Being Cold Can Be A Good Thing.

Updated 7/6/13
The technical definition of being cold is lacking heat. Your drink could be cold, personality described as being cold or Chicago weather in April.  My husband, Former Farmer, swears my toes stay cold until August.  (Gotta love giving the cold toe treatment in the middle of winter!)  

Cold can be a good thing, especially when it comes to warm weather and the elixir of all mornings, coffee.  Queue the angel hymn. 

Julie Johnson, a very savvy mommy, turned me on to Cold Brewed Coffee. Yes, you read that right cold BREWED coffee. Not the iced coffee found at Starbucks or the regular Cup of Joe splashed over ice. This stuff has a smoother glide down your throat with a touch of sweetness.  The brewing process lacks heated water, traditional brewed at 212F.  The hot water forces the grounds to release a fatty acid while the cold brewed process has the beans soak at room temperature.  Think a bean bath coffee style.

Granted some coffee purists will cry hot water is what gives the beans complexity.  Experts in the coffee field say cold brewed coffee extracts all the unique flavors of the beans but leaves behinds the bitter oils and fatty acids.  Need another reason?  The cold brewed process needs no new equipment, you can use any flavor of beans and is a cheap drink that can be customized!

There is one caveat it takes 12 hours from start to finish but worth it in the end.

Ingredients needed:

2 Pitcher, 1-½ cups of cold water, 1/3 cup ground coffee and two coffee filters. I like the number 4 filter.

Combined the water and grounds, stir once.  Leave on the counter for 12 hours.  Yes it takes a while, but all good things take time.

Use a rubber band around the coffee filters to keep in place.

When the time is up give or take a few hours, strain the mixture using one coffee filter into the other pitcher. Repeat with other coffee filter. A second strain is needed to remove the last nasty grainy bits.  Nothing is worse then finding grounds in your cup.  Updated:  To speed up the process I just use two coffee filters.  You can also use a triple folded paper towel but might lose some of the liquid.    

Your cold brewed concentrate is done.  Combined 1-cup concentrate with an equal part of either water or milk.  I like my coffee white, so equal parts of the concentrate and 1% equals a delicious elixir.  Now if we could only solve the world problems so fast!

The concentrate will last up to 2 weeks in your refrigerator.  Try that with a traditional brewed Cup of Joe.  Cold brewed is perfect for the warmer months. Julie Johnson drinks her cold brewed year round even when the white stuff is flying around.  I would show you my cup of perfection, but drank it all writing this post and the update.

A few helpful tips.

• Put a lid on your coffee bath if you think over zealous housemates might tip it over.  Love the kids, don't trust them.
• SLOWLY pour the concentrate when straining into the coffee filters.  Several of my earlier attempts had broken coffee filters.  
• Double or triple the recipe if you love it.  Makes a great pre-workout pick me up.  
• Pass the word about cold brewed coffee. Maybe we will start a revolution or at least wake up a few grumpy cold personalities.
• Update:  Starbucks has a new coffee, Kati Kati, which makes a very good Cold Brewed. Thanks Connie for the sample!