The Ultimate Guide to Homemade Cold Brew Coffee
We get many questions from customers on different brewing techniques for Black Creek Coffee. Here's the first in a series of "How to's", a simple guide to how to make the best cold brew coffee.
Step 1 - Start With Good Quality Beans
Start with 85g of your favourite coffee. Medium to darker roasted coffees work better than lighter roasts. Either use your favourite single origin, or a premium blend.
Step 2 - The Grind
Grind your beans using the same medium grind size as for filter / pour over coffee, it should feel like sand. On our Baratza Sette 270 that's a setting of about 18-19, and on a Baratza Encore it's about 16. Check your grinder's manual for more information.
Step 3 - The Cold Brewer
We're going to use the Hario Mizudashi Cold Brewer. It's inexpensive, and like all Hario products, very well made.
Step 4 - The Coffee
Carefully fill the basket with your ground coffee.
Step 5 - Add Cold Water
Add COLD water to the top of the brewer to soak the coffee. This will take a few minutes to soak all of the grounds. We like to use a pour over kettle such as the Hario Buono to make the job a bit easier.
Step 6 - Let it Soak
Keep adding water until all the grounds in the basket are wet. Resist the temptation to stir the grounds with something, as the basket mesh is easily punctured. Pour in the rest of your water. You can either continue to pour through the grounds in the basket, or lift it up a little and pour down the side of the jug to save time. If you do that make sure you take into account the volume of the basket when you drop it back down.
Step 7 - Job Done
That's it! Put the jug in the fridge for 18-20 hours to allow the grounds to properly extract, and then enjoy the smoothest, sweetest cold brew you will ever taste. The Hario Mizudashi produces 1 Litre of cold brew, so enough for 4 cups, or 3 large mugs.
Step 8 - Sit in the sun and enjoy!
Feel free to adjust this recipe to taste. You can adjust the grind size or the coffee-to-water ratio for more or less extraction strength. You can also add milk or cream.
This immersion method of making coffee generally extracts less acid from the coffee beans than other methods, which is what gives it a very smooth, mellow flavour.
Be careful though! Once you've tried making this at home, you will never be satisfied by poorly made cold brew ever again.
We hope you've enjoyed this guide, any questions, please leave a comment below.