Cold Brew Coffee Update

After a couple of days of cold brew coffee, here are my thoughts:

• very easy to make (but so it normal hot brew coffee)
• tastes good, but then I didn’t actually have a problem with the way my hot brew coffee tasted. loaded with cream and sugar I don’t notice any difference in taste. I haven’t experimented with it black, though
• Benefit over hot brew: I like how concentrated it is. Its almost more of an espresso which is perfect for iced lattes and mochas

Biggest Drawback: It is really expensive! Even after adding water to the coffee concentrate at the called for ratios to make it equivalent to a normal cup of coffee, I feel like I’m getting far fewer cups of coffee for the amount of coffee grounds I’m going through. I like to buy expensive coffee so I really don’t like wasting it. This site says that cold brew makes about 30% fewer cups of coffee per lb of coffee than hot brew. That may be okay if I were buying really cheap coffee but if I’m paying $12-16 for a 12oz bag of coffee I’m loosing a lot of money.

Conclusion: Since I personally don’t have a big problem with the acid in hot brew coffee, I’d rather stick with my high quality/eco-friendly/fair-trade/locally roasted coffee beans brewed with heat rather than start buying cheaper coffee. However, its nice to know of a good option to recommend to people who have a difficult time with the acidity or for if Chris and I ever need a low acid option. It may also be worth re-visiting if I ever decide that I need to start drinking my coffee black. I suspect that the difference in smoothness/bitterness would be much more apparent when drunk straight.

 Next Experiment: I’ve heard of reusing the cold brew grounds to make a second batch. I wonder if it tastes the same, just less concentrated or if its as nasty as when you try to reuse spent grounds in hot brew coffee. I still have most of the grounds from yesterday’s jar of cold brew so I may give it a try. If its successful, that would eliminate the low yield problem

*p.s. yes I know that you can get decent coffee at the grocery store for less $$. If I was buying cheaper coffee, the decrease in yield wouldn’t be as much of a problem and this brewing method would probably make more sense.