Thought cold brew coffee was a gimmick until I did the math on my coffee shop spending

I used to roll my eyes at people making cold brew at home. Seemed like extra work for the same caffeine kick. Then I added up my Starbucks visits last month and hit $87 on iced coffee alone. A $20 mason jar and $12 bag of grounds from Aldi later, I'm making a week's worth for like $3. The taste is smoother too, no bitterness at all. Anyone else sleep on a kitchen hack for way too long before trying it?

3 comments

3 Comments

harper91420d ago

Jumping in here to gently point out that a French press and cold brew aren't really the same thing. Cold brew is made by steeping grounds in cold water for 12-24 hours, no heat involved. A French press uses hot water and steeps for like 4 minutes. So if you're getting bitterness and sludge from your press, it's probably from pressing too fast or using water that's too hot, not from the method itself. A cheap fix is a coarse grind and a slow, steady plunge. But yeah, the cold brew mason jar method is dead simple and you don't have to worry about any of that, just strain through a cloth or fine sieve and you're golden.

robert65921d ago

Pulled out my dusty French press from the back of the cabinet last week and now I'm mad at myself for ever spending $5 on those watery coffee shop cold brews. Tastes better and I don't have to make awkward small talk with the barista who always forgets my order anyway. My wife asked why I'm suddenly so proud of myself for making coffee in a jar. $87 is brutal though, that's like two weeks of groceries for me.

jakewhite21d ago

I see it differently though @robert659... I've had way too many french press batches come out gritty and bitter to say it's automatically better than a shop's cold brew. Maybe mine just sucks, but I always end up with sludge at the bottom of my cup no matter how careful I am with the plunge. And $87 for a press? Man I get that's a lot but a half-decent one from Target runs like $20 and lasts years if you don't drop it. Still beats standing in line for ten minutes waiting for some kid to hand you a cup of ice water with a splash of coffee... I don't know, maybe I'm just too lazy to clean all those parts every morning.