Cold Brew Concentrate: What Is It and How to Make It at Home?

Cold brew coffee is a summertime staple. In fact, it's such a staple that you can purchase it in stores these days.

Cold brew coffee is simply coffee that has been brewed using cold water over an extended period of time. The process of brewing coffee in this way results in a surprisingly smooth and flavorful cup of coffee.

Making your own cold brew at home is easy to do and allows you to control the ingredients.

This article will explain what cold brew concentrate is, how it's made, and how you can make your own at home.

Read on to learn more about cold brew concentrate and how it differs from regular cold brew coffee.

What is cold brew concentrate?

Cold brew concentrate is a specialized concentrate made by steeping roasted coffee beans in cold or room-temperature water for several hours.

The resulting product is an extremely smooth and flavorful concentrate that can be mixed with water or milk to create a beverage.

Brewing coffee this way often creates a smoother cup and can help reduce some of the bitterness people often notice in hot-brewed coffee.

Cold brew coffee is made with a different coffee-to-water ratio than regular cold brew coffee. This is where it differs a lot, and the flavors of the coffee are also evolving.

The coffee also uses a very different grind size than you'd normally use for the brewing of pour over coffee or French press coffee.

I prefer using a coarse grind size for brewing cold brew coffee, rather than a medium or medium-fine grind for other coffee brews. The coffee grind size looks like this:

Cold brew concentrate coffee to water ratio

A reliable starting point for cold brew concentrate is a 1:7.5 coffee-to-water ratio.

This ratio ensures that you extract all the coffee flavor from the roasted coffee beans in a shorter time than normal.

I like to steep the coffee concentrate for 14 hours instead of 15-16 hours for regular cold brew coffee.

The coffee-to-water ratio may seem unusual at first, but it will be worthwhile to use it properly every time.

When I brew cold brew coffee at home, either regular cold brew coffee, cold brew concentrate, or espresso cold brew, I like to add it all to my French press to steep.

Tip: You can also make decaf cold brew! Check out this recipe here.

This French press holds up to 4 cups (0.95 l) of coffee with the size that I own. This is great, as it will allow me to make a large enough batch to last a few days.

I add 80 grams of coffee to 600 grams of water to the French press's beaker and let it steep for 14 hours.

This will fit perfectly in the beaker and still leave some room to add the plunger after steeping.

What is the difference between cold brew and cold brew concentrate?

The primary difference between cold brew coffee and cold brew concentrate lies in the ratio of ground coffee to water used.

Cold brew concentrate is significantly stronger in taste and requires dilution before drinking, whereas cold brew coffee can be consumed as is.

You'll want to dilute the cold brew concentrate before drinking because it's much more concentrated in flavor and caffeine per ounce than regular cold brew.

The coffee taste is so much stronger than the regular version.

I like strong coffee, but the coffee concentrate is way too strong for me to enjoy regularly, which is why I recommend diluting it before drinking. I'll discuss this further later in the recipe.

Down below, you can see the difference between cold brew concentrate (on the left) and regular cold brew coffee (on the right):

As you can see from the photo above, the cold brew concentrate (on the left) is significantly darker in color due to the reduced amount of water used in its brewing process.

Cold brew concentrate also differs in steeping time compared to the regular version.

It is steeped for 14 hours, while regular cold brew requires 15-16 hours to brew the perfect cup of coffee.

I discovered these steeping times by experimenting with various cold brew coffees over the years, and I really like the taste of the coffee using the times I've mentioned above.

The coffee that comes out is just perfect in taste and doesn't have any bitter or sour flavors that develop after the 18-hour mark.

How to make cold brew concentrate?

You can make cold brew concentrate very easily when you've got every ingredient at home.

You'll need the following items to make cold brew concentrate at home:

• Coarsely ground coffee: 80 grams
• Cold tap water: 600 grams
• A large container or French press

I suggest using a dark or medium-roasted coffee bean to make cold brew coffee.

These coffee beans offer the most flavor during the time they're steeping in water. They look like this:

When using a lighter roast for the cold brew coffee, you might not get the most flavor out of it.

Lightly roasted coffee beans are best prepared with a pour-over technique, such as a Chemex or Hario V60, where they truly shine.

Here is the cold brew concentrate recipe:

Note: Coffee itself doesn't contain any calories. When you dilute the cold brew coffee concentrate with anything other than water, you're adding calories to your cold brew coffee.

I used whole milk to dilute my cold brew coffee, and the calorie count is based on adding 1/4 cup (60 ml) to the cold brew recipe.

How do you use cold brew concentrate?

You can use the cold brew concentrate in various iced coffee drinks that require a strong, cooled coffee.

For example, you can use the cold brew concentrate as the basis for:

• Caramel Iced Coffee
• 3 Delicious Iced Coffees
• Brown Sugar Iced Coffee

The coffee concentrate is so rich in flavor that it will need to be diluted before adding it to a coffee recipe, except when a recipe specifically calls for a cold brew concentrate without dilution.

An example of these kinds of recipes is as follows:

• Coconut Cold Brew Coffee
• Proffee

If you don't feel like making coffee recipes with your coffee concentrate, you can also drink it diluted with a bit of water or milk and some ice cubes, as I mentioned in the brewing guide.

It's the perfect summer recipe that you'll never get enough of. This is why I suggest making a larger batch than you think you'll need.

I always find myself making a big batch of cold brew coffee concentrate, only to run low within two days of making it.

Caffeine content of cold brew concentrate

The caffeine content of cold brew concentrate is between 240-280 mg per cup (0.24 l) of coffee. (Source)

As more coffee is used in making cold brew concentrate, the caffeine can change slightly.

The amount of caffeine can also vary depending on the type of coffee beans used and their origin.

If you prefer a lower-caffeine version, opt for decaf coffee beans. Decaf still contains a small amount of caffeine, but it's much less than regular beans.

If you want to learn more about how decaf compares in taste and how it's made, you can check out this article I wrote.

Conclusion

In my opinion, this coffee concentrate is one of the best options for enjoying coffee in the summertime.

It's great to know the difference between regular cold brew coffee and its concentrate version.

You can use this coffee in numerous great coffee recipes, allowing you to enjoy a new idea throughout the summer.

I'd love to see you back on my blog very soon, as I've got so many coffee recipes to share with you!

Is cold brew coffee a staple for the summertime? Let me know by leaving a comment down below.

If you have any other questions about coffee, you can also contact me directly by clicking the “Contact Me” button at the top.

Coffee recipes to try

Check out the coffee recipes listed below if you'd like to try even more coffee recipes today:

• Cinnamon Brown Sugar Latte: How to Make This Latte at Home
• Iced Brown Sugar Oatmilk Shaken Espresso: Delicious Recipe
• Iced Flat White Recipe: The Most Delicious Iced Coffee

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