The first morning, I served my homemade cold brew to my coffee-snob neighbor Dave; he took one sip and dramatically looked at his cup. “What sorcery is this?” he demanded, taking another eager sip. “No bitterness, no acid burn—just pure coffee flavor!” That’s the magic of cold brew. I discovered this brewing method years ago, which completely transformed my coffee experience. Unlike traditional hot brewing, which extracts bitter acids and oils, cold brewing gently coaxes out only the smoothest, decadent flavors from coffee beans. The result? A concentrated coffee that’s naturally sweet, incredibly soft, and versatile enough to enjoy hot or cold. Best of all, it’s straightforward to make at home—saving you from the expensive coffee shop versions.
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Table of Contents
Why This Recipe Works
Cold brewing extracts coffee’s flavor compounds without the harsh acids that hot water pulls out. The slow extraction process (12+ hours) allows only the smoothest, most desirable flavors to infuse into the water while leaving behind compounds that cause bitterness and acidity. This produces a naturally sweet, incredibly smooth coffee concentrate that can be stored for up to 10 days without quality degradation—unlike hot brewed coffee, which begins losing flavor within 30 minutes.
Why You Should Try This DIY Cold Brew Coffee Recipe
If you buy cold brew coffee, it is costly. When I say expensive, prices range all over the place. I promise making this homemade cold brew coffee recipe won’t cost you anywhere near as much.
I hope you will give this best cold-brew coffee recipe a try. It’s so easy to do, and it tastes so good. When your homemade cold-brew coffee is done steeping, you strain it, dilute it to your desired potency, and then sit back and enjoy! Bonus—it’s always ready and waiting in the fridge.
CopyKat Tip: Start steeping your next batch of cold-brewed coffee as soon as your current supply is getting low. This way, you’ll never run out!
What Equipment Do You Need to for Making Cold Brew Coffee?
You may wonder if you need a specialized cold brew coffee maker to make DIY cold brew coffee. In a nutshell, cold brew coffee is easy to make, and you don’t need fancy coffee-making equipment (although such is available if you so choose). You can make cold brew at home in three ways:
- Mason jar – simple, but you will need to run the coffee through a filter before serving. You can buy a mason jar with a fitted filter.
- French press – if you have one, it’s easy to use it to make cold press coffee.
- Cold brew coffee maker – these range from inexpensive to high-end fancy coffee makers that do everything.
Cold Brew Coffee Ingredients
You only need two simple things to make cold brew:
- Coarse Ground Coffee
- Water
Best Coffee for Cold Brew
When making cold brew coffee, it’s best to buy a slightly better quality coffee than you might drink every morning. A lighter roast works well to provide you with all of the fruity and chocolatey flavors coffee offers without any hint of harshness.
You will need to buy whole beans and grind them coarsely with a coffee grinder or have them ground where you purchase the coffee. It’s also best to use filtered water, especially if your local tap water has a lot of chlorine. Filtered water ensures that you get the purest coffee flavor possible.Â
Best Water for Cold Brew
It’s best to use filtered water, especially if your local tap water contains a lot of chlorine. Filtered water ensures that you get the purest coffee flavor possible.
How to Make Cold Brew Coffee
- Pour cold, filtered water into a French press or Mason jar.
- Add coarse ground coffee.
- Refrigerate the grounds and water for at least 12 hours.
- Separate the cold-brewed coffee from the grounds. If using a French press, press down the plunger and pour off the water. If you use a Mason jar, pour the coffee through the filter.
- Serve over ice. Enjoy!
How to Serve Homemade Cold Brew Coffee
- Serve it as iced coffee by simply pouring over ice.
- Add cream, flavored creamer, or sweetener to add flavor. It is over-the-top, good with French vanilla creamer.Â
- Heat cold brew and serve it as hot coffee.
You will love your cold brew coffee no matter how you serve it.
Does Cold Brew Have More Caffeine Than Hot Coffee?
Homemade cold press coffee initially has much more caffeine due to the coffee and water ratio. A cold brew concentrate can have more than 500mg of caffeine per 8 ounces of liquid, while a hot brew of equal volume usually has about 100mg.
However, the cold brew mixture is not a ready-to-drink beverage like regular coffee. It needs to be diluted.
You can also use decaf coffee. Decaf still has the tiniest bit of caffeine in it, closer to the amount tea has.
What’s the Difference Between Cold Brew and Iced Coffee?
The difference lies in the way the coffee is brewed. Iced coffee begins life as hot coffee is made the regular way, while the cold brew is brewed cold, as the name implies.
The most crucial difference is in the flavor. Cold brew coffee will have little acidity and bitterness, and the flavor is smoother and sweeter.
What Does Cold Brew Coffee Go With?
Your deliciously smooth and tasty cold brew coffee deserves a delicious accompaniment, such as:
How to Store Cold Brew Coffee
Making cold brew coffee is simple, and you should store it in your refrigerator. Regularly brewed coffee’s flavor quality degrades within 30 minutes after the water touches the ground coffee beans.
Cold brew is much better because it has higher flavor stability. Cold brews can last up to 10 days; although this coffee is so good, it probably won’t be in your refrigerator for that long.
I hope you will give this cold-brew coffee a try. It’s so easy, and it tastes so good.
Smooth Homemade Cold Brew Coffee – Low Acid & Rich Flavor
Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- 1/2 cup coarse ground coffee
Instructions
- Pour the water into a French press or Mason jar and add the coarse ground coffee. Place a lid on the container and refrigerate for at least 12 hours.
- After 12 hours, separate the coffee from the grounds. If using a French press, press down on the plunger. If using a Mason jar, pour the coffee through a coffee filter.
- Store the cold brew coffee in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Video
Equipment
Nutrition
Love iced coffee drinks? Try these favorites!
- Dunkin Iced Coffee
- Iced Apple Crisp Macchiato
- Iced Brown Sugar Oat Milk Shaken Espresso
- Iced Coconut Mocha Macchiato
- Iced Mocha
- Iced Toasted White Chocolate Mocha
- Iced White Chocolate Mocha
- Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew
Popular Cold Drinks
Check out my easy drink recipes and the best fast food drink recipes here on CopyKat!
Using the recipe above, how much water would you add to the brewed mixture (2 cups water + 1/2 cup coarse ground coffee)?
Yes, this recipe calls for 2 cups of water, and 1/2 cup coarse ground coffee.
She is asking how much water would you dilute the cold brew to make a drink
You don’t need to dilute the cold brew coffee to make a drink.
Do you heat the water before adding the coarsely ground beans or it it room temp? Then stir and refrigerate. Please advise, thanks!
I love iced coffee or hot coffee. I drink it without milk, cream, or sugar. I hate, hate Luke warm coffee. Thank you for this post. I can’t wait to make my cool brew coffee. I love your posts and appreciate your hard work.
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe. I’ve given it a try myself. But I’ve tried using regular ground coffee grounds from like Folgers and such. Then run through a coffee filter using a funnel. Comes out pretty good. I’ve even experimented using a half gallon pitcher and making a double batch at once. Came out pretty good. Then I experimented around and made your Dunkin’ Donut iced coffee. Then saw you’re post and realized I had came up with the recipe on my own! So thanks there!
I usually make my cold brew coffee in a French Press. It is so easy to do! I am glad you practiced this one your own. Cold brew coffee is so expensive when you buy it out.
This recipe calls for an awful lot of grounds, the caffeine content will turn you into Cornholio. It only takes three ounces of grounds to 6 cups of water to make cold brew that tastes fabulous.
Kevin1, I will have to give that a try. Loved the Cornholio comment 😉 I am a major fan of Beevis and Butthead.
A coarse grind and longer steep is the secret, I steep mine for about 14 hours before serving. That way the stronger infusion can be be diluted into a few ounces of water. When you have GERD and love coffee you have to be creative.
The only problem with this method and making cold brewed tea, is that nutritionists have WARNED consumers from making cold brewed coffee or tea, because mouse droppings and other nasty contents may be present in beans or tea leaves that will not be neutralized by heating… There is no cure for the Hanta Virus…
Going to the kitchen now, Thank you so much, I am excited!
Oh great, I hope you enjoy the cold brew coffee.
I prefer iced coffees to hot coffee (I’m weird!) – this sounds like a great idea!
I understand. I love hot coffee, and iced coffee, but nothing inbetween.
I can’t WAIT to try this. I’m going to go grind my beans now! Thanks so much for this recipe!!
Susan, let me know how it goes!
I DEFINITELY will, Stephanie! It’s chilling in the frig now!!
It costs so much less to make than to buy it. It’s great stuff.
Oh my goodness! I just poured myself a cup. You are so right, it is REALLY good, Stephanie! It’s very smooth, no bitter taste at all. The only time I’ve purchased cold brew is at Dunn Bros. and it is $10 for a “jug”. This is, obviously, cheaper but moreso, it’s so much better. I’m so excited you posted this! Keep ’em coming!
I love it! Now you don’t have to pay all of that money to enjoy the cold brew! It’s so easy to make.
What would be an easy way to sweeten (with sugar) the cold coffee? Sounds great but I gotta have my sugar! Thanks.
Sugar would work well. I have to have a little sweetness in my coffee too!
Thanks!
You could also use a simple syrup to help sweeten your coffee. It does wonders.
Or, you could use Stevia… a couple of drops and it’s virtually calorie free.
You do realise that sugar feeds cancer right? Minimise sugar, do NOT use Nutrasweet, Equal etc. as they contain either phenalanilines (sp?) or derivatives of it. Quite simply D.A.N.G.E.R.O.U.S.
How do you feel about coconut sugar?
Vitamins nourish cancer.