A Nice, Cold Brew on a Hot Summer Day
So, this afternoon’s plea for comments resulted in a whopping ONE response. Nevertheless, it’s about quality, not quantity and since that lonely little comment came from one of my favorite former clients in the whole of my completely underwhelming 14-year career, it is without further ado that I give you (Jess) a step-by-step to the best iced coffee I’ve ever had the pleasure of guzzling down.
Our primary pipeline for the black gold in its traditional (hot) form is a Keurig brewer. While this is a great tool for convenience and variety, it’s lacking a bit in the quality and flavor departments…this is decidedly not a gourmet cup of coffee. When it’s cold, it’s even less appealing. As I understand, this is a common problem with all iced coffees made using the “traditional” brewing method. It’s apparently got something to do with the acid in the coffee coming out more prominently when the hot-brewed liquid is cooled, or something.
Now, I had heard about the cold-brew method (mainly from cafes where they charge $4 for a small), but it always seemed too complicated and involved for my overly hectic, yet surprisingly lazy lifestyle. Much like with the cigarettes, the exorbitant cost and numerous other drawbacks seemed to be a worthwhile alternative to some (really any) level of effort on my part. This was the case, until the Twitter intervened. One day, while getting berated by a shareholder (seriously, if the Dow is down 200 points and “your” stock is off a penny, is it really the end of the world?!?!), I decided to catch up on the tweetings of those I follow when I saw this little ditty from GQ:
Brew-It-Yourself. The secret to homemade iced coffee
The link was to a 2009 article by Mark Kirby entitled “Suck It, Starbucks!” that made the whole process seem far more simple than I had ever imagined, and didn’t require any of the fancy, high-end equipment that those shithead baristas use while belittling you for ordering a large instead of a Venti.
All you need is a french press, or a pot, some water and whatever kind of ground coffee tickles your fancy. While you’ll have to wait a while before you’re drinking it, this only takes about 5 minutes of actual work. You can probably measure, but I don’t bother with that. Whatever works for you…
I picked up the cheapest french press I could find…$9.00 at Target. There are obviously higher-end options, with some costing a few hundred dollars, but given that this was primarily for experimental purposes, I wanted to go cheap. I’d post a link, but they don’t even have it on the website.
The French Press…
Overhead view…
To go with the press, I got a bag of ground iced coffee coffee from Peets…
The good stuff
As you can see, step 1 is to pour some coffee into the press. Once you’ve completed that task, fill that thing with water…
It looks a little gross right now
To clean it up a little, you’ll want to press the plunger down once, then bring it back up.
Much better…
I know, it looks a little weak right now, but the little coffee granules are floating around in there, infusing that water with their goodness. Of course, this is also where the hard part comes in…waiting. Much like good barbecue, low and slow is the key. You don’t want to heat it, or chill it just yet. Let it sit for a good long while (I usually do it overnight) and when you’re done, you’ve got a deep, brown carafe of awesomeness. Push the plunger down and transfer your brew into the vessel of choice (pitchers, glasses, bottles, whatever).
You might be tempted to drink it right away, but I usually refrigerate or pour it into bottles and throw them in the freezer so I don’t have to deal with ice cubes watering it down. The strength will obviously vary based on how much coffee you use…one batch I made ended up much too strong but it was perfect with a little ice, which diluted it just enough as it melted. If you find a coffee you like and play around with the ratios, you’ll eventually end up with a cup that’s good enough on its own and doesn’t need any milk / cream / sugar / other crap.
I think I’ve over-complicated things enough here…never thought I could do 700 words on how to make iced coffee. Hopefully it’s worth it.
Healthy for the Wedding 
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