I’m obsessed with cold brew coffee. I love the crisp, smooth taste of the coffee. I like taking the time to brew it overnight. Cold brew is one of my favorite coffee drinks. So, it’s only natural I’d want to write about cold brew coffee concentrate.
Here in Texas, we the hot summers can start as early as April and last as late as mid-October.
Can you see why I might adore cold brew coffee and learn how to make my own at home? Nothing’s more repulsive than a piping hot cup of coffee when temps are pushing the triple digits. I’d rather wear a sweater in a sauna.
I’ve written extensively about the advantages of making your own cold coffee at home. It just makes financial sense and it gives you control over the beans’ final flavor.
There are 2 ways to buy and make cold brew coffee – cold brew concentrate and ready to drink cold brew. Both are satisfying but different from each other in their bottled form.
In this post, I share the difference between cold brew concentrate and its ready to drink sister:
What is Cold Brew Coffee?
Cold brew coffee is all over the place, from Instagram to most coffee shop menus.
But what is cold brew coffee?
Cold brew coffee is a brewing process that uses coarse ground coffee and cool or cold water to extra the coffee bean’s flavor in a slow brewing process with no heat.
The biggest difference between cold brew coffee and regular coffee is that the cold brew is staying at relatively low heat for the brewing process. Unlike iced coffee, which is simply hot coffee over ice, the cold brew process is a 12+ hour brewing process that extracts the rich flavor of the coffee beans without the acidic flavors that are associated with hot coffee
The resulting coffee is low in acid and big on flavor. You can find plenty of home recipes (I’ll share mine shortly). And the gadgets on the market to make this prized coffee at home are almost endless.
Cold brew traditionally “brews” for 12 to 18 hours. This can be a bummer for a lot of coffee lovers wanting to have their cold brew coffee faster. This is where your local coffee shop or grocery store can be super helpful.
You can buy an array of cold brew coffee concentrates and ready to drink at your grocery store or on Amazon.
But what’s the difference between cold brew concentrate and ready to drink cold brew?
What Is the Difference Between Concentrate & Ready to Drink Cold Brew?
Cold brew concentrate and ready to drink cold brew are like sisters. The cold brew concentrate is the bigger, bossier of the two that requires some “calming down” via water or creamer to dilute the intensity of the brew.
Ready to drink cold brew is the little sister of cold brew concentrate. She’s ready to hang out as she is. She’s low maintenance and down for whatever. Ready to drink cold brew has already been diluted to less intensity of her concentrate sister.
The coffee golden ratio applies to all coffee drinks, except for cold brew concentrate. The coffee to water ratio on most cold brew concentrates is different because it’s a concentrate.
Cold brew concentrate usually has a ratio of about 1 part coffee to 7 parts water (1:7). The coffee golden ratio is closer to 1:15 (respectively). This higher coffee to water ratio is going to make a concentrate that’s meant to be diluted. Usually, a batch of cold brew concentrate will make a finished gallon of ready to drink cold brew.
Most ready to drink cold brews are going to be just that, ready to drink. No diluting needed.
The biggest seller for me on ready to drink cold brew coffee is I don’t have to do anything. I just pop that lid and enjoy. This is especially handy when I’m running late or traveling.
How to Make Cold Brew Concentrate
Get out the calculator app on your phone because this cold brew concentrate recipe is going to be a mathematical doozy. You’ve been warned. Let’s go.
Cold Brew Concentrate Math
I’m shooting for a 1:4 ratio of cold brew, but how much cold brew concentrate do we need to make to reach a week’s worth?
You might as well brew a big batch since this is an 18 hour process.
The ratio can be simplified even further:
We want 1 gram of coffee for every 15 grams of water. There are about 10 coffee beans in a gram of ground coffee. So we can multiply this out even further.
If we are shooting for a large batch (think like a cup or 2 of final concentrate), then we need to use that handy calculator on your phone. There are around 29.57 grams of water in an ounce. A cup is 8 fluid ounces of water. If you want around 2 cups of final cold brew concentrate, you’re going to need to use 473 grams of water in your brew.
Next, you’re going to need to divide 473 by 7 to get the amount of ground coffee needed. This number is 67.6 grams.
This is the 7:1 ratio for 2 cups of final cold brew concentrate.
You can adjust this ratio by volume or as you like for your tastes.
Cold Brew Concentrate Recipe
Supplies
- 64 oz Wide Mouth Mason Jar with Plastic Lid
- 2 cups measuring cup (I like this set)
- Burr Coffee Grinder
- Kitchen Scale
- Wide Mouth Funnel
- This Sieve
- 2 cups (473 grams) of cool or cold water
- Whole Bean Coffee (The roast is really up to you but I like a medium to dark roast like this one or this one).
Instructions
- Grind whole coffee beans to the coarsest grind on your burr grinder.
- Place a bowl on your kitchen scale and zero it out to clear the weight of the bowl.
- Weigh out 67 grams of ground coffee.
- Place the sieve in the mason jar and place the wide mouth filter on top of the sieve.
- Pour measured out ground coffee to fill the sieve. Shake to settle the grounds in the sieve.
- Measure out 473 grams of cool to cold water into a measuring cup that’s been zeroed out on your scale.
- Pour the water over the ground coffee to fill the mason jar. It will not fill all the way.
- Use a long spoon to mix the coffee and water mixture thoroughly.
- Screw the plastic lid on top of the mason jar.
- Store cold brew mixture in a dark cool place for 18 hours. (I usually set an alarm on my phone or echo dot so I don’t forget).
- After 18 hours, remove the sieve and discard used coffee grounds.
- Enjoy your cold brew concentrate.
How to Use Cold Brew Concentrate
Now that you’ve brewed a cold brew concentrate, you can store this in your fridge for up to 10 days. If everything went well,then you’ve got a powerful coffee concentrate that will be akin to jet fuel. You could drink it straight, but I don’t suggest it. This cold brew concentrate is meant to be diluted.
How do you get to the right ratio of bold brew concentrate to a ready to drink cold brew?
Like most coffee drinks it’s up to you.
Most ready to drink cold brew golden ratio is diluted to classic number of 1:15.
This is where the math comes in, again.
1:7 is the ratio for cold brew concentrate. Our end goal is 15:1 for coffee’s golden ratio.
Let’s look at how the math plays out:
Using the above ratio, we will need to dilute out the cold brew concentrate to 15:1. Right now it’s sitting at about 7:1.
Here’s how I do it.:
I fill my glass or cold drink tumbler halfway. Then I start adding cold water to about 2/3 full. I mix well and taste. If this is a good flavor for, add ice and enjoy.
I usually add about 4 cubes of ice and my favorite non-dairy creamer to get to the right coffee ratio. This is not as an exact science as making the concentrate, but you’ll get a hang of it as you play around with your brew.
I need to warn you not to dilute your cold brew concentrate directly in the jar you’re storing the concentrate in. The problem you’re going to run into is this:
If you overdilute it you can’t remove the water once it’s in the concentrate. Nobody wants a watery cold brew. I suggest diluting your cold brew concentrate on as-needed basis.
Trust me, I’ve made this mistake.
How to Measure out Your Cold Brew Concentrate on a Scale
- Place your glass or tumbler of choice on your scale and zero it out.
- Pour 1/2 cup (118 grams) of cold brew concentrate into your glass.
- Zero out your scale again.
- Add a 1/3 cup (89 grams) of water to bring your concentrate to almost the golden ratio of 15:1.
- Add a couple of ice cubes to keep your drink cold and, presto! You just mathed your way to the perfect cup of ready to drink cold brew.
I always add creamer, so this will dilute it further, but this happens whenever you add additional liquids to coffee, no matter the brewing method.
Conclusion
Cold brew concentrate is having a moment right now. You can now be part of the cool kids too.
As you can see, like most coffee brewing methods, cold brew concentrate is as simple as following a simple recipe and knowing the coffee golden ratios and how they apply to your intended finished coffee,
I hope you’ll play around with the above recipe to create your own cold brew concentrate. Let me know about your own tweaks or any roadblocks you’ve run into.