I realized that I didn’t address cold brew in my last post! Cold brew is my favorite form of cold coffee (specifically, the New Orleans Iced Coffee from Blue Bottle) and guess what? It’s SO easy to make at home. Cold brew is perfect for someone who wants to put forth minimal effort to have a lot of coffee on hand anytime they’re in the mood for a cup. (Honestly, only drip coffee is easier to make than cold brew, in my opinion.) You can make any amount of cold brew concentrate (I’ll give you some general ratios to follow) and keep the concentrate in the fridge for up to a week.

It’s easiest if the coffee is coarsely ground — like for a french press, but you can use finer grinds if that’s all you have. To create the coffee concentrate, soak the coffee and water together for 12-24 hours and then strain through a cheesecloth (you can also use a flour sack towel, coffee filter, or fine mesh strainer lined with paper towel — get creative!) You could also combine the coffee and water in a french press and plunge it after the 12-24 hours as well (so easy!)

The coffee concentrate should look a bit like motor oil once strained, and you can store it up to week in the fridge. For New Orleans style, serve it with milk of your choice and simple syrup (combine equal parts sugar and water and heat on the stove until fully melted/combined. Cool and store in the fridge.) I personally like about 2/3 coffee to 1/3 whole milk with just a little simple syrup. If you don’t like cream or sugar, make sure to cut it with some water as it’s pretty strong!