An Ice-Cold Guide to Serving Your Own Cold-Brew Coffee At Home
1) COOLER BEANS
The clue is in the name. Still, cold-brew coffee is often confused with the milky confection that is iced coffee. “It’s actually coffee brewed using cold water,” clarifies Hugh Duffie, co-founder of UK brand Sandows, inspired by Victorian bodybuilder Eugen Sandow and carrying old-school barbells on its label. Cold-brew is huge in the States, and making gains over here. It’s also easy to home- brew. First, though, you need to give it the right beans.
i) Light
The preference of those who take their americanos black, letting you taste the coffee’s delicate notes. Light roasts also tend to be naturally sweet, disinclining you to add sugar.
ii) Medium
While coffee fans are blinded by the light, health snobs may prefer turning to the darker side: life-extending antioxidants release as coffee beans roast. A happy medium is best of both.
iii) Dark
Big roast taste replaces subtlety, though some antioxidants are lost. The upside: darker roasts are less acidic – as are cold brews – and so are kinder to your gut.
2) GET ON YOUR GRIND
In cold-brewing, heat is replaced with an extended brewing time (12-24 hours) so start the night before. Turn your grinder – Hario makes a quality range (£90 hario.co.uk) – to the coarsest setting, so your brew isn’t cloudy when you filter it. If you’re making the effort, you may as well prep your coffee in bulk, necessitating a 750ml filter-in-a-bottle (£25 hario.co.uk). And it’s worth using decent water, given it constitutes the vast majority of your drink. “Many aficionados favour Tesco Ashbeck,” says Duffie. “It has a good mineral content for brewing and it’s super cheap.” (45p for 2L) Duffie suggests a punchy ratio of 100g coffee to a litre of water, leaving it for 16 hours on the counter (not in the fridge) before plunging. Strain through a filter paper, and repeat until your cold-brew runs crystal-clear, then pour yourself a glass. Store the rest in a sealed container in the fridge and… chill.
3) MIX IT UP
Cold-brew is more versatile than Paul Pogba. Indeed, it’s known as ‘cocktail coffee’ Down Under, where it’s popular with bartenders, especially in concentrated form – and not just because of the late shifts. Says Duffie: “We’ve found it works with vodka, gin, whisky, tequila, mezcal…” (Talk about tough jobs.) While a coffee cocktail may be a classy brunch pick-me-up, this being MH, we’ve also mixed in a few non-alcoholic blends for cold-brew virgins.
i) Syrup Shrub
Ingredients
• Cold-brew, 50ml
• Balsamic vinegar, 25ml
• Maple syrup, 12.5ml
• Top to the brim with soda water
Method
Sprouting again in throwback hipster bars after withering away in the 18th century, shrubs are vinegar-based (really) cocktails, often enjoyed as an aperitif and for their medicinal properties. It isn’t a load of moonshine: balsamic blunts blood sugar spikes after meals, improves digestion and promotes satiety. It’s even healthier if, as with the recipe above, you lose the booze.
ii) Espresso Martini
Ingredients
• Cold-brew, 25ml
• Tequila, 50ml
• Coffee liqueur, 10ml
• Maple syrup, 10ml
• Angostura bitters, dash
Method
Cold-brew is a boon to bartenders for many reasons: it’s real coffee, not flavoured syrup, and doesn’t require dilution, unlike adding ice to hot java. Plus they don’t have to waste time making espressos - well, you wouldn’t ask a barista for a martini. Simply combine the ingredients, shake well and enjoy like a hopped-up James Bond.
iii) Blokbuster Shake
Ingredients
• Cold-brew, 200ml
• Protein, scoop
• A banana
• Oats, scoop
• Coconut milk, 100ml
Method
Providing an energy boost without the sugar rush, cold-brew brands such as Sandows are increasingly being stocked at cool gyms and CrossFit boxes. This is the signature shake at tasteful east London studio Blok (bloklondon.com). Blend all the ingredients together – adding an optional spoonful of nut butter – and neck it at least an hour before your workout, or immediately after.
iv) Coconut Iced Coffee
Ingredients
• Cold-brew, 100ml
• Pure coconut water,
200-300ml
• Large ice cubes (for slower dilution)
Method
Cold-brew is considerably more refreshing than gulping down a piping americano on hot days. Replace even more lost sweat by adding electrolyte-rich coconut water in a 1:2 or 1:3 ratio, depending on your taste. Use concentrated coffee, because taste dilutes as the ice melts. This is a godsend after a big gym (or pub) session.
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