The perfect base for iced coffee and creamy cold brews? A powerful blend of Cold Brew Concentrates that’s dazzling with flavor and potent enough to knock you off your feet! If you’ve been making your iced coffees with regular ole acidic hot brewed coffee, then stop what you’re doing! Traditionally most people and even coffee shops made iced coffee by simply cooling down freshly brewed coffee, then mixing it with ice and calling it a day. However this method is so old school; one the flavor is subpar, and two the extra effort to make hot coffee and then having to wait for it to cool down is so last century. By the time youre hot coffee has cooled down, you’ve lost the urge to guzzle it down. Instead, follow our cold brew concentrate specialty guide: grab some coffee beans, an airtight pitcher, and some distilled water, and let’s get brewing!
This post is all about how to make the perfect powerful and potent cold brew concentrate!
Commonly asked questions For Cold Brew Concentrate
What is cold brew concentrate?
Cold brew concentrate is a very flavorful highly caffeinated undiluted concentrate. In order to drink cold brew concentrate and enjoy it, you have to dilute it with water or milk and add some level of sweetener to it. Cold brew concentrate is a popular base largely used for iced coffee. The reason cold brew concentrate is amazing and potent is that its slowly brewed and contains a higher ratio of coffee to water, meaning more coffee and less water are used to create a potent concentrate. Also, since this coffee is cold brewed it’s said to be softer on your stomach as mentioned by Lauren from Healthline due to its lower cruise content and slightly lower acidic levels.
Do you dilute cold brew concentrate?
Yes, most people will dilute cold brew concentrate because it doesn’t taste good at all without some level of dilution and sweetener being added to it. Most people will dilute it with milk or water and add flavoring and sweeteners such as simple syrups and extracts.
Can you make decaf cold brew concentrate?
Yes, it’s super easy to make and all you do is swap out the ground coffee beans for a decaf cold brew concentrate. IF youre just looking for a decaf cold brew, then we have a delicious vanilla decaf cold brew recipe!
How do you drink cold brew concentrate?
To drink cold brew concentrate and enjoy it while you do so you have to dilute the concentrate and sweeten it and add any flavoring you may desire.
What is the difference between cold brew and cold brew concentrate?
Cold brew is ready to drink and won’t be as strong as a cold brew concentrate because it’s made using more water. Cold brew concentrate is made using a lot of coffee and a little bit of water so it’ll have a higher caffeine content and should be diluted and flavored before drinking it.
What do you mix cold brew concentrate with?
You can mix pretty much any type of milk, creamer, sweetener, syrup, or flavor extract with cold brew concentrate to create the perfect cold brew drink. The good thing about cold brew concentrate is that it very strong so you can definitely play around with what you add to it and it’ll still taste like coffee.
How long does cold brew concentrate take?
Cold brew concentrate typically ranges anywhere from 14-18 hours but a good medium for it is 16 hours. If you let the cold brew steep for too long it might come out bitter due to some chemical reactions that happen when coffee is over-brewed.
Can you add milk to cold brew concentrate?
Yes, you can add any type of milk variant to cold brew concentrate. This can be dairy, non-dairy, plant-based, etc. though the best additive for most people is between full-fat coconut milk and oat milk!
How long does cold brew concentrate last in the fridge?
An undiluted cold brew concentrate can last anywhere from 1-2 weeks in the fridge. The flavor quality will decline over time so that’s how you’ll know it’s getting ready to go bad.
Can you use regular ground coffee for cold brew?
Yes, you can you regular ground coffee for cold brew. However, the best option for cold brew is coarsely ground coffee because when you filter the coffee grounds out the filter will catch these grounds better than a finer grind of coffee.
How do you sweeten cold brew concentrate?
Since cold brew concentrate is used for cold drinks, it can be hard to sweeten these drinks using sugars since sugar typically doesn’t like to fully dissolve in cold environments. Due to this, most people use simple syrups which can be either store-bought or homemade. You can always create your own flavored syrups to both sweeten and flavor the cold brew concentrate. You can also use things like sweetened condensed milk or honey.
What is the best roast for cold brew concentrate?
The best roast for cold brew
Why You’ll love this recipe
- Vegan, non-dairy, and gluten-free
- Simple to make, no need to rush to the store to find expensive ingredients, as these ingredients are probably sitting in your pantry.
- Versatile recipes can be customized to create flavored cold brew concentrates.
- The perfect brewing time and the ratio of coffee beans to water, so it’s not too bitter
What is Cold Brew Concentrate?
Cold brew concentrate also commonly referred to as coffee concentrate is a highly concentrated version of cold brew. This cold brew concentrate is made by brewing a higher coffee-to-water ratio and letting it brew for up to 20 hours in the Refridgerator. Cold brew concentrate is perfect for iced coffees, cold brews, and even warmed up! The reason this recipe is versatile is that the concentrate is less acidic than regular brewed coffee and therefore offers a smoother taste when drinking.
What it’s the difference between cold brew concentrate and cold brew?
Cold brew concentrate is a potent and electrifying blend of coarse ground coffee and water that is left to brew in the fridge or equally cold environment for several hours. This act of cold brewing allows coffee grounds to release their ultimate flavor while not being forcefully extracted through heat methods such as traditional brewing.
The same can be said for cold brew, it is brewed overnight in cold water, but the ratio of ground coffee to water is significantly less dramatic: Think a 1:1 ratio for traditional cold brews, while a cold brew concentrate is brewed to a ratio of 2:1 typically.
Cold brew concentrate ingredients and things you need
Equipment:
Cold brew vessel: French press, Cold brew container, normal pitcher or container
French press cold brew method
- French press
- Water
- Measuring tools: spoons, cups, etc.
- Coarsely ground coffee
- Coffee grinder for grinding your beans
Cold brew maker
- Cold brew maker
- Water
- Measuring tools: spoons, cups, etc.
- Coarsely ground coffee
- Coffee grinder for grinding your beans
Normal container
- Glass carafe, container, pitcher, etc.
- Water
- Measuring tools: spoons, cups, etc.
- Coarsely ground coffee
- Coffee grinder for grinding your beans
- Coffee ground filtration tool: cheesecloth, coffee filter, mesh sieve
Knock You Off Your Feet Cold Brew Concentrate Recipe
This recipe calls for caffeinated coffee beans but we do have a decaf cold brew recipe for you to go off of as well.
2 cups whole beans (to be ground into coarse ground coffee) OR 2 cups coarsely ground coffee
8 cups water
Optional: flavor extract such as vanilla, almond, ube, etc.
How to make cold brew concentrate at home
Instructions:
Preparation time~approx. 5 minutes
- grind coffee beans to a coarse grade
- combine coffee grounds with water and add any extra flavoring if desired
- Third, let steep in the fridge for roughly 16 hours.
- Fourth, remove from fridge and filter out coffee grounds. Using a french press and a cold brew maker is easy because they both have built-in filters for coffee grounds. If using a normal glass carafe, pitcher or container however you’ll need something such as a mesh sieve, coffee filter, or cheesecloth to filter out the ground coffee.
- Fifth, dilute, sweeten, flavor, and serve!
Extra Ingredients to serve with
What to Dilute your Cold Brew Concentrate with:
Water
Milk
Oatmilk
Coconut milk
Almond milk
Cold Brew Concentrate Sweetener:
Simple syrup
Maple syrup
Honey
Agave nectar
Cold Brew Concentrate Flavoring:
Vanilla
Pumpkin
Ube
Almond
Peppermint
Recipe Notes:
When leaving your cold brew t brew overnight or whatever really, make sure not to exceed 20 hours of brewing time. The reason is that cold brew becomes more bitter the longer you brew it. I made the mistake of leaving cold brew brewing in the fridge for days and when I went to try it, it was so bitter!
That wraps up our post for creating the perfect pint of cold brew concentrate! We hope you loved this recipe and if you did, don’t forget to pin it for later ☺️