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Cold Brew Coffee Concentrate Recipe for Perfect Iced Coffee
Chef Sarah Hasan

Cold Brew Coffee Concentrate

This Cold Brew Coffee Concentrate Recipe shows how to make cold brew coffee concentrate at home using simple ingredients and basic tools. The slow overnight cold brew process creates smooth cold brew coffee with low acidity coffee and bold flavor. Perfect for iced coffee at home, this method produces a rich coffee concentrate recipe that can be diluted with water or milk.
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Prep Time 5 minutes
Brew Time 16 hours
Total Time 16 hours 5 minutes
Servings: 4 servings
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: American
Calories: 5
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup coffee beans medium-coarse or coarsely ground coffee
  • 4 cups filtered water

Equipment

  • coffee grinder
  • large mason jar or pitcher
  • Fine mesh sieve
  • coffee filter or cheesecloth
  • mixing spoon
  • airtight storage jar

Method
 

  1. Add the coffee beans to a coffee grinder and grind them to a medium-coarse grind. The texture should look similar to sea salt. This grind size helps the coffee extraction process remain smooth and prevents bitterness.
  2. Place the freshly ground coffee grounds into a large mason jar or coffee brewing container. Pour in the filtered water slowly while stirring so the grounds become fully soaked.
  3. Cover the jar and leave the mixture to steep overnight at room temperature or in the refrigerator. The recommended cold brew steep time is between 14–20 hour brew time for strong cold brew coffee concentrate.
  4. After brewing, place a coffee filter or cheesecloth inside a fine mesh sieve and strain the mixture into a clean container. This removes all coffee grounds and leaves smooth coffee concentrate.
  5. Store the finished cold brew coffee concentrate in a sealed container in the refrigerator. It will stay fresh for up to 7 days shelf life.
  6. To serve, mix ½ cup concentrate with ½ cup cold water or milk over ice. Adjust the coffee dilution depending on how strong you want your cold brew iced coffee.

Notes

For the best ratio for cold brew coffee, many baristas follow a coffee to water ratio of 1:4 cold brew ratio. This produces a strong concentrate that can later be diluted.
If you prefer ready-to-drink coffee, you can use a 1:8 coffee ratio instead. However, most people prefer concentrate because it allows flexible drink customization.
Cold brew is known for its low acidity, smoother taste, and balanced caffeine content compared with hot brewing methods.
You can enhance the drink by adding coffee syrup, milk, or non-dairy options such as almond milk creamer, coconut coffee creamer, or cashew milk coffee creamer.

Nutrition (Per Serving)

Calories: 5 kcal  
Carbohydrates: 1 g  
Protein: 0 g  
Fat: 0 g  
Sodium: 5 mg  
Potassium: 30 mg  
Caffeine: ~95 mg  

Keywords

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