Best. Coffee. EVER.
I read about cold-brewed coffee last year in the New York Times (Iced Coffee? No Sweat, 06/27/07). It sounded amazing.
When I stopped at my favorite Caffe Fiore the next day, I asked if they offered or were planning to offer cold-brewed coffee. The barista told me they were planning to offer it during the summer.
Fast forward to last weekend at the same Caffe Fiore. I noticed a sign by the espresso machine: “Organic cold-brewed coffee.”
I tried it.
It’s amazing.
Absolutely no trace of bitterness or acidity — not that Fiore’s regular, hot-brewed espresso is bitter or acidic. It isn’t, that’s why I drink it. The cold-brewed was even smoother than the regular. Thicker and … the only other adjective I can think of is, earthier. A weird word to describe coffee, I know, but it fits. The cold-brewed tasted more natural, more organic, more like — “This is what I should be drinking.”
What exactly is cold-brewed coffee? It’s coffee brewed without heat into a strong concentrate — according to an article from MSNBC (My coffee is cold, 08/20/04) use 9 cups of water for 1 pound of coffee grounds.
Add the water to the grounds and brew for 12 hours. Then strain the coffee and dilute it with hot, warm, or cold water (typically anywhere from a 1:1 to 3:1 ratio of water to coffee).
Very low tech. And, it would seem, difficult to find ready-made in coffee shops. Fiore is the only place I’ve seen that advertises cold-brewed. I’ll have to ask at Caffe Ladro, my weekday coffee place (Ladro’s close to work, and the Fiore that’s most convenient for me opens after I’ve started my commute).
If you like coffee — good coffee, not crappy mega-giant-coffee-store coffee (yep, starts with an “s,” ends with an “ucks”) — try cold-brewed. And if you try it at Caffe Fiore, “don’t freak out” (as Will the barista said) when your coffee dealer adds water to the cold coffee concentrate.
One more thing: Because it’s kept chilled or at room temperature, cold-brewed doesn’t melt the ice in an iced drink. Perfect!
Update: Caffe Ladro does cold-brewed. Woo-hoo!
Update #2: Caffe Ladro has cold, brewed coffee; not cold-brewed coffee. I.e., coffee brewed the regular way, then refrigerated; not coffee brewed without heat.