Decaf Cold Brew: A Delicious Vanilla Decaf Cold Brew Recipe and The 3 Best Decaffeinated Coffee Beans Available!

Cold Brew Coffee has taken the world by storm with its intensive bold flavor and mind-boggling caffeine content that keeps even the most resistant coffee drinkers wide awake. The thing is not everyone wants to be kept up till the wee hours of midnight because of the caffeine power behind the cold brew. Some of us just love coffee and want to take a few sips before bed, which is why decaf cold brew is perfect!

Making the perfect Decaf Cold brew is a hard task to master as despite the relatively simple recipe, the quality of beans, coffee roast, coffee beans ratio to water, and method of brewing can impact the flavor profile for better or for worse. This is why we wanted to cover all you need to know about brewing the perfect cup of decaf cold brew concentrate for your mornings or even late-night cravings for a refreshing cup of decaf cold brew. We also thought it would be important to cover some need-to-know notes about decaf cold brew, materials, and ingredients, and we even threw in one of our favorite vanilla cold brew recipes that were tweaked for this decaf recipe.

This post is all about the most commonly asked questions around making and buying decaf cold brew coffee, from buying the correct coffee blend, the perfect materials, and what ingredients create a great cup of joe for your taste buds.

The Best Decaf Cold Brews and What is Decaf Cold Brew?

All you need to know about Decaf Cold Brew!

How much caffeine is in decaf cold brew?

Decaf coffee isn’t entirely caffeine free despite the name “decaf”. When going through the process of caffeine extraction most of the caffeine is removed but there can be tiny trace amounts of caffeine. Your average decaf coffee will have roughly 97% caffeine removed when going through the stripping process.

What is decaf cold brew?

Decaf cold brew is basically the same thing as regular cold brew but just made with decaf coffee beans/grounds. Decaf cold brew is made by steeping the coarsely ground coffee beans over a long period of time typically in the fridge so it’s nice and cold. While cold brew is typically served cold and iced it can also be heated up in the microwave to be served warm as well. Cold brew can be diluted with water or milk and flavored with syrups if it’s too strong depending on the tasters’ desires.

Is decaf cold brew different than Ice Coffee?

Cold brew is definitely a little bit different than iced coffee.

First, cold brew is made by steeping coffee grounds for a number of hours and is not made using heat. While iced coffee on the other hand is brewed like a normal hot coffee and then served over ice.

Second, cold brew takes a pretty long period of time from being prepared to the time that it can finally be served. On the other hand, iced coffee has a way faster brewing method as it’s typically ready within minutes from first being brewed to the time that it can be served.

Third, cold brew generally lasts in the fridge for over a week and holds its profile very well when being stored for a long period of time. Meanwhile, iced coffee generally loses its taste a lot faster and is usually only good the first day. Especially since ice waters down the drink and dilutes the flavors.

Fourth, cold brew has a more chocolatey, and sweet taste often filled with fruity notes. Cold brew is also not as bitter or acidic as regular iced coffee.

Fifth, cold brew holds flavor very well when additives like milk and sweeteners are added. Typical iced coffee won’t hold its profile as well both over time or when additives are added. This one can depend on the roast used but typically cold brew will hold its natural flavors better than a normal iced coffee will.

How to make decaf cold brew?

First, you’ll start by choosing your decaf coffee beans or grounds. If it’s a bean you’ll then have to grind it on a coarse setting. You’ll want coarse grinds because it makes the filtration process easier later as the filter will catch the grinds a lot better than a finer ground coffee will. If you want it done right you just have to do it yourself, which in this case means grinding it yourself, and remember we want coarsely ground coffee.

Now that you have some coarsely ground coffee, the next step is the steeping part. You’ll combine water and the grounds in a container like a glass carafe, french press, or a cold brew-specific pitcher with a built-in filter already. After combining you’ll give the grinds and water a few good stirs, let sit a few minutes and stir again. After stirring you’ll let this mixture steep in its container for roughly 12-16 hours either in the fridge or on the counter at room temperature.

After you’ve waited this long period of time you can now filter the grinds. If you made the cold brew in a normal container you can do this by using a cheesecloth, a mesh sieve, or even a normal paper coffee filter. If you chose to make it in a french press then you can simply press the coffee and serve. And if you made it in a normal cold brew pitcher that has a built-in filter made specifically for a cold brew then you can just simply serve it now.

Now for the most important part which is serving! Cold brew can be mixed with water or milk to dilute its strong taste, sweetened if desired, and then served. Serving can be done over ice which is the most popular way to drink cold brew, or it can be heated and served warm as well. The best way to “heat” it is to add hot water or milk to it rather than heating it in the microwave but either way, it can be done. Heating cold brew isn’t the norm but it definitely can be done and tastes great either way!

What roast do I use for making decaf cold brew?

For decaf cold brew because of the brewing method and storage method, you’ll want to use a roast that holds its profile well over time and that has strong flavorful notes. Since decaffeinated cold brew lasts in the fridge for over a week you need a roast that holds its profile. You also need a strong lasting profile because of the additives and dilution that you’ll be doing to the concentrate when you serve it. When adding milk, creamer, and other flavors these can often overpower the notes in your coffee so you need a strong profile.

With that said the best roast is going to be a dark roast but you can also get away with using a medium dark roast as well. Lighter roasts don’t do very well when it comes to cold brew because they can lose their profile and flavors rather quickly when stored in the fridge. And when you add any sweeteners or milk this will hide the very subtle light roast profiles. Dark roast beans are roasted for a longer period of time which allows them to have a stronger bolder taste which works perfectly for cold brew due to the storage and brewing method.

Ingredients and Materials for perfect decaf cold brew preparation

We wanted to give you choices when it came to making your beverage, so go ahead and choose your brewing vessel and let’s get started!

French press method for brewing decaf cold brew

• French press
• Water
• Measuring apparatuses: spoons, cups, etc.
• Coarse ground coffee – from decaffeinated coffee beans
• Coffee grinder (if using beans)

Cold Brew Pitcher

• Cold brew maker
• Water
• Measuring apparatuses: spoons, cups, etc.
• Coarsely ground coffee
• Coffee grinder (if using beans)

Normal Container

• Glass carafe or plastic container
• Water
• Measuring apparatuses: spoons, cups, etc.
• Coarsely ground coffee
• Coffee grinder (if using beans)
• Coffee filter, mesh sieve, cheesecloth (something to filter the grinds out after steeping is done)

Perfect pairings, sweeteners, creamers, and other ingredients to spice up your cold coffee

• Milk
• Water
• Oat Milk
• Almond milk
• Coconut milk
• Monk sugar
• Cinnamon
• Pumpkin spice
• Nutmeg
• Raw cacao powder
• Keto creamer
• Flavored extract: almond, vanilla, etc.
• Syrup
• Sugar
• Flavored creamers

Can’t Forget Cold Foam!

Decaf Coffee Beans for cold brew

Key Notes to Rember when shopping for decaffeinated coffee beans:

• medium roast or dark roast is essential to making the best decaffeinated cold brew
• High-quality decaffeinated beans ensure a rich and complex profile for your brew

No Fun Jo Decaf Medium Roast or Dark Roast Whole Beans

This is a great bean to use for cold brew because of its sweet flavorful notes of berries and chocolate. This decaffeinated coffee also comes in a whole bean form so you can grind it to your liking which is important for making the filtration process easier when it comes to making cold brews. The brand is climate pledge friendly, fair trade certified, and uses a very natural chemical-free decaffeination process called Swiss Water Process.

Coffee Bean Direct Decaf Penny Pincher’s Dark Roast Whole Beans

This bean is perfect for when you’re on a budget but still need your daily coffee fix. This bean comes at an affordable price while not compromising on taste. There are dark chocolate cherry notes in this bean which make for a perfectly balanced cold brew.

Kicking Horse Coffee Decaf Dark Roast Whole Beans

This bean is amazing for making cold brews because of its sweet hazelnut and chocolatey notes. This makes for a sweeter-tasting cold brew. This is a decaffeinated dark roast whole coffee bean which is perfect since we need to coarsely grind it for our cold brew. This product is fair trade, climate pledge friendly, and organic. The decaffeination process used is called the Swiss Water Process which is a very natural chemical-free process.

Vanilla Bean Decaf Cold Brew Coffee Recipe

Recipe notes

• For cold brew, it’s best to use a 1:4 ratio of ground coffee to water for a more balanced brew. However, this can be tweaked to make the cold brew concentrate stronger or not so strong.

• This recipe makes roughly 6 cups of cold brew concentrate which we will dilute and add to when serving so really it’s more than that unless you drink the cold brew straight.
• Serving ingredients that pair well with this drink are: Oat milk, almond milk, soy, and other plant milk plus for topping and presentation we recommend serving with a generous dollop of creamy sweat cream cold foam or regular cold foam.
• Avoid prematurely ending the brewing session because it takes time for the cold water to extract the flavor and oils from the coarse grounds. If let to steep for too long, it can come off with some rather weird flavors that throw off the natural flavor of the cold brew at its finest.

How Long Does Homemade Decaf Cold Brew last in the Fridge?

When properly stored and made with fresh beans, you can expect your freshly brewed cold drink to last around 7-10 days in the fridge. Please do note that anything beyond that and you’ll notice the flavor of the coffee quickly deteriorating.

That’s it! it’s really that simple, but again the key to amazing decaf cold brew lies in the coffee beans and the roast chosen, make sure to choose a strong blend for depth, and choose high-quality beans for a more noticeable profile and freshness.

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