Cold brew coffee has been surging in the past ten years - in fact, over 300% growth since 2016 and 45% growth in the past two years alone. When the weather gets warmer, it can be a refreshing option. And if you like a higher dose of caffeine with your drink, it's a great choice.
Cold brew coffee is typically brewed without any heat or hot water. Think of it as something similar to making iced tea - time is what makes it great. Same with cold brew coffee. We take coarse ground coffee, place it in something that resembles a tea bag and let it soak in cold water for 12-24 hours.
Because of the time it sits in water, it is much higher in caffeine. Why? The longer coffee sits in water during the brewing process, the more caffeine that makes its way to the cup - so after 12-24 hours you've got a potent cold brew drink. Espresso is frequently mistaken as a higher caffeine drink, which it is not because the water is pushed through the coffee grounds in 20-30 seconds.
There are lots of home cold brew machines on the market today. We like the Toddy Cold Brew System. You could even purchase instead large cold brew coffee filters and place it in a glass jar. One tip - start with 1/4th of the water being hot, let the grounds soak that in ("bloom") for about 5 minutes then add the rest as cold water. Filtered water of course. Let it sit on the counter overnight. In the morning remove the bag of grounds and place the glass jar in the refrigerator to enjoy. Easy!
If this sounds like a lot, we sell growlers of our cold brew (a lot of them!) at the cafe in Havertown.
Next week, we'll talk about coffee storage - how and where. Until then, we hope you're having great moments with locally roasted, fresh coffee. Cheers!