Is it just me or do those "cold brew at home" kits suck?
2Bought one of those “make cold brew in your fridge overnight” setups. Followed the instructions, even used decent beans. Tasted like bean water mixed with sadness.
Do any of these things actually work? Or is it all just marketing for people who don’t want to shake a French press?
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Pretty much
I have two cold brewers: The Dorothy electric one sold here and on Sidedeal, and a Hario Mizudashi. The Dorothy works ok, but the only reason I got it is because it was $10 and it makes cold brew in ten minutes. It works like a French press with a high-speed stirrer. The result is ok, but not all that great.
The Hario one works very well. It’s simply a fine filter basket you put ground coffee in then put that in the glass pitcher, put it in your fridge overnight, and you have really nice cold brew. The downside: it takes a lot of coffee to make 600 ml of cold brew. (I have the 1000 ml size.) Here’s what it looks like
I use Peet’s coffee, which is dark roasted, so that makes for a full-bodied and generally strongly flavored brew of any kind.
I think that is an apt description of cold brew in general. Here are my tips to get decent tasting bean water: Coarse grind using a burr grinder that is well reviewed for French press or cold brew. The goal is consistent coarse grind with minimal sediment. Use a ton of beans, freshness doesn’t matter much for cold brew, so I just save up all the dark roasts that I don’t finish in less than a month. Use dark roasts with notes of chocolate, nuts, molasses, maple syrup, etc. avoid fruity notes, and NEVER use beans with added/artificial flavoring. Brewing times will depend on water to ground ratio. I think I’m usually around 3 parts water 1 part grounds by volume. I brew mine on the counter for 12 hours before putting it into the fridge for 12+ hours minimum, and let it continue to brew while I drink it over the next few days. Sweetener is optional, but a good creamer is a must have. I say that as someone who only drinks drip brew and pour over black.
@itzdarkoutthere
I agree except the dark roast and the cream, so I guess I don’t agree
pew pew no matter how you brew it
Use a roast that you like, doesn’t have to be single origin. Properly made cold brew with a medium roast is just find.
Ignore the bit about a creamer too, unless you like your coffee that way. I can’t stand it most of the time, so unless it is an already made profile from a coffee place that I like, I’m not adding it.
I recommend that you find a local roaster that you like and ask them to teach you how to make cold brew with their roast profile. Most are flattered, some actually do classes or sessions
A lot of coffee research is showing that adding dairy to coffee beverages can negate many of the positives that coffee gives you.
You do you.
And if you want the ultimate cold brew, splurge on black blood of the earth. He knows how to give a coffee buzz to those of us who never experience that phenomenon with regular coffee.
I went through a 6 month phase where I made cold brew all the time, and it was fine. (I had a giant ball jar of some kind that had a big mesh core you filled with grounds. Put in the water, wait for it to seep in, add more water, wait more… etc… finally it’s full, and you put it in the fridge.)
I was A-OK with the taste of it, but the hassle of screwing around with it before and after was worse than what I’m used to, which is a French press. (Also: am I supposed to be shaking my French press?! What the heck.)
Lately I don’t even grind the coffee beans, I just buy them pre-ground, which is close enough.
I don’t do coffee, but I have an extensive tea cabinet. I find that cold-brewed tea is a pale ghost of what can be achieved faster and more reliably with a temperature-controlled kettle to heat the water. Not everything needs 210F for proper extraction; some make their best product at 195F and some range downward from there. I tried using a Dorothy to make room-temp-brewed tea, and it was disappointing, so I left the leaves in the pot with the stirrer, heated some water, and rebrewed; that actually came out very slightly better than usual, but not different enough to merit repeating.
@werehatrack I’ve tried loose leaves in the Dorothy and was not a fan. I stuffed them in a tea bag and hooked it under the press (so it would remain in the eye of the tornado) to much better results; possibly from the waves smashing into the leaves more.
@werehatrack I used to buy loose leaf tea from the Adagio Tea website. They actually give the brewing temp for each of their teas.
https://www.adagio.com
@werehatrack @yakkoTDI I’m surprised there’s a minimum (and maximum) for tea. My father always liked chrysanthemum teas, partially because he liked the flowers blooming in the tea, which would only ever happen at “scorching the tablecloth underneath the coaster” levels.