Learn how to make cold brew coffee at home! Made with basic equipment, this easy recipe yields a strong, smooth concentrate for perfect iced coffee.
If you love cold brew coffee, learn how to make cold brew concentrate at home! Don’t worry, you don’t need any special equipment or fancy ingredients. My cold brew recipe is easy to make with just coffee grounds, cold water, a Mason jar, and a strainer. It creates a strong, smooth concentrate that you can dilute with water or milk for a perfect glass of cold brew coffee.
I’ve been a cold brew fan for over a decade…and I’m embarrassed to admit that I spent way longer than I should have buying the bottled stuff from the store. About 5 years ago, I started experimenting with making my own, testing different ratios and steeping times. I loved that it was more affordable and gave me complete control over the final flavor. Now, I make this concentrate almost weekly.
If you’ve never made homemade cold brew, I hope this recipe will inspire you to give it a try. If you’re anything like me, you won’t look back!
What Is Cold Brew?
Cold brew is coffee that’s brewed using cold or room temperature water. Unlike regular iced coffee, which is made by serving cooled drip coffee over ice, cold brew steeps slowly, for 12-24 hours. The cold water and long steep create a coffee with a richer, smoother flavor—it’s both less acidic and less bitter than coffee brewed with hot water.
When I make cold brew coffee at home, I start by making a cold brew concentrate that keeps for about a week in the fridge. I add it straight to coffee drinks like coffee smoothies and espresso martinis for a strong kick of coffee flavor, or I dilute it with water and/or milk to create a quick glass of iced coffee in the morning. Keep reading to learn how to make it!
How to Make Cold Brew Coffee Concentrate
First, coarsely grind your coffee. If you don’t have a coffee grinder, grind the beans at the store, or get freshly ground beans from a local coffee shop or roaster.
Place the coffee grounds in a large Mason jar or French press and pour filtered water on top.
Water to Coffee Ratio
I make this recipe with a 1:2 ratio of coffee to water, or 1 1/2 cups of grounds for every 3 cups of water. This yields a strong cold brew concentrate, so I dilute it with milk and/or more water before I drink it as iced coffee. I like that this intense concentrate is easy to store in the fridge and customize to taste.
Stir to combine the water and the coffee grounds. Cover the jar with a lid and let it sit at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours. The longer the coffee steeps, the stronger it will be.
Next, strain the coffee. If using a Mason jar, place a fine mesh strainer over a bowl and line it with a layer of cheesecloth or paper coffee filters. Pour the coffee through the strainer to remove the grounds. If you’re using a French press, press down the filter.
Transfer the strained coffee to a clean jar or other airtight container. Cover and store it in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Serving Cold Brew Coffee
Remember, this recipe makes a strong concentrate, so you probably won’t want to drink it straight on its own!
Instead, for perfect cold brew coffee, pour 3/4 cup of the concentrate over ice and top it with an equal amount of water and/or milk. I love mine with almond milk or oat milk. If you like, you can also add a sweetener like sugar, maple, or simple syrup. Taste and adjust before serving, adding more coffee, milk, or water as desired.
Want to use this recipe to make hot coffee? Just skip the ice and warm up the concentrate with as much water or milk as you like!
Cold Brew Coffee Recipe Tips
- Fresh is best. Whether you’re making hot brewed coffee or cold, freshly ground beans will always yield the best flavor. Why? Grinding coffee beans releases their oils. These oils are what add complexity and depth to a cup of coffee. After you grind coffee beans, these oils begin to dry out. As a result, you want to use coffee beans right after you grind them, when their oils have just been released and their flavor is fresh.
- Grind the coffee beans coarsely. The coarse grounds are easy to strain out of the water after steeping, and they give the cold brew a more balanced, less bitter flavor than fine grounds do. This is another reason to grind the beans yourself—pre-ground beans are typically finely ground.
- Adjust the ratios to taste. One of the reasons I love making cold brew at home is that it’s easy to adjust each cup of coffee to taste. If I’ve made a particularly strong batch of concentrate, I dilute each glass with more milk or water. If it’s less strong, I just add a splash. Don’t hesitate to add more coffee, water, or milk to create a flavor and intensity you love.
More Cold Drinks to Try
If you love this recipe, try one of these refreshing drinks next:
How to Make Cold Brew Coffee
Ingredients
- 1½ cups coarsely ground coffee
- 3 cups filtered water, plus more for serving
- Milk or plant milk, optional, for serving
Instructions
- Place the ground coffee in a 28-ounce Mason jar, or similar. Add the water, then stir. Cover and set aside for 12 to 24 hours at room temperature.
- Spread a piece of cheesecloth or paper coffee filters in a fine mesh strainer and place it over a large bowl. Pour the coffee into the bowl to strain it. Store the strained coffee in the fridge for up to a week.
- When ready to serve, pour ¾ cup of the concentrate over ice. If the coffee is stronger than you'd like, dilute it with water or milk, as desired. I like a 1:1 ratio of cold brew concentrate to extra water or milk. Feel free to adjust the ratios to your liking, adding more coffee, water, and/or milk to taste.
Absolutely amazing!!!
I grow chocolate mint, can I chop some up and put that in the brew?
Hi Randy, I’ve never tried adding herbs to cold brew! I think it could work. If you try it, let us know how it goes!
What if you like a much warmer coffe ?
You can heat it up if you’d like.
thanks for the great article, keep up the good work
I too love cold brew but do it slightly differently. I bought an Oxo cold brew “kit,” consisting of a pitcher, a beaker, and a stand with a built-in filter. I dump a 10-oz bag of ground coffee into the pticher, pour in 6 cups of cold filtered water, stir it well, then put the pitcher in the fridge for at 6 hours. Then I stir it again as the grounds have “bloomed” and risen to the top. I leave the pitcher in the fridge over night, then stir it one more time first thing in the morning.. Back into the fridge until mid-afternoon, usually around 24 hours of brewing. Position the beaker underneath the stand and the pitcher on top. The coffee will then drain through the filter into the beaker. Add cream and water to taste. Voila!
Hi Jeanine,
I have made this several times and have had great success. This time – I used espresso beans instead of coffee. Do you think it will still taste good ? Thanks!
When I first started making cold brew coffee, I used espresso beans. My daughter said it was some of the best cold brew coffee she had. She used to work for Starbucks.
What do you mean by “espresso beans”? Is that just a darker roast coffee? Sorry, I’m just curious since all coffee is made from coffee beans and whether you end up with an espresso or e.g. an americano is a matter of preparation.
Thanks! 🙂
Amazing recipe! I find that it is really strong after steeping and need to dilute it with 3 parts water to 1 part cold brew “extract”. It might be different with other individuals with more of a caffeine tolerance.
Thx for the recipe ?.
What kind of coffee are you using?
Freshly ground and coarsely ground.
But would love recommendation on a brand you enjoy. Thanks.
Just got into cold brewing didn’t have corse ground coffee so I used the fine stuff wish me luck!
Isn’t it coffee grinding so satisfying or it’s just me? But cold brew is supremacy to me!
After reading your article, i followed your step and it worksss!! This is so wonderful! Thanks you!
I’m so glad you loved it!
I love Cold Brew and I usually make myself enough to last me a couple of days.
My current setup – Fellow ODE Grinder, Hario Cold Brew Bottle ~ 13 Hour brew.
I made an app to track your Home Cold Brews! Simply create a new brew, add categorization, slide the timer to your desired length, and you’re off! You will get also notified when your brew is done so you can take it out at the time you want.
Try out Brewli 🙂
Hi, Jeremy, where is the app?
Jeanine, thank you for sharing this delectable dish! A cold brew is a lifesaver on scorching summer days. Once prepared, you can dilute the caffeine content to taste with milk or water. The best part is that the concentrate can be stored in the fridge for a week without compromising quality.
Is the coffee measurement 1 1/2 cups of whole beans ground? Or enough beans to make 1 1/2 cups after grinding?
HI Elle, 1 1/2 cups after grinding.
thank you, and yes I have always wanted to know how to cold brew, especially in the summer any time after early am, so much appreciated!
Brewing coffee and letting it cool doesn’t taste as good as this method. It tastes stale prepared that way. The most important thing is that the coffee is freshly ground. I use my glass Melitta pour over carafe and a coffee filter to make this. Great recipe!
Are you saying you make pour over hot coffee, then chill it? Or you make cold brew in a jar and after 24 hours you filter it with the Melitta set up?
I love making cold brew, only I use a 64 oz. mason jar! Yes, I go through it fast. No more bitter coffee! ?
How is this different from brewed coffee, letting it cool, then refrigerating it? Thanks!
It explains this in the post..
Fix it both ways and then taste it… NO comparison!!!
Question! Can I make a big batch of this and keep it for a few days or is it best consumed fresh?
Oh, now I see in your post that fresh is best hahah. How much coffee/water would I use if I wanted to make just one cup of cold brew?
I think she’s just saying that freshly ground beans are best. She mentions storing the cold brew in the fridge and drinking it throughout the week
Yep, this size batch lasts me about a week in the fridge.
You could make 1/4 or approximately 1/5 of the recipe for one serving, but it’s more efficient to make the whole jar and enjoy it all week 🙂