Best. Coffee. EVER. <\/p>\n
I read about cold-brewed coffee last year in the New York Times<\/em> (Iced Coffee? No Sweat<\/a><\/strong>, 06\/27\/07). It sounded amazing. <\/p>\n When I stopped at my favorite Caffe Fiore<\/a><\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n Fast forward to last weekend at the same Caffe Fiore. I noticed a sign by the espresso machine: “Organic cold-brewed coffee.”<\/p>\n I tried it. <\/p>\n It’s amazing.<\/p>\n 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<\/em>. A weird word to describe coffee, I know, but it fits. The cold-brewed tasted more natural, more organic, more like — “This<\/em> is what I should be drinking.”<\/p>\n 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<\/a><\/strong>, 08\/20\/04) use 9 cups of water for 1 pound of coffee grounds. <\/p>\n 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).<\/p>\n