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Kicking Coffee Up A Notch

On cold brew coffee

I like coffee.  Not as much as Kara likes coffee, but I like it a lot.  I especially like iced coffee, year-round.  But I hate brewing hot coffee then diluting it with enough ice to get it cold (I prefer to use milk or a milk substitute to dilute my coffee).  So I bought a cold brew concentrate.  And that was fine, but I knew there had to be a better way.

At some grocery stores and at one particular well-known coffee shop, you can find "kits" to make cold brew coffee.  Some places, especially that coffee shop, even offer cold brew coffee "machines."  Not being made of money and having a brain in my head, I decided I could do it much, much cheaper.  I remembered making "sun tea" with my mom, and figured I could do coffee almost the same way.

plastic container with a red lid, several tea bags folded over the top of the container
The first time I DIYed my cold brew, I tried to make satchels using coffee filters and twine.  It didn't work great.  The grounds escaped and were a pain to try to get out of the container after the coffee brewed.  I got wiser and realized that I could use the steep sacks that we have around for loose leaf tea.

I use 3 steep sacks and put two scoops (probably close to 3 tablespoons) of ground coffee into each sack.  I drape the sacks over the mouth of a two quart container and fill the container until the coffee bags are in the water.  I try not to overfill, because I worry about escapee grounds.  Then the whole thing sits, covered, something like 16 hours on the counter.  The next morning I remove the steep sacks, screw on the lid, pour myself a wonderful cup of cold brew coffee, and despair of trying to find a place in our veggiful fridge for my coffee container.


Homemade syrups

So, even with the less bitter taste of cold brew coffee, I still like to add a little flavor and a little sweet.  I used to buy syrups when I could find small, not sugar free bottles.  It's harder than you might think.  So one day, frustrated, I did a internet search for homemade coffee syrups and found one!  It's a basic simple syrup recipe with about 1-2 teaspoons of flavoring per 1 cup batch of syrup.

If you've never tried it before, simple syrup is super easy to make.  Just combine equal parts sugar and water over heat until all of the sugar is dissolved.  One cup of each yields about 1 1/4 cups of syrup.

Right now, I have caramel, amaretto, and hazelnut (because I can't put Amaretto or Frangelico in my coffee before going to work.)

iced coffee in a glass jar with a reusable plastic lid and spoon
Proper hipsters drink iced coffee in mason jars.

Comments

  1. UnknownJune 11, 2019 at 2:34 PM

    What type of flavoring do you get for the sryup.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. K.E.McShaneJune 11, 2019 at 4:10 PM

      I use Beanilla extracts, which I get from Amazon. It seemed right, since I used a basic recipe I found on their website to make my syrups.

      Delete
  2. SThroopJune 19, 2019 at 7:44 AM

    Thank you for this!

    ReplyDelete

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