Cold Brewed Coffee: A Delicious Oxymoron

We have been up to something big lately. Really. It's huge. You might want to say good bye to your socks, as a matter of fact, because in a few weeks we plan on knocking them clean off. See that Reuseit logo to the left over there? Well, it's coming... and it's awesome. We can't wait to show you.

That being said, yesterday we figured out we've been averaging about three pots of coffee per day in the office - sometimes a few more, depending on the task at hand. And try as we might, it is hard to resist the siren's song of Starbucks just a block away from our office! Of course we have Natalie's Starbucks Survival Kit to keep our visits waste-free, but c'mon - $5 for a venti iced latte? What's in that thing, unicorn dust?

Then Natalie, one of several coffee fiends here at soon-to-be Reuseit.com, suggested we try cold brewing our cup of joe. It costs a lot less than Starbucks, we can do it right here in the office (which means we can spend more time getting ready to launch this new site) and with more than 60% less acid than conventional coffee it tastes a lot better too.

One of the features of our new site we're most excited about is our DIY section. So, in the spirit of coffee and Reuseit and all things waste-free and wonderful, here's a quick tutorial on DIY cold brewed coffee:

 Ingredients and Items You’ll Need:

• A storage container for the final brew – a pitcher or a tall jar with a lid will work
• A tall glass or mason jar with a lid for brewing
• A second tall glass or jar to pour the steeped coffee mixture into
• A stainless steel kitchen strainer with a fine mesh (if you don’t have fine mesh, you can use cheesecloth in addition to the strainer)
• Coffee

 

Instructions:

1. Measure 5-6 tablespoons of medium-course ground coffee into the brewing glass. Add about 1.5 cups room temperature water and stir until there are no lumps. If you’re increasing volume, a 4:1 ratio of water to coffee will work best. 
2. Put a lid on the container and let it brew for a minimum of 3 hours – it can sit up to 12 hours, depending on how strong you like your brew. 
3. Strain the brewed coffee through the stainless steel strainer into the second container. Clean out the first glass, and strain the mixture back into the original container. If the filter clogs at any point stop pouring and clean it out before resuming. 
4. Pour the final mixture in your storage container or pitcher and put it in the fridge. 

The mixture is 2-3 times stronger than drip coffee, so dilute it with an equal amount of water to start – adjust to taste. For hot coffee, just add hot water to the concentrate. For iced coffee, add cold water and ice! You can also dilute in milk or non-dairy milk for a latte-like drink.

Back to work!

Comments

[Jan]

I got a second-hand smallish French press to do mine in -- the press was cheap, but it makes awesome coffee, and the plunger makes it easier to strain. The only thing lacking is a lid for the pot when it's in the fridge, but I've decided I don't mind opening the fridge to the smell of coffee :)