My significant other doesn’t care nearly as much about coffee as I do, so we always have pre-ground supermarket coffee at home. Tastewise, it’s usually rather dull and bitter because apparently, that‘s what people expect coffee to taste like around here.
I wonder if there is a method/recipe that can compensate for those flaws. The Aeropress is pretty versatile, so going for lower temperatures and/or shorter extraction times comes to me as a natural first step in this investigation. Doing a pour over with this stuff feels like I‘m wasting precious V60 filter papers though tbh 😄
Any further suggestions? I own a V60, an Aeropress, a cheap drip coffee machine and the (in-) famous IKEA french press. My kettle only allows for adjustments in 10°C steps, but features a temperature display, so I can go reasonably precise on that end.
Cheers! ✌️
You don’t seem to be looking for the answer coldbrew, but it’s coldbrew.
Nice, I hadn’t thought of that! I’m eager to give it a try. Got a favourite recipe utilising one of the brewers in my collection?
I have a 1L french press jug that I fill with 80g of coffee, coarse grind (34 on 1zpreszo JX) and top with cold water making sure all the grounds are wet and stirring lightly to make sure they’re all wet. I leave it in the fridge for 12-18 hours and filter through the mesh. I dillute with hot water or just microwave it after dillution if I’m too lazy to boil (blasphemy I know). I sometimes mix it with tonic water or ice and drink chilled.
Make sure to pop it in the fridge. Room temperature extracts the acids somewhat which isn’t to my preference.
That sounds really good. I‘ve got a french press already and at the moment, the nights are so cold here that I just might just let it steep outside over night.
Microwaving isn’t anything I‘d frown upon, apart from my bias at least that I almost exclusively associate that with old, stale and overall horrible taste when it comes to coffee. But I might just try that as well. Thanks for the suggestions!
That’s the neat part, all you need is a big jar, 24 hours in the fridge and filter patiently… the filtering isn’t really slow but you usually make a bunch.
Ratio of coffee to water is really the only tweak you can make. I used to use a whole 14OZ bag at a time and I’m not sure how much water anymore… I just used the same large glass jar every time, so there was more eyeball than measure.
It’s a very forgiving method, you can leave it in for 48+ hours, but 24 is the minimum. Once you filter it it’s good in the fridge for a week.
Toddy has a cold brew container that makes the process really easy. It has a filter disc at the bottom. I ended up buying some reusable cotton filter bags since their paper filters were a bit expensive.
I use the 12 oz whole bag of coffee per batch and fill the toddy up with water to the top. It makes about two liters/quarts of coffee. I usually top up the pitcher I store the coffee in with a few ounces of water in an attempt to keep the concentration consistent between batches.
I’m not sure if it’s the same brand but we’ve got a slick one too… not a bad way to go if you end up liking it. Just wanted to give OP a way to try it out without waiting for more gear ;-)
The biggest issue for me was always filtering. Having a hole in the bottom to drain without having to kick up all the grounds made the whole process so much easier. I actually got into cold brew because I liked the convenience of store bought, but not the price. Haven’t made a pot of hot coffee in over a year!
Can I hot the coldbrew?
You know… it’s never actually occurred to me to try, but it certainly should be. Various vendors sell concentrated cold brew and I doubt they are doing it with a vacuum.
Try it out and let us know?