Iced coffees are traditionally made by brewing coffee in the usual fashion before chilling down, then finally serving chilled with milk or water and a little sugar.
However, more recently there has been an adoption of a new method of brewing iced coffee. Cold brewing. Here, the raw coffee is left to brew for some time with cold water as opposed to brewing quickly with hot before chilling.
Although this method takes far longer, it has some fantastic benefits. The coffee tastes much, much smoother, there is not even a hint of bitterness and it can easily be drunk diluted without sugar. The true flavours of the coffee are also preserved – they are not being scorched by hot water before being chilled. If you have any special coffee beans in the cupboard, now is the time to dig them out! I used blue mountain beans for the following recipe and the results were delicious.
(Please excuse the poor photo, the camera is m.i.a!)
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Cold Brew Coffee Concentrate
Ingredients:
340g Coffee Beans
1.5l Water
Method:
1) Grind the coffee beans coarsely (this will produce a clear brew) – I used the small bowl of a magimix.
2) Place the coffee in a bowl with the 1.5l of water and stir. Cover with a tea towel and leave to sit for a day.
3) Pour the mixture through a coffee filter or muslin into a container.
4) Store the concentrate in the fridge for up to two weeks.
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I use around 1/2 concentrate to 1/2 water or milk, with a little ice. A little brown sugar helps the taste. Other flavourings such as lemon work well.
If you have any concentrate left over it would be fantastic for soaking sponge biscuits for a tiramisu.
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