Homemade Cold Brew Coffee

I have been enjoying a treat this summer... something to cool me down during the endless, sweltering days here in sunny south Florida- coffee!  This is not your typical cuppa joe,  I have been making cold brew coffee, which is more tasty and less acidic than normal hot brew coffee.  In fact, it is up to 70% less acidic than regular coffee!  And, cold brew is never bitter to the taste- I find that cold brew needs much less sugar, for those of you who like sweetener.

As for the process, making cold brew is not hard at all!  You will need a coffee grinder (freshly-ground coffee is best), and a kitchen scale to weigh out the ground coffee.  Other that, you will need a vessel (canning jar or other glass container with a lid) in which  to soak your coffee.

I found an organic whole-bean coffee at my local Costco, and my magic bullet ground it up nicely! The original recipe called for "course-ground" coffee, but mine was more finely ground.  It worked out nicely.  I used a quart-sized canning jar for my soaking vessel, so I filled it with 3 cups filtered water.  My recipe calls for 2 cups water per 1 oz ground coffee beans, so I used 1.5 oz ground coffee*: 

After capping the jar, give it a good shake to make sure the coffee beans are soaked and covered with water.  I give mine a shake every time I walk past, just to keep the mixture circulating.

When 24 hours is up, filter your coffee through a cheesecloth or old tee-shirt.  The final product will be pretty potent, so feel free to dilute to your personal taste.  If you need any sweetener, add it before storing the remaining liquid in the fridge.  Cold brew can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks with no adverse effects on taste, so feel free to make a large quantity at one go-around!   

My cold brew treat with a splash of raw milk- YUM!

*If you own a French press coffee maker, you can use this for your soaking vessel and just press the cold coffee after the 24-hour soak.  

*Cold brew can be made in concentrate form.  Just add 1 cup water per 1 oz ground coffee beans and dilute the finished coffee with water in the ratio of 1:1 before serving :)  This way, you can add boiling water for a hot cup of coffee and still enjoy the benefits of cold brew!

Homemade Coffee Kombucha

This post is for all those coffee lovers out there!  I have been drinking coffee since I was a teenager and still love an occasional sip or two of that wonderfully warm, invigorating beverage.  So, I was so excited to find out you can make kombucha from coffee (instead of tea)!!  The process is almost exactly like making tea kombucha.  So, those of you who make kombucha regularly (and are ready for a new treat), just substitute ground coffee for the tea and you are ready to go!  For those of you who don't usually make kombucha, here's a neat project that your tummy will enjoy...

Here's my coffee booch on day 1 (on the far left).  I simply brewed enough coffee for my 1 gallon container.  I used 1t ground coffee per cup of water, so about 5 T for about 1 gallon water.  Since my spoonfuls were heaping, I rounded down :).  Then, I added 1 cup organic sugar and let it dissolve.  When the sweet coffee was cooled down to around 100 F, I added my scoby and about 1 cup left-over liquid from my previous batch- you can use either tea or coffee booch as a starter.



I go by taste when bottling my booch, and this batch took about 2 1/2 weeks to finish fermenting.  Remember, even the caffeine is being changed at a molecular level- the finished product will not be sweet or caffeinated.  I bottled as soon as I could no longer taste the sugar and the nice kombucha tang was developed. 

Usually, I let my booch rest for a second ferment, either with fruit or juice as a flavoring, but I really couldn't decide what to flavor this with... maybe a vanilla bean?  or cinnamon stick?  The choice is yours!  There is definitely a coffee aftertaste to this beverage, so anything that would compliment that would work :)  I am skipping the second ferment this time and putting this baby right in the fridge.  Now, I can enjoy two of my favorite morning beverages together in one cup!  Enjoy!!