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’m a hot coffee drinker, but I’ve been taking breaks lately. I went through a two week period of drinking green tea almost exclusively recently. I may have to give cold brew a chance.
Cold brew coffee all the time these days. I’ve been making my own and I’m still playing around with the types of beans, length of steep time, and strength of the brew. Practice makes perfect!
I love iced coffee in the summer as a special sweet treat
We switch to cold brewed coffee in the Summer. Hopefully, the warm weather will return soon.
I do a little of everything – coffee, hot tea, iced tea. I love making a French Press coffee at home, and I love trying new beans.
I’m drinking maple black tea with coconut milk in the morning these days. I’m starting to get a hankering for iced coffee now that summer approaches, though.
I have upgraded from drinking Dunkin Donuts to supporting my local roaster… Rook. Using my French press for both hot and cold brew makes a smooth delicious cup o joe.
I’m still mostly making siphon coffees (it’s like a little science experiment each time!), but I’ve been doing a bit more cold brew as it gets warmer.
I go back and forth between my morning fresh brewed coffee and Oregon sugar-free Chai. Both with hefty doses of almond milk and a bit of 1/2 & 1/2.
I love a good cold brewed iced coffee. Used to buy it, until I read your post, way back in 2010, now I make it myself!
All kinds of herbal teas without any sweets and love fresh bean brewed coffee and 1/2 n 1/2.
Cold brew for me! I do a 1 pound coffee to slightly less than 1 gallon ratio. Let it sit for 24 hours, then filter off the grounds. Gives my husband and I good cold coffee for about a week that is strong enough to start our early morning days and keep us going! I typically make vanilla infused ice cubes to toss in the coffee and add whole milk to balance out the rich silky flavor of the cold brew coffee. Its creamy and delicious, and as the ice melts, the vanilla adds a whole new flavor profile!
Just made my second batch of homemade kombucha, flavored with dried hibiscus flowers. It’s so pretty and pink, I can’t wait to try it!
My favorite is Hawaiian coffee from the Big Island–no, not Kona, but Ka’u (from the south end of the island). There is no finer coffee anywhere!
Coffeeeeeee, I love coffee. I love rich, earthy beans and drink it mostly black, the darkest roast I can get. I do go with cream some days and the occasional Flat White (or my approximation of one since I can’t get them here) it really depends on my mood. I do go cold though once the water gets hot.
This time of the year when I have loads of gardening and house stuff to do I am a cold brew gal.
I get a 10oz. Vacuumed package of Cafe Bustelo and cold brew a huge vat. After filtering it’s good to go in the frig for two weeks. Never bitter and always ready to pour some kick in the butt energy. I add Truvia and unsweetened almond milk with plenty of ice . Thanks for your offer ! Yum .
I decided to test out Coffee Block coffee (little frozen tub of coffee mixed with butter, coconut oil, and some other stuff). It’s interesting.
Iced tea. Southern girl.
Iced coffee, cold brew coffee, hot coffee, Keurig coffee, lattes … any form of coffee really.
Cold brew is appropriate (and delicious) nearly anytime of year in Austin.
i just ran out of a cold brew batch, so french pressed it was this morning. I have been wondering how to try out new coffees awhile still being able to tell/discover types that I like. this little starter pack seems like an awesome idea!
Once the weather warms up, I make cold brewed concentrate for iced coffee using NEw Orleans blend (coffee with a bit of chicory) – the best iced coffee in the world.
I thought it was cold brew coffee time here in Philadelphia but this week has been freezing! Back to hot drip coffee, and lots of it.
It’s definitely the cold brewed coffee time of year here in Florida!
Not sure how they make it, but my local cafe calls it Iced Vanilla. My summertime treat!
I love matcha and have been drinking it iced.
I am a hot coffee drinker…..I have not tried Cold coffee but have seen a company at the farmers market that sells Nitra Coffee during the hot days of summer. the line is always long so I am assuming it must be good. It is time to give it a try
Drinking a cup of hot Irish breakfast tea with lemon and honey. In the afternoon,
it’s coffee time and in between and for the rest of the day/night its water infused
with lemon, lime, cucumber and/or ginger.
What a great giveaway. Would love to try making cold brew. Probably much better than
waiting for my hot coffee to cool off so I can drink it.
Thank you.
The way to start the day….. one cup of french roast COWBOY coffee !
I’m drinking a lot of water these days with a splash of Simply Orange and some flavor enhancer, my favorite being Orange Mango. It’s my favorite way of hydrating, but I still have at least 1-2 cups of coffee per day. I usually drink hot coffee, but I do drink cold brew as well, when I can remember to make it or buy it!
Vanilla latte – hot. Carmel mocha – cold. I guess I’m a creature of habit. Every time I try something else, I’m disappointed. I’d love to give this subscription thing a try!
Trader Joe’s Italian Roast hot with steamed milk.
I start my day with coffee and end it with tea- with lots of flavored water in between…
We have a big batch of kombucha going. Also, a big pitcher of mint water on the counter — just water with a bunch of mint from the garden. Thanks for the giveaway!
I love coffee.
I drink dark roast coffee, (K-cup) with coconut creamer over ice every morning.
But your way sounds amazing…will have to give it a go!
Thanks!
When I’m home, I drink jasmine green or toasted rice tea with lots of local honey. But if I’m out and about in the morning, I’ll search out a good cup of coffee.
I have been on a chai tea latte kick lately 🙂
In the morning…it is always fresh coffee. I like a hearty brew. Alas after two o’clock in the afternoon the drink of choice “coffee or tea” has to be decaffeinated. [smile] Right now , I am enjoying a cup of natural pumpkin tea.
2 non fat lattes in the morning and depending on the weather, another hot or iced in the afternoon
2 lattes every morning!
Couldn’t have timed this posted any better. Had my first cold-brew at Ray’s this weekend and wanted to try it at home. Thanks
Start my day with 2 cups of hot coffee with chocolate soy/almondmilk as creamer, then onto fruit-teas and lots of filtered water during the day.
I love finding regional coffees as I travel – Blue Mountain from a Jamaican plantation tour, Balinese while visiting eco-farm
I’m drinking cold-brewed coffee all of the time right now.
We haven’t tried cold-brewing yet, but it sounds great for summer. I’m currently drinking some lovely hazelnut coffee I picked up at Costco and I’ve been spending my evenings with a cup of Earl Green tea.
I love cold-brew coffee, but only in the morning. The rest of the day, I’m relying on water infused with mint and lemon. A quart jar of water with a handful of mint and the pulp from half a lemon does it.
I make a big batch of cold-brewed coffee (one cup of good-quality coarsely-ground coffee beans to four cups of cold filtered water, adding a split vanilla bean and sometimes a three-inch length of cinnamon stick while it’s brewing for 16 to 24 hours on the counter top). I pour the concentrate over lots of ice, add some home-made vanilla liquid sugar and a couple splashes of fat-free half and half. Heaven in a glass. Drift Away Coffee’s three-month give-away subscription would get me through the summer very nicely! The coffee concentrate is also fabulous drizzled over either vanilla or chocolate ice cream.
I’m a MAD brewed beverage lover!!! I brew my own kombucha. Recently I’ve been flavoring it with freeze-dried raspberries. I love tea in any form… hot/cold, sweet/unsweet, black/green/white/herbal. And coffee, of course! I recently went to Costa Rica, went on an organic coffee tour and loaded our luggage with an obscene amount/variety of beans. 😀
I love, love, love coffee (hot and cold) and try different brands all the time. My nephew sent me a Guatemalan brand (can’t remember the name) that he orders online and it was incredible.
I’m so stuck on hot coffee that I realized last night I skipped all my cups of tea this fall and winter!