Cold Brew Coffee 101

The classic cold brew coffee brewing method uses coarsely ground coffee steeped in cold water over a period of 12-24 hours. Brewing coffee without heat produces a smooth, balanced and full-bodied flavour, with less acidic and bitter flavour profiles than brewing methods that apply heat.
The Cold Brew Coffee Maker produces a coffee concentrate to mix with your preferred milk or water. 

Aida Mollenkamp from Salt & Wind gives her experience with the Burr Grinder and Cold Brew Coffee Maker and her tips for getting the most out of your beans to produce a flavourful cold brew concentrate.

I’m adamant that a good cup of coffee comes down to three things: the right coffee maker, quality beans, and a great grinder. For getting a precise grind, the KitchenAid® Burr Grinder is a great choice. The various grind settings means you can go from fine (for espresso) to coarse (for French Press) grounds. And want to know a nerdy detail? It grinds at low RPM so the beans get exposed to minimal heat and results in maximum flavour.

Speaking of grind, you want fresh, coarsely-ground beans for making cold brew coffee. To do that, set the Burr Grinder somewhere between setting 1 to 4 — I like the beans at setting 3 because it gives a balance of acidity and smoothness.

When you’re making cold brew, you might as well go for it and make a full batch. The Cold Brew Coffee Maker allows you to make up to 840ml of coffee concentrate at once (which you then dilute to your preference). To brew a whole batch, you’ll need 250 grams of coffee grounds.

Before you use the Cold Brew Coffee Maker, go ahead and assemble it by placing the stainless steel steeper inside the carafe. This part of the machine is key because it has etched fill level indicators, which means you take the guesswork out of brewing. And, because it’s washable, you can make cold brew coffee one time and then iced tea the next!

Pour your perfectly ground coffee into the stainless steel steeper basket.

It’s time to start brewing! Take 1 litre and pour it over the grinds in a circular motion to help the coffee steeping process.

To get the grinds really doing their thing, you’ll want to pour in the 1 litre of water and then let it bloom (basically puff up) for about 1 minute. This soaks all the grounds evenly and helps to bring out the maximum flavour.

Pour another 25ml of water over the grounds in the same circular motion and then use a spoon to push any remaining dry grounds under the water to make sure they’re all moistened.

Now you just sit back and wait! Put the top on the Cold Brew Coffee Maker then let it steep without heat. This step is key to brewing coffee that’s low on acidity but big on flavour.

Leave it at room temperature or in the refrigerator for anywhere from 12 to 24 hours. I like the strength of the coffee when it steeps at room temperature for 24 hours, but it’s totally a personal choice.

Once the coffee is steeped sufficiently, pull out the steeper basket and tilt it so it sits on the edge of the maker and drains for 2 minutes. Then tilt the basket the other directly and drain it for 1 additional minute. That’s it! You now have cold brew coffee concentrate on tap!

At that point, if you haven’t already, you can put the Cold Brew Coffee Maker in the refrigerator until you want to use it. Even in a narrow refrigerator like mine, the compact size easily fits, and, since the coffee concentrate lasts up to 2 weeks, you’re set even in a high-consumption coffee household like mine.

Just like with the length of steeping the concentrate, you can make cold brew coffee to your own liking. A good place to start is to fill your glass partway with coffee concentrate and then dilute it with ice, water, dairy or non-dairy milk or a combination of ingredients.

I fill a large glass with ice then mix 1 part coffee concentrate with 3 parts almond milk. Because the coffee concentrate has really low acidity, I find you don’t need sugar, but that’s totally up to you!

A few ways I like to mix it up is to serve it with my coconut water or add sparkling water for a fizzy twist on cold coffee. You can even throw it in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake for a twist on Italian shakerato. So, as the temperature warms up, go ahead and try your hand at some cold brew coffee. Who knows, you might even become a full-time cold brew convert!

This recipe and tips come from Aida Mollenkamp from Salt & Wind. See more of her work on her website; http://saltandwind.com/