it never tastes as decadent as it smells. Cold brew brings you closer to this flavor than any other method I have come across. Whats more, cold brew coffee made at home rivals anything bought in a coffee house at a tiny fraction of the price – I actually like my cold brew better!
This concentrate is not just for iced coffees though, you can easily use it to make hot coffee in the morning without the fuss of brewing. This is perfect for those who have problems with traditional coffee being too harsh on their stomachs. Simply mix equal parts concentrate and water (or vary proportions to taste), heat and go!
This concentrate will easily keep a month or more in your fridge with no change in flavor and you know if I’m showing you how to do it, you aren’t going to need any fancy schmancy equipment either.
You likely have all you need at home already. I prefer to grind my beans fresh but you can certainly use pre-ground coffee. However, if you’re looking to amp up your coffee experience, I strongly suggest buying beans and grinding it fresh before each brewing, be it cold brewing or hot. You’ll find the difference is extraordinary! A grinder such as this one can be picked up for around thirty dollars or so. This is my Hamilton Beach one, of course!
I use a quart sized (32 ounces) canning jar to brew my coffee in and then store it in pint sized jars. You can use a plastic pitcher or container for this as well if you prefer. I like to brew mine in glass as there isn’t the risk of tainting my coffee with another flavor this way.
- Container to brew coffee grounds in
- Strainer
- Coffee filters (largest size you can find)
- Coffee beans and grinder or pre-ground beans
- Bowl to strain coffee into
You’ll need 1 cup of ground coffee.
Place grounds in jar
Fill jar with water.
I leave about an inch of head space at the top.
Place lid on jar and give it a little shake to make sure all grounds are wet.
Now just sit the jar on your counter for at least twelve hours.
Once the time has passed (I usually brew mine at night and strain it in the morning), place your strainer over a large bowl. You can also use a collander for this if you prefer.
Line strainer with a coffee filter. These are the type for twelve cup coffee makers, the largest I could find.
Pour coffee in the filter and let it strain through a little at a time.
This is after I’ve strained about half of my concentrate. I usually go through two filters when I do this. Throw your first filter away and replace with a clean one before pouring the remainder of your concentrate. It will take some time for all of your concentrate to strain out. I usually let it sit for about half an hour before pouring the remainder so it takes me about an hour to have my concentrate all strained and ready.
Using this method, a quart sized jar yields about a pint and a half of concentrate. Now mixing it up is purely a matter of taste but I am going to show you how I make mine purely as a point of reference.
Four ounces of concentrate…
Four ounces of milk…
Skim, Whole, 2%, whatever cranks your tractor.
Fill with ice and add three packets of Splenda and I’m a happy gal!
Honestly, this beats any iced coffee I’ve ever had away from home. Its rich, flavorful, and completely decadent.
Cold Brew Coffee
- 1 Cup ground coffee
- 32 ounce container (1 quart)
- Strainer
- Large basket type coffee filters
Place ground coffee in container, fill with cold water. Cover and let sit for twelve to fifteen hours. Place strainer over large bowl and put coffee filter inside. Slowly pour over about half of the coffee and let sit until strained. Replace filter and repeat.
To make regular coffee: place equal parts coffee concentrate and water in cup and heat.
To make iced coffee: Place equal parts concentrate and milk in glass. Add ice, sweetened as desired. You may find my preference for iced coffee a bit strong for you so leave room to add some water to weaken it if need be!
Print This Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 Cup ground coffee
- 32 ounce container (1 quart)
- Strainer
- Large basket type coffee filters
Instructions
- Place ground coffee in container, fill with cold water. Cover and let sit for twelve to fifteen hours. Place strainer over large bowl and put coffee filter inside. Slowly pour over about half of the coffee and let sit until strained. Replace filter and repeat.
- To make regular coffee: place equal parts coffee concentrate and water in cup and heat.
- To make iced coffee: Place equal parts concentrate and milk in glass. Add ice, sweetened as desired. You may find my preference for iced coffee a bit strong for you so leave room to add some water to weaken it if need be!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This has been a very busy week at home with the kids and their activities. I hope to get caught up on emails and comments this weekend! Thank you all and have a fabulous Friday!
Gratefully,
Christy 
A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery while on a detour.
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Posted by Christy Jordan
on Mar 27 2009. Filed under Beverages.
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Oh my goodness! I can’t believe how unbelievably good this is!!! I made it yesterday so I could try it this morning and I’m already hooked!!! I can’t wait to share it with everyone I know. My daughters are going to be THRILLED! Thank you!
Never thought of doing this.. TY Christy!
I keep a jar of this made and enjoy it a lot.I use the flavored coffee creamers and have a different coffee each time.It is wonderful and so cheap!
Christy I recieved this recipe in my e mail. I have made serveral of your recipes and each one has been wonderful. I made the cold brew last night and now I am enjoying my first jar. I want to thank you for the absolutely fabulous cold coffee that I have ever tried.
Got to go & get my 2nd jar. You have a bless day. Marsha
I have been cold brewing for a long time. there is nothing better! I have been told mine is better then well you know who. One of our favorites is better then mickey d’s frappe. Put your ice in the blender add your coffe concentrate then 1/2 & 1/2 or sweetened condensed milk or what ever you like. Add some hershey’s carmel syrup a little sugar if you do not use sweetened milk. Blend it up and enjoy!
If you want to make a bigger batch 1 pound of coffee to 2 gallons of water. I strain it then put in a container with the pour spout. So glad you shared so more coffe lovers can make their own!!
Yummy, thank you so much for sharing Dorrie!!
Thank you so much for this! I ended up leaving mine for nearly 24 hours (accidentally) so it is nice and strong but still very good. It has the husband’s seal of approval as well so now I’m going to have to make two batches at a time!
Yay! Glad to hear it is a hit!!
I love this stuff. Unfortunately patience is not one of my virtues. I pull the brew basket out of the Bunn coffee maker and put that into the strainer with the filter in the basket. The lines in the brew basket makes the coffee flow faster.
I’m enjoying my first cold brew right now, and I’m in love! It tastes just like coffee smells! What a treat this is. I’ve decided I’m giving my sister and sister-in-law jars of this “black gold” for Christmas since they love coffee as much as I do. Thanks!
I am so glad you like it Shelley!!! What a great idea for a Christmas present. Pair it up with a cute mug…I am going to have to do this! Thanks for sharing!!
Christy,
The boiling caramelizes the sugar. He then refrigerates it until he wants to make his frapps. I’ve had iced coffee with plain sweetened condensed, but this was heavenly! Little whipped cream, little choc., drizzle..who needs Weight watchers anyway…
When we worked at the DRM this Christmas, the chef made us iced caramel frappuccinos when we were mopping up. He MADE HIS OWN CARAMEL. He told us he boils a whole can of sweetened condensed milk submerged in a pot of water (remove label first
We have been making this for awhile now and it is heavenly. Hubby takes some in to work with him most days. A pint canning jar seals well and fits nicely down in his lunchbox.
I have been doing something similar to this for a couple years, too, when the expense got to be too much! I use milk and hershey’s syrup to my concentrate. Have it every morning!!! Yum!
Christy, thanks for the brewing method for iced coffee! I ran across a travel lid for mason jars in case you are interested. They are called Cuppows. Don’t ask me why the odd name, but you can google it and find them if your interested.
sorry didnt read your post we must be on same wave today lol
http://cuppow.tumblr.com/ I ran across this for your mason jars. I had to laugh gona get me one for sure
[...] 1/2 cup Non-fat milk 2 Tablespoons Hershey’s lite syrup with some drizzled on later 1/2 cup Cold-brewed coffee served cold Whipped light cream for the [...]
Oh my gosh!! Its so good!!! Thank you!
Christy, I found a blogpost, via pinterest, of course
(http://cravingcomfort.blogspot.com/2011/07/last-iced-coffee-recipe-youll-ever-need.html) that has something very similar. I’m just about addicted to the stuff. Do the same, cold-brew coffee (1 pound coffee to 1 gallon water, I think it was), and the cream she uses is 1 can sweetened cond. milk with 1 can evap milk. store that and the concentrate in the fridge. So easy, and soo tasty.
Just had to share, since yours is so very similar. Coldbrewing is easy, especially doing it overnight.
love your blog!
Christy this is absolutely the best, most delicious iced coffee I’ve ever had! Thank you for the recipe!
I am so glad to hear you like it Pat!!!
I tried this…it is wonderful! My daughter loved it too. I especially like that we can individualize our coffee to the way we like it (she likes her especially sweet, not me!) Thank you for this method!
I’d never had iced coffee. Hot and expensive, yes, but never iced. Until last week and that was from a golden place. It was good. But it was expensive. But then I remembered your recipe. I tried it. I was hooked. I’m on my third batch in a week. I’ve made it with evaporated milk and 2%. And I’ve added sweetened condensed milk. Love it! Thank you for sharing!
I am so glad to hear you like it Donna!!!
I love that your recipe for iced coffee is for 1 quart. For cream I use a blend of 1 can fat-free sweetened condensed milk & 1 can fat-free evaporated milk. I’m sure this saves me many calories a day.
girl, you had me at the Baldwin sisters.
[...] have gotten accustomed to the caffeine though and do not want to switch to soda. So when I saw this and this on Pinterest I couldn’t wait to try it! Share [...]
I just made this since it’s been too hot lately to drink regular coffee. All I have to say is OHMYGOODNESS!!!!! Vanilla ice cream, some caramel sauce, maybe a little chocolate syrup, some of this wonderful stuff and a splash of milk should be just right this weekend when it hits 100…..again!!!
I am so glad to hear that you like it Lacey!!! I hope you have a great 4th and stay cool!!
[...] have gotten accustomed to the caffeine though and do not want to switch to soda. So when I saw this and this on Pinterest I couldn’t wait to try [...]
WOW…the perfect drink for our hot Texas weather. Love it!!!!
Thanks again for another great recipe. You are sent from heaven!
I use my French Press Pot for the same purpose. For the 12 cup pot, I put in seven scoops of either Community or Cafe du Monde decaffe with chicory and let it sit overnight. The next morning, down goes the plunger and I have yummy stuff. That usually gives me right at a quart of liquid. I mix that with an equal part of filtered water and then mix that in equal parts with milk. I then drink all of it in two days. By using the Press Pot, I skip the coffee filtering part and things move along much faster.
Hi Christy, I read somewhere about using coffee ice cubes when making iced coffees. I don’t drink coffee so I’ve never tried it but it makes sense. It would keep your coffee from getting watered down:)
After experimenting with different ways to cold brew, this is my system. I brew in a qt Ball jar. I strain into a 4-Cup Pyrex with a fine mesh strainer. The first 2 times I do not use a filter. It flows quickly and you catch over half the grounds. If you do not shake the jar…and pour slowly, many of the grounds will remain in the jar. The next time I use a coffee filter. It takes less than 5 minutes to drain my coffer in the AM. I love iced coffee!
This is genius! Made it last night and tried it this morning….so good! This is also great bc my husband is diabetic so he can pit his sugar free creamer in it. Thanks so much!!
My husband and I tried this today and it came out great! So simple and tasty. Thanks for sharing!
I am so glad to hear that you liked it Amanda!!
my newest addiction. delicious
I can always count on you Christy to help me make my favorite drink. I just went to McDonalds to order their unsweetened iced coffee. I get a lot of flack when I order this and have to repeat unsweetened. Now I have quart and pint canning jars and some coffee beans. Tomorrow Iʻll be a very happy lady making my own! Thank you, thank you. Iʻm going to share this with a lucky classmate of mine. He took over his grandfathers coffee farm on the Big Island of Hawaii. Bet heʻd love some of his own iced coffee.
You have a friend who owns a coffee farm??? Ohhhh, I would be moving in with him!
Oh my word, Christy! This is delicious!! Gotta figure out how to make it by the gallon!! This little container doesn’t stand a chance around here! LOL
Thanks so much for this awesome recipe!!
LOL, I am so glad to hear you like it Debbie!! It doesn’t last too long around here either, I just make it more often.
The straining process goes quicker if it is done in a 2 part process.
First, strain the steeped coffee mixture to get the majority of the grounds out – without a filter – then rinse the strainer and insert a filter for step 2, and get the remainder of the grounds, including the fine particles out.
Adding Stevia Herb to the brewing process would sweeten the coffee
I have been doing cold brewed for about a year now & love it. I also freeze some of it into ice cubes and then it doesn’t dilute from the regular cubes. I found plastc screw lids that fit on Mason jars and my old wide mouthed Miracle Whip/ mayo jars. They have them for pint and quart sized jars and are wonderful because you don’t have any rusting. Don’t you miss the glass jars from mayo that they used to have? I guard my old ones with my life. Also I strain my coffee through a Mellita one cup coffee maker with 2 filters – strains right into another jar and I don’t have to change filters while straining.
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omgoodness this is great! Coffee always gives me such a stomach ache. I tried this and I will NEVER drink regular hot brewed coffee again. This didnt hurt my stomach at all. I strained mine thru the reusable filter in our coffee maker. I poured the cold brew thru the filter into the glass coffee pot. On another site it mentioned to use a few spoons of sweetened condensed milk and a splash of half n half. SOOOOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOOOOD!
thanks christy
I am so glad to hear that you liked it and that it didn’t hurt your stomach!!