Cold Brew Coffee

Unlike me as a tea drinker, my half (I refuse to call him better half :)) is a coffee connoisseur. He is the most pleasant person to be around with after his morning coffee. We tried our first cold brew in New Zealand, and loved how smooth it tasted. The cold brew technique is pretty self-explanatory: use cold water to steep coffee grounds in room temperature for an extended period time. The process took away the acidity and tang from the traditional hot-brewed coffee. Cold brew coffee is not to be confused with iced coffee, which generally refers to coffee that is brewed hot and then chilled by pouring over or adding ice. 

Picture above: Cold brew coffee from KoKaKo Cafe in Auckland

Starbucks started to serve cold brew this past summer. We tried it and were instantaneously hooked. Sadly, it was a seasonal thing so Starbucks stopped offering it during winter months. Anthony was devastated. Luckily, the barista at the Starbucks we frequented shared with us the cold brew system they used, and I immediately picked up one from Amazon to embark on our homemade cold brew journey. 

This is the Toddy Cold Brew system Starbucks uses to make their cold brew coffee. Unlike tens of other fancier options most of which look like sophisticated lab equipment, Toddy comes with three simple components: a giant brewing jug & a rubber plug, a glass bottle with an airtight lid, and filters. 

Starbucks used an unique blend of African and Latin American beans to make their cold brew, so Willow Blend appeared to be the right choice. So far we've tried Pike Place, Veranda, Willow Blend, and Italian Roast, and we both like the Pike Place the most. 

You can grind your own beans but we've been using the prepacked grounds that come in the convenient 12oz bag. Toddy system recommends using 12 oz of grounds to 7 cups of water to extract this super concentrated elixir. You would want to use a coarse ground otherwise the filter gets blocked easily. 

I let it steep overnight but you need a minimum of 12 hours. The yield supposedly would last you three weeks in the fridge but it only took Anthony a week to finish the whole thing. You would need to dilute the concentrate using 1 part coffee and 3 parts water/ice.

I even picked up this classic syrup to give ourselves a complete Starbucks cold brew experience at home. To Anthony, cold brew = happiness. Who says happiness can not be bought? 

On a related subject, I finally picked up this super cute and stylish SMEG kettle, and I love it! The best part is that it comes in this creamy white shade which looks perfect on my kitchen counter against the Carrara marble backsplash. So bye bye stainless steel kettle, miss you never.