lifestyle 2 3

How to Make Cold Brew Coffee That Doesn't Suck

Understand the kind of coffee you enjoy

Tastes and preferences are subjective. Understanding the taste profile of coffee that you enjoy is the first step to making good cold brew. With that understanding, you can then choose the right beans and tweak your recipe to suit your taste.

Most people choose cold brew as a method because of the smoothness, low acidity (sourness) and richness of the coffee it produces. If you enjoy profiles like these, get a medium to medium-dark roast of coffee with flavour profiles that match "chocolatey/nutty/caramel" or similar, non sour sounding names. Sour sounding names are fruits that contain high amounts of citric acid. For example oranges, pineapple, tangerine etc.

For a fuss free way to make your cold brew, we recommend the Hario cold brew bottle / Timemore Icicle. These products make brewing and cleanup way easier and help you make a consistent brew each time.

The first step is to decide on a ratio to use. This means, for every gram of coffee, how much water you are going to use. For a start, we recommend a 1:10 ratio of coffee grounds to water. Which means for a 650ml bottle, you will be using 65 grams of coffee. Grind the beans to a coarse grind (like the coarse sea salt that salt bae sprinkles on steak), pour room temperature water to saturate the grounds, then place the bottle in the fridge for 24 hours. Here is A Comprehensive Guide to Coffee Brewing.

If this yields something too strong for your taste, play with ratios - go higher (1:12, 1:14) if you find your coffee too strong. Go lower if you want ridiculously strong coffee, or you plan to mix the concentrate with milk.

To enhance your cold brew experience, consider using high-quality brewing equipment like the sleek and innovative products offered by Fellow. If you're interested in espresso, here's a guide on how to enjoy an espresso with Cafelat Robot 101. Feel free to chat with us over WhatsApp (bottom right button) if you need help finding the taste you enjoy! We're always happy to chat about anything coffee.

Back to blog