A simple guide on how to make cold brew coffee at home: what you’ll need, what kind of coffee grounds to use, and more!

It’s summertime in Texas which means it’s time for morning coffee to be iced. 

Okay, if I’m honest, I drink my coffee iced for probably 10 out of 12 months a year. I’m that girl that orders an iced coffee at Starbucks when it’s 40 degrees out. They probably think I’m crazy.

But really, let’s do the math. If you make your iced coffee at home each day instead of picking it up at Starbucks, you could save about $20 a week. That’s $80 a month. What could you do with an extra $80 a month?!

So many activities.

It’s also way easier than you think to make cold brew coffee at home, and today we’re diving into all the specifics of how to make cold brew coffee at home. Let’s get to it.

Disclaimer: I am not a coffee expert. This post is written for the everyday person who just wants a simple and easy way to make cold brew coffee at home. Enjoy!

How To Make Cold Brew Coffee: Brewing Systems

Initially you’ll have to purchase a brewing system if you want to make cold brew coffee at home. Let’s go over a few:

• First, because I like things easy, I use this Takeya Cold Brew Iced Coffee Maker. It’s $19 and it gets the job done. My mom uses this one too and loves it. It is a little tall to fit on a conventional fridge shelf, so I’ll keep it in the door or I’ll transfer the cold brew coffee to a different container once it’s done. Other than that I’ve had no issues with it and it’s a great cold brew coffee maker for the price.
• If you fancy, this KitchenAid Cold Brew Coffee Maker has a spout and sits right on the shelf of your fridge.
• Lastly, this Mason Jar Cold Brew Coffee Maker is really cute and all parts of it are dishwasher safe!

Once you have a brewing system, you need to pick your coffee beans.

Picking Your Beans For Cold Brew Coffee

Cold brew coffee works by letting the coffee grounds soak in water overnight to “brew”. In the morning, you pull out the grounds and are left with the cold brew coffee ready to go. Preparing it this way takes some of the bitterness out of your traditional hot-brewed coffee and gives you a smoother taste.

When selecting coffee for cold brew, it’s best to go with a medium to dark roast. If you’re going to be adding milk and or creamer, you want your coffee to stand up to those flavors and not be totally diluted. I buy this French Dark Roast from Sam’s Club and grind it at home. My mom and I also love to make cold brew with this medium roast Caribou Coffee.

Whole Beans or Ground Coffee?

If you don’t mind doing it, grinding your beans at home is going to give you the best flavor. There are two types of coffee grinders: a burr mill or a standard blade. A burr mill is going to give you a much more uniform grind, but it’s going to be more expensive. A standard blade will give you roughly the same grind with a few large pieces missed here and there (as you can see in the photo above).

If you’re not too picky, a blade grinder will work just fine. I use this $18 Krups grinder and it does the trick.

I’m Grinding My Own Beans- How Fine Should I Grind Them?

A medium to course grind is best for cold brew coffee.

If your beans are already ground, just go with what you’ve got! After two or three mornings, you’ll figure out if you need to add more or less milk/creamer to get the flavor you like. I keep a note on my phone with measurements and what I like and don’t like.

How To Make Cold Brew Coffee At Home

Okay! You’ve got your brewing system and your coffee and you’re ready to make your cold brew.

These instructions are written with the Takeya Brewing System in mind, but it should work for any standard brewing system. (The Takeya Brewing System came with NO english instructions…so I had to figure it out on my own. But for $19 I didn’t mind.)

In general, 1 cup of coffee grounds to 4 cups of water is a good ratio. Adding more water will make the brew weaker, and less will make it stronger.

What You’ll Need:

• Cold brew coffee brewing system
• 1 cup of coffee grounds
• 4 cups of water

1. If grinding your own beans: grind 1 cup of coffee beans to a medium or coarse grind. I do it in about 3 batches in my grinder so that I get an even grind.
2. Pour your grinds down into the filter and place the filter into the glass container.
3. Slowly pour your water over the grinds so that it filters down into the container. This ensures that all the grinds get soaking and you don’t have any dry areas of coffee grounds in the middle of your filter.
4. Place your container in the fridge overnight to soak.
5. In the morning, pull out the filter of grinds. Transfer cold brew to a smaller container if desired, and serve it up as is or with milk or creamer!

Note: this recipe is for cold brew iced coffee and not a concentrate.

*My mom loves to mix her cold brew coffee with some of this Califia Farms Mocha Cold Brew Coffee. It’s such a creamy and chocolately treat!

Pair this cold brew iced coffee with a lemon poppyseed blueberry muffin or a warm slice of this coffee-shop level banana bread!

Enjoy!

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