Ever wondered how to make a good cold brew coffee at home? With our short guide, you'll learn how to easily prepare this versatile drink, perfect for the summer.
For those of us who are coffee lovers, the mid-morning latte and the after-lunch solo are almost sacred. But in the heat of the day, the thought of a hot drink can make us shy away... If this happens to you too, we have a good solution.
Coffee cold brew is not just cold coffee. The way it is made, totally different from the usual way, gives it unique characteristics and many virtues that convince even the most loyal espresso drinkers. espresso.
Read on to find out how to make this cool, summery coffee.
Cold coffee? No. Cold coffee.
Cold brew is not strictly speaking a type of coffee. It is a brewing method that uses only cold water cold water and time to bring out the flavours of the coffee. At no point is heat applied: we do not brew a hot coffee and then cool it down.
We are talking about making coffee without heating it from start to finish. In reality, what we do is a cold brew coffee, i.e. we macerate the coffee. To do this, we leave the ground coffee in contact with water for at least one night.
How to brew cold brew coffee is so simple, the important thing is to start with good ingredients: use a good speciality coffee and mineral water to achieve the best possible drink.
Another key factor is the ratio of coffee to the volume of water. At Syra, we recommend a ratio of 1:10, i.e. one part ground coffee to every ten parts water.
Grinding is also important. It should be of medium coarse thickness so that the coffee is not over-extracted and the resulting beverage is bitter or astringent.. If you don't have a grinder at home, go to your local your local speciality coffee shop and ask them to grind it for cold brew.
In terms of the profile will depend a lot on your taste and how you intend to use the final drink. For cold brew, fruity coffees generally work best. But a good chocolate coffee is great to mix with milk! And always, always buy natural, freshly roasted coffee.
You will see that, to prepare it, in our recipe we use the Hario bottle. It is a kind of heat-resistant and shock-resistant glass jug with a very fine-mesh filter inside.
At Syra we use it a lot because it allows us to obtain a perfectly extracted beverage.perfectly extracted drink and it is very easy to clean and and easy to clean and keep in good condition. In addition, because of its lid format, we can easily carry it in our gym bag or work bag.
Isn't the Hario amazing? Well, you can get this Japanese-designed coffee maker along with a 250 gram pack of your choice of speciality coffee beans or freshly ground coffee.
How to make cold brew coffee at home?
You will need:
- Scale
- Hario Bottle
- 500 ml of mineral water of the time
- 50 g ground speciality coffee
Step 1
Weigh the coffee. Open the Hario bottle, remove the filter and add the 50 grams of ground coffee inside.
Step 2
Place the empty jug on top of the scale and pour in 500 grams of water.
Stir gently so that all the coffee is wet and in contact with the liquid.
Step 3
Close the bottle and leave it in a place where the temperature is as stable as possible. A good option is even in the fridge.
Leave to stand for 16 to 24 hours.
Pro tip: As an initial guide, at Syra we suggest 16 hours if you have left it at room temperature and 24 hours if you have put it in the fridge.
Step 4
After the set time has elapsed, remove the filter with the ground coffee.
Your cold brew is ready: you can drink it as is, but with ice (crushed or cubed) it's delicious.
Try it and see what you think and remember that you can always leave it to macerate for more or less hours and play with the proportion of coffee and water until you find your favourite formula.
Additionally, we leave you here the video where our manager of El Born explains how to prepare a good cold brew using the Hario bottle.
Is traditional or cold brewed coffee better?
The result of cold infusion is a lighter coffee and up to 60% less acidic and bitter. lighter and up to 60% less acidic and bitter than hot-extracted coffee. than hot-extracted coffee.
When we expose coffee to extraction in an espresso machine, we expose it to a very violent extraction. Normally we work at 92-95 degrees, and we inject that water with a pressure of 9 bars (atmospheres) into a coffee that we have previously compacted to withstand that pressure, and all this in just 25-30 seconds.
By playing with all these parameters appropriately, we can extract a coffee that is still very intense in aroma and flavour, but with the nuances and characteristics of coffee.
Cold brew, on the other hand, is less dense and has a more subtle aroma. When you take your first sip, it will surprise you in your mouth, offering an intense and nuanced flavour. intense and nuanced flavour.. Moreover, as it is less acidic, the sweet and fruity taste of the coffee is more noticeable, so there is no need to add sugar or sweeteners.
So which is better, hot or cold extraction?
The properties of coffee, hot or cold, are determined by its roasting; the quantity, temperature and characteristics of the water; the grinding, and the infusion time, among many other factors.
That said, according to several researchers:
- Hot brewed coffees have a higher antioxidant capacity.
- Cold preparation is more digestive, as it is less acidic.
- Cold-brewed coffees have a lot of caffeine (around 200 mg), more than hot ones. Be careful with this: being a light drink, we can drink more and, in the long run, consume high doses of caffeine.
In addition to its organoleptic benefits, the cold brew has other obvious advantages: you can prepare more at once and take it with you when you go to the beach, on a car trip, for a picnic in the park... What you don't drink, you can put in the fridge and keep for up to two weeks. You can even freeze it or make ice cubes to use in other preparations.
How to serve your cold brew?
In summer, you can add more cold water or a few good ice cubes. And whenever you feel like it, you can mix in milk or your favourite vegetable drink for a creamier coffee.
It is also perfect for use as a concentrate in mixers and cocktails with or without alcohol. Gourmets know that this type of coffee goes perfectly with citrus flavours. In fact, with just a curl of lemon peel it is super refreshing.
Coffee cold brew is a drink with many possibilities. And we have prepared some fun and delicious recipes to surprise your palate this summer.
Stay tuned!