How to make cold brew coffee at home without fancy gadgets

Making your own cold brew coffee If hot coffee and warmer weather don't work for you, but you still need a caffeine fix, consider making your own cold brew.

VANCOUVER — Warmer weather and hot coffee don’t mix, and it’s almost iced coffee season. But the cost of those fancy drinks can add up. Using a few simple tools you probably already have at home, you can make your own cold brew coffee and save a lot of money.

Consumer Reports editor Dan Wroclawski is a coffee aficionado, and the evidence is in his kitchen.

“I have a problem,” he says. “I own way too many coffeemakers.”

Even though his kitchen is overflowing with caffeine-related gadgets, he says you don’t need any of them to make a decent batch of cold brew.

“Cold brew coffee, as the name suggests, is brewed with cold water instead of hot water and because of that, it has to brew for a much longer period of time,” Wroclawski says.

The only supplies you need are two lidded jars that can hold more than three cups of water, a coffee filter, a funnel, and your favourite coffee beans, coarsely ground.

You’ll want a quarter pound of coffee – about one-and-a-half cups – for every three cups of cold water. Mix thoroughly so the coffee is saturated, and steep for 12 hours.

“Through that long brew process, you end up with a coffee that is much less bitter, a little more rich, and smoother,” Wroclawski says.

Steeping your cold brew at room temperature helps extract a wider range of flavours, and if you choose to steep in the fridge, you’ll need to leave it longer – about 18 hours.

After the steeping is done, grab your second jar and place the funnel, then the coffee filter, on top of the open lid and slowly pour your brew through.

Cold brew is highly concentrated, so you’ll want to dilute it using a one-to-one or one-and-a-half ratio of cold brew to water.

When it’s time to enjoy, you can just add ice or any milk and sweeteners you like. The rest will keep for up to two weeks in the fridge.

With files from Consumer Reports