Easy Cold Brew Coffee

By Will Greaver

As our Head of Quality Control and Sensory, Will spends his days refining flavour, assessing quality, developing recipes and helping shape the coffees we roast.

Cold brew coffee is the no-fuss solution to refreshing coffee at home during the Summer months, and with the vast coverage of iced lattes and all things matcha and ube, we would like to share with you our uncomplicated chilled coffee recipe. Cold brew coffee is exactly what it says on the tin: it’s coffee brewed with cold water. Brewing takes longer to compensate for these low brewing temperatures, resulting in a smooth, textured drink with low acidity and great mouthfeel. 

SELECTING YOUR COFFEE

Due to the unique brew method, we recommend avoiding light roast coffee as it is less porous compared to more developed roast styles, making it harder to extract the desirable flavours. Look for more developed roasts like espresso or omni, but steer clear of most classic and dark supermarket styles like ‘Italian-style’ or ‘French Roast’, as these are often not speciality grade and are roasted beyond the point of anything that resembles coffee. 

Washed process coffee will work just fine for this method; however, I’ve found that honeys and naturals (such as the India Karnataka & Indonesia Kerinci) work extremely well in this application due to their more permeable structure and intense flavour. 

WATER

The quality of your water should be a priority when brewing coffee, as using tap water will produce inconsistent results and contribute to limescale build-up in equipment. Instead, we recommend using specific bottled waters or (better still) using RO water (Reverse Osmosis) so as not to contribute to single-use plastic waste. 

When buying bottled water for brewing coffee, we recommend using water with a TDS/Dry residue (@180c) of around 150mg/Litre. This information can be found on all mineral water bottle labels. For comparison, our hard East Anglian water can average a TDS of 300-400mg/1Litre as it is chock full of calcium carbonate from limestone and chalk.  

RECIPE 

For this recipe, I recommend using a 1:8 coffee-to-water ratio, creating a more concentrated drink so it can be diluted with ice when served.  

GRIND SIZE: Coarse on our website or  11 on a Malhkonig EK grinder

DOSE: Coffee 125g / 1L Water (This can be scaled up)

BREW TIME: 48-72 Hours (2-3 Days) 

METHOD

Combine ground coffee and water in a suitable vessel such as a glass jar with a lid, ensuring the grounds are fully saturated. Refrigerate for 2–3 days. Strain through a filter paper to remove fines, then serve immediately over ice. Consume within 3 days.

RESULTS

The finished brew is sweet, rich, and full-bodied, everything cold brew should be. Enjoy it black, or with a milk of your choice for extra creaminess. Think of this recipe as a solid starting point: follow it to the letter, or use it as a base to experiment with ratios, roasts, and brew times.