A Cold Brew

As mentioned in previous posts I'm a froo froo coffee drinker.  I like coffee as long as it has milk and sugar in it.  If someone else makes it for me at Coffee Bean or Starbucks, that's even better.  I do have a single serve machine that makes outstanding vanilla and caramel lattes, but during most of the summer it gets very little use.  When you wake up in the morning and it's already 80 degrees, a hot cup of coffee isn't terribly refreshing.  However, the caffeine is desperately needed in the morning so I've been playing around with icing and blending those single serve lattes, but they just don't taste the same.  I limit myself to a coffee house ice coffee fix on Thursday mornings because I can't afford to do it any more than that.  There are still 4 work days needing caffeine left.
Then one day a few weeks ago I ran into Trader Joe's and happened upon their Cold Brew.  Not knowing what it was, I made a mental note to look into it when I got home.  I did, and I'll tell you what...it's the bomb!
The gist...when coffee is brewed with hot water it creates an acidity and some bitterness in the flavor, hence the milk and sweetener I require.  In addition, creating cold coffee drinks out of hot brewed coffee creates even MORE acidity making it taste astringent-like.  No wonder my iced lattes out of hot lattes were always somewhat of a fail.  Anyhow, the cold brew method creates less acidity making for a sweeter brew.  In addition to the pre-bottled kind (like from Trader Joe's), it can also be made at home.  There are cold brew pots that can be purchased or a French press can be used, but I spent some time researching alternative home-brew methods and found one that works for me.
I add about a cup and a half of coarsely ground coffee beans to the bottom of a pitcher.  Then pour three and a half cups of cool water over the top of it.  I run a wooden spoon through the mixture a couple of times and then let sit on the counter about 12 hours.  When time is up, I put a regular coffee filter inside a fine mesh strainer and set over a bowl.  The pitcher of newly brewed cold brew is slowly poured into the filter/strainer a little at a time.

Once all the grounds are filtered (I use that wooden spoon to press a bit more liquid out of them) toss them and what is left if the cold brew.  Of course, the measurements can be adjusted, but for me I get about a week's worth of cold brew from this mixture.
Now the thing about cold brew is that it's more like a concentrate.  Some might be able to drink it like that, but the intent is to mix it with water or milk or both and serve over ice.  I fill my Starbucks insulated cup with ice, pour the concentrate in half way, and then add equal parts milk and water to the remaining half.  Sometimes I add some agave or honey,  but I can actually drink this without sweetener too.

I add the straw, twist on the lid, and head to work.  It is a great start to my day!