I started drinking coffee when I was 14 years old. It was the early 1990s and Portland, Oregon was ground zero for the onslaught of espresso bars that was soon to sweep the nation. Boyd’s, one of the early local chains, had a location just a block from my high school and whenever my budget allowed, I’d get myself a latte (often with hazelnut syrup) or when the weather warmed, an iced coffee.
I’ve been a fairly regular coffee drinker ever since. And so, when the nice people at Driftaway Coffee got in touch a few months back to see if we could team up in some way, I said of course. They are a subscription coffee company that will send you installments of freshly roasted beans every two weeks.
They trick is that they like each new subscriber to start with their Rise & Grind kit, which includes four different varietals in one-ounce samples. Once you’ve brewed through each one, you let them know which one you liked best and that’s the one you’ll get in each shipment. It’s a pretty great idea, particularly for people who are just starting to explore single origin coffees.
They sent me one of the two-ounce Rise & Grind kits and once I was finished admiring the packaging (I’m a sucker for good design), I popped open one of the 2 ounce packets and got to work making a batch of cold brew.
I’ve been a cold brew coffee fan for years now (you can see that the first time I mentioned it was way back in 2010) and make it a lot when the days warm. I’ve refined my approach and upgraded my equipment slightly in the last five years, so an updated post on the topic seemed like a good idea.
I’ve found that everyone has their own ratio for cold brew. My preferred recipe is 2 ounces of coarse ground coffee to 3 1/2 cups cold, freshly filtered water. This makes a strong brew that produces enough to last 2-3 days (depending on how many deadlines I’m pushing to meet). I don’t typically add water to thin it out, but instead add a couple of ice cubes and a generous pour of milk and call it good.
I grind the beans and funnel them into a quart jar. I add a splash of cold water and swirl the jar a little to dampen the grounds and let them bloom a little. Once they’ve grown a little, I add the remaining water and put a lid on the jar. I tuck into the corner of the kitchen and let it sit for 12 to 18 hours.
The next day, I perch a cone filter over a clean quart jar and fit it with one of Coffee Sock cloth filters that Cuppow sells. I pour the sludgy coffee through the filter in a couple of batches, until the lower jar is filled with perfect, ready to drink coffee.
One of my favorite things about cold brew is that it has the ability to take mediocre or slightly elderly beans and make them drinkable. However, when you’re shooting for more than just simply drinkable, using good, freshly roasted beans creates a brew that is transcendently good.
For the batch of cold brew that is pictured here, I used Driftaway Coffee’s Guatemalan beans and it was magical. Earthy and a bit chocolatey, with just a bit of acid for lightness. Oh, and if making your own cold brew feels like too much work, I hear that Driftaway Coffee is soon going to be making their own concentrate.
The nice folks at Driftaway Coffee want to give a three-month subscriptions away to one of my readers so that’s what we’re going to do. Here’s how to enter!
- Leave a comment on this post and tell me what you’re drinking these days. Cold brew coffee? Homemade kombucha? Hot tea with honey?
- Comments will close at 11:59 pm eastern time on Saturday, June 6, 2015. Winners will be chosen at random and will be posted to the blog soon thereafter.
- Giveaway open to US residents only. Void where prohibited.
- One comment per person, please. Entries must be left via the comment form on the blog at the bottom of this post.
Disclosure: Driftaway Coffee sent me their Rise & Grind kit and are providing the giveaway subscription, both at no cost to me. No additional financial compensation has been provided and all opinions expressed are mine alone.
I’ve been drinking green tea through my Keurig but would like to try cold brew coffee made from a recipe.
Cold brew with a coffee sock bought in costa rica. Pura /vida
I am strictly a black coffee drinker. Grinding my locally roasted beans every morning and making awesome coffee in my Clever Dripper cone.
Hot coffee with half and half!
I drink drip or cold brew on weekday mornings (depending on the temp/time of year) and some sort of decadent latte confection on weekends – whatever flavor suits my mood that day.
I do like Kombucha and tea, but those are for my afternoon caffeine kick. 🙂
I make coffee concentrate in large amounts and keep a jar in the fridge – the rest goes in the freezer. Each morning my husband can boil water, put his desired amount of concentrate in a cup and he has good-tasting coffee. I also use it for iced coffee drinks.
Sun tea.
I enjoy coffee from my Keurig every morning and hot tea in the evening when the weather is cooler.
It’s cold in CT this week, so it’s been hot coffee during the am for me. Chamomile tea in the evening for relaxation!
It’s not hot enough yet for cold brew here in Wisconsin, so I’m still making coffee with my moka.
Coffee from my keurig with coconut milk – delicious!
White chocolate americanos with coconut milk are my jam these days…..YUM 🙂
Hot coffee in the morning, no matter what. With half and half if we have any; otherwise black. We’e drunk Starbucks French roast for 20-plus years and come back to it every time we try something else. So we don’t try much else anymore. I’ve been meaning to try some cold-brew – maybe this is the summer!
jasmine green tea at work, kombucha at home (it’s been on sale…), and water everywhere!
I love coffee, cold or hot. Recently, I purchased some ground chickory and have been adding it to a few of my pots of coffee for a variation.
I have been drinking lots of iced coffee from my Keurig these days. I would love to try something higher quality!
Thanks for the chance to win!
I’m drinking a lot of unsweetened iced tea since I’m pregnant and thirsty ALL THE TIME. I also will brew a pint jar of hot coffee some mornings and pop it in the refrigerator to have as iced coffee in the afternoon – it always feels so indulgent!
afternoon americano, such a good pick me up!
Drinking some nice oolong on a damp and cold summer day!
Frappucchinos, but I need to stop – too much sugar!
What a cool service (and such lovely packaging too). I’m drinking coffee right now at my office–black and bitter and Whole-30-compliant. 😉
Drinking coffee in all forms and homemade kombucha!
Unbelievably, we have a coffee roasting company just down the street, and we can purchase very freshly roasted beans for a fraction of the cost somewhere else. Oh, and the coffee is the very best!
2 pint jars of hot coffee when I get up for me!
Roasterie Shatto Chocolate Milk Toddy; local dairy chocolate milk (best you’ve ever had) + locally roasted beans
I love hot coffee, very dark and strong, with half and half and honey! rich and delicious!
Cold brew coffee. I make mine with Cafe Bustelo (mexican brand, grocery store bought, ridiculously potent and tasty) and use the whole 10oz with ~6L of water. It lasts my hubby and I about a week, and we can’t manage summer without it, anymore!
I love cold brew coffee!!!!! I used to make it all of the time and haven’t for a while. I think I’ll do some tonight.
I’ve been drinking unsweetened iced tea with a shot of Meyer lemon limoncello after the kids go to bed. 😉
right this minute? grapefruit la croix.
Coffee. Hot. With cream. Yum
I just made cold brew coffee for the first time this weekend and and am very excited to try more!
Just good old hot coffee with milk, maybe with a bit of cinnamon.
Our weather is so wacky lately (90 one day, 60 the next) that I’m switching between regular coffee and cold brew!
Lots of coffee (I’m currently doing a lot of transcription work–snorezzzzzz) from any source possible, and homemade lemonade in the afternoon.
I’ve been making and selling cold brew coffee filters for awhile. The easier it is to make, the more people will drink! Love my cold brew!
Hot black coffee every morning!
Either coffee made with my trust perma-filter, or coconut water after a bike ride.
I’ve been doing pour-over hot coffee these days. I like to switch it up and try different things! Stovetop espresso, cold brew, and yerba mate are all in regular rotation around here.
Now that’s its nice out and I have my herb garden growing I like to make sun tea with mint and lemon vebena.
I’ve been pretty stuck on dark roast beans brewed in an aero press, then diluted to a Kiwi long black served as is for a while now
I drink hot coffee in the morning (cream and sugar please and thank you!) but I’ve been thinking for several days that it’s time to make a batch of cold brew. Cold brewed coffee in the summer is my favorite drink!
I love a cup of strong, black coffee to start my day.
(not eligible for giveaway, just wanted to comment)
I’ve never tried making cold-brewed coffee and now I’m curious. I’ve been mostly leaning towards hot black tea with milk, as is usual for me, but we had a hot spell and I went through a couple glasses of homemade Vietnamese-style iced coffee yesterday. It was really lovely.
Hot coffee in the mornings, and iced in the afternoons! I use a Chemex for the former and just started cold-brewing in an unused ice tea pitcher for the latter 🙂
Regular brew in my Chemex with some brandied vanilla, cream, & sugar in the evening is heavenly.
Hot tea with honey and lemon…need to make some Kombucha as mine is evaporating away and will start cold brew coffee if we ever get consistently warm weather here in MN this spring!
We’re having a cold spell so I’m still drinking hot coffee with milk, but looking forward to switching to cold brew.
Yay, coffee! I have been drinking an inordinate amount of americanos this week. So good. Thanks for the giveaway opportunity!
Just got a new green tea with lemon – really subtle and tasty flavors. I’ve been drinking it hot with tea in the evenings.