Slow Food: Cold Brew Coffee

Slow foods are becoming a bit of an obsession to me these days. I just love taking my time making a meal (or putting it in my crockpot and letting it do the long work for me), thinking about my family who will eat this slow food, and imagining the great conversations and memories we will make while eating said food. It makes me happy.

A few days ago, my world was forever changed. In the most amazing way ever!! I discovered another slow food, which actually isn't "food" at all. I stumbled upon cold-brew coffee. OH MY WORD! Why didn't someone tell me about this many years earlier! I am a serious coffee lover, and this slow way of making it has just increased that love exponentially! 

It all started last weekend when we decided to go camping. In July. Crazy hot!! I MUST have my coffee in the morning, but with the ridiculous heat in the Deep South these days, I just couldn't imagine myself brewing a cup of hot coffee and sitting outside in the heat to drink it. So I purchased a $5 bottle of cold coffee to bring along. By the time we got back home from the state park, the jug of coffee was gone and I was left thinking about having a nice cup of hot coffee the next morning in my kitchen. Still hot. Still a no-go! I needed more cold coffee!! Like, for the rest of the summer!

My original plan was to make several pots of coffee, let them cool down, and stick them in the fridge to pour over ice the next morning. But after doing some checking around, I learned the fine art of cold-brew coffee! It takes a full 24 hours to make, so don't think you're going to whip this out before heading out to work. Plan ahead. Believe me, it's totally worth it! Especially since it didn't heat up my kitchen to make it! The taste is smooth and less acidic, and it's just plain awesome. Here is the step-by-step so you can make your own slow coffee. You are welcome. 

First things first. Start off with a great coffee! Don't skimp on this one, or you're not going to be as happy with the results. With this much time and waiting, you really want it to be amazing with the first sip! Seattle's Best (#4, organic, and fair-trade) has become my favorite coffee as of late. It's a really fine ground, so you get more of the good flavor out of it than, say, a course ground coffee. If you've never tried this stuff, head to your nearest WalMart and pick up a bag for about $5.50. 

Dump all 12oz (the WHOLE bag!), into a large container where you plan to brew it. Seriously, the biggest container I have is my crockpot. So that's what we're going with. It doesn't really require anything special, so just use what you've got. Look at all that loveliness..,,.,

Add to the grounds COLD water (or room temperature). The ratio is 1 cup of water for 2oz of coffee. So if you want to make more (why not!) or less (seriously, why would you do that?), just adjust the amounts. For my 12oz bag, I added 6 cups of room temperature filtered water. Give it a stir to make sure all the grounds are nice and covered with water. At this point, it just looks amazing. And it has a slight chocolate smell, which is really just a bonus! 

Put the lid on your container and sit it in a place where you can leave it for about 24 hours. I did, in passing, give it a stir a few times in that 24 hours, just to make sure it was brewing nicely and to smell it!  

After 24 hours, strain off the coffee. I did this with a strainer lined with a thin flour sack towel. You can get this at WalMart for $1, and it is perfect for letting the good stuff through and getting out the grounds. Pour it all into a large tea pitcher or other storage container, and pop it in the fridge. After you pour a tall glass for yourself, of course! 

To make it sweet, add sweetened condensed milk to your taste. It's already liquid, so it mixes in with the cold coffee much easier than sugar. Add a splash of milk (as much as you'd like), a couple of ice cubes (or you can leave them out), and a straw. Grab a good book, find a quiet place to relax for a few minutes, and go enjoy your cold brew coffee! It is so worth the wait!