Let’s face it, a piping hot cup of coffee on a scorching summer afternoon just feels like a match made in hell. On the other hand,

Cold brewed coffee can be a refreshing and thirst-quenching solution to your coffee habit, especially when you go the extra mile concocting your own Mocktails.

First, lets differentiate cold brew from flash brewed iced coffee.

Cold Brew is an entirely different beverage & brewing process compared with the hot coffee poured over ice that is customary in larger coffee franchises; it’s actually chemically distinct beverage. The attraction to Cold Brewing is the richer taste,  texture and lower acidity that can be described as syrupy, mellow and smooth.

Cold brew utilizes a 15–72 hour brew time at room temperature or cooler to selectively extract the flavour compounds from your coffee. Hot brewing will pull more out of the coffee, but this indiscriminate method of extraction also puts less desirable dissolvable material into your cup. The higher temperatures can oxidize some of the volatile flavour compounds in your brew and more of these characteristics are preserved at lower brewing temperatures.

Benefits of Cold Brew

As a result, cold brew tends to be smoother, less acidic, and perceivably bitter - but it also contains less antioxidants and vibrance. For those with gastrointestinal issues, there’s plenty of anecdotal evidence that suggests cold brew’s lower acidity can be less irritating. Objectively, Cold Brew contains less kahweol and cafestol, two terpenes that are only present in hot extractions and are known to raise cholesterol.

Another aspect to cold brew is the different brewing parameters and yield, cold brew sits around a 1:4 – 1:8 ratio of coffee to water, whereas typical coffee is brewed at a 1:12-1:16 ratio (by weight). This produces a strong coffee concentrate, one with significantly higher caffeine levels and flavour intensity that we recommend you dilute with water, ice or tonic to get creative with it.

How to make it:

Hopefully I’ve sold you on at least trying cold brew, the best part is it’s incredibly easy to make:

1. Grind your coffee beans coarse. (think Kosher Salt)

2. Add 1 part ground coffee and 6 parts water to a large French Press. (For example, if you decided on 50g of coffee you would add 300ml of water)

3. Pour cold water over the coffee and mix just enough to saturate all the grounds.

4. Cover the container and let it sit at room temperature for ~16 hours.

5. The following day, use the plunger to strain out the rich cold brew.

6. Because it’s a concentrate you want to dilute the brew concentrate with water or milk to taste.

7. Serve over ice and enjoy!