Cold Brewed Coffee

I made my first batch of cold brewed coffee today.  It was good but to be honest I want to play with the ratio more and use a different coffee so that I have something to compare it with - stay tuned.

I used my 8 cup French Press coffee maker and filled it with 1-Cup of coffee grounds.  Then I filled the rest with room temp filtered water and let soak for 24 hours.  I stirred it once at 12 hours because the grounds made a sort of crust on the top and I wanted to make sure that all the grounds were being steeped by the water.  After I stirred the grounds they did not form a crust again but rather sank to the bottom and steeped fully for the last 12.

I used an initial 1 to 3 concentrate to hot water ratio to make the coffee but then I landed on a 2 to 3 ratio.  It was good coffee.  There was no bitter and the acidity seemed non-existent.  In the morning I am going to try a 1 to 1 ratio and see how that works out - I am expecting great things.  I liked that the coffee was immediately drinkable as the hot water mixed with the cool concentrate made it nice.  i suspect that tomorrow's 1 to 1 ratio will make the coffee too cold as the concentrate is in the fridge tonight so it will be cold rather than room temp and the 1 to 1 ratio will make there be more cold in comparison to the hot.  If I like the flavor better using a 1 to 1 ratio then I will have to make a more dense concentrate and go from there.  Again, stay tuned.

2 Things About Coffee...

Someone asked a couple of questions through the Anchor Bay Roasts website and I am not exactly sure who it was or how to respond to them directly so I will just use the questions as fodder for my blogs.


The first question:  "What is the best way keep coffee fresh and warm after it has been brewed?"


My answer to this depends on whether the coffee is for an individual or a group such as at an office or a church.  If for an individual I suggest getting a small french press and only making coffee as you will drink it - not leaving any coffee to sit that will need to be kept fresh and warm.


However, if this is coffee for a group I suggest an airport pot.  It is a little more costly than your average pot but it does a better job keeping the air out and the heat in.


The second question:  "Do I have a variety of different blends?"


I do not make any blends.  I am a purist and stick with single-origin coffee exclusively.  Early on I had tried my hand at blends but I now stick with single origin coffee alone.  However, when I roast I often have coffee left over that I simply throw into a jar and mix together.  There have been some of these blends that have been phenomenal (that would have made me rich) however, I can never reproduce these blends and don't try. 


Finally:


I know that this question was not asked but it is so often asked I will answer it now.  Some people will ask me if I make a French Vanilla (or other other such flavor) flavored coffee?


No, I do not make ANY flavored coffee.  I give reasons why in a previous blog but simply put - you can use any cheap coffee from Wall-Mart and add those flavored creamers and save yourself some money.  The reason that flavor is added to coffee in the first place is because it is bad coffee to begin with.  I tell my enthusiasts that if they ever drink Anchor Bay Roasts coffee and it is not naturally flavorful and good then they should find me and spit it out all over me.


Anyhow, those are my answers and I hope they help...