Cheruje al Gusto: April 2012

instructables.com/id/DIY-Cold-Brew-Coffee/

I've been a Barista in high end coffee for about 4 years now. One of the things you learn early on is that it is distasteful to ever ice espresso. Many go forward never questioning why this is such a bad idea, but I have an inquisitive mind and looked into it further.
It turns out that coffee is high in chlorogenic acid, which, as the coffee cools, forms quinic acid, which has a noteable and overwhelming astringent flavor. So the task is to brew coffee in a way that does not involve heat, and also reduces the apparent acidity. In the 60's the Toddy method became popular and it produces a finished product that is notably less bitter and actually puts forward a deep caramel and chocolaty flavor. It is perfect for a warm day.
I decided to make my own cold brew coffee brewer.

Supplies:
-6oz of a well roasted coffee
-one piece of felt (.29 cents at michaels)
-two large coffee filters
-a two-liter bottle
-thread
-scissors

How do you get that deep caramel and chocolaty flavor? What blend of beans do you use?
I tried a blend of Sumatran, Kenyan, Somalian beans and the brew was kind of bitter. Ratio of water to grounds was 5:1. I left the pitcher out of the fridge, room temperature was about 23C, left it to brew in a sealed pitcher for 24 hours.

EXCELLENT! I have been trying to come up with a cold brew system of my own, and stumbled at the felt filter part. I had envisioned using a Toddy or Filtron felt filter pad, but hadn't figured out a way to hold it inside a brewing vessel. Duh. Use a sheet of craft felt! I am on my third commercial cold brew system, and now I can easily replace it, when I end up destroying the current one, as I always do!
Also, for those who may not know, cold brewing removes about 2/3 of the acid and about 1/3 of the caffeine in your coffee, making a really smooth cuppa hot or cold coffee. I've even used the concentrate in making Tiramisu. For recipes, check the Toddy and Filtron websites...
Once again, great -ible!

Kudos for having a french press, but not even close to the same end result.
Try this method. Chances are you have all the stuff at the house anyway, so it won't cost you anything. See if the end result is the same as with the french press. I'm betting it won't be--but if it is for you, then GOOD NEWS! You haven't fully succumbed to becoming a full blown coffee snob!
Leave. Quickly, and quietly... While you still can ignore people talking about how good starbucks coffee is, without going into a fifteen minute dissertation about how they have single handedly made an entire generation think that bitter coffee is good coffee.

You steeped it too long! Sounds like good coffee. Try steeping half that long. It should yield much better results. Cheers!
most of the new coffee shops insist on using reverse osmosis water claiming it make a more pure brew. Actually tap water, especially hard water makes a smoother brew because the minerals in the water absorb much of the acid. In the past people added eggshell for the same reason, so try using tap water instead of fancy filtered water when you try this. I can tell when RO water is used because the coffee will have a distinct sour taste

Do not confuse water decaffeination methods with brewing.
The caffeine molecule degrades when heated. Generally, the less heat you apply to the bean, the more caffeine ends up in your cup. The conventional wisdom mistakenly tells us that dark roast is higher in caffeine than light. This is not so- it just has a roastier flavor. The darker the roast, the less caffeine remains in the bean.
After roasting, the brewing process can further degrade your coffee's caffeine content. Boiling the coffee- Turkish or cowboy style- is the brewing method that will remove the most caffeine and requires a temp over 112 F. Drip brew methods generally use water temps between 103 and 108 F and since the hot water is in contact with the coffee longer than with espresso brewing, the same coffee properly brewed as both drip and as espresso will contain more caffeine (oz per oz) as espresso, however, since we generally drink espresso in 1-4 oz servings (single to quad shot) and we drink brewed coffee in 8-16+ oz servings, we get more caffeine from brewed coffee. Coffees made quickly, under pressure are going to lose caffeine but since the water temp in an espresso machine is lower (usually around 101 F) and contact time between water and grounds is shorter, the caffeine content of a 1oz shot of espresso is usually about the same as a 6-8oz cup of drip brewed coffee.
Using cold water brewing methods degrade caffeine least and produce finished coffees with the most caffeine. The coffee grounds should be steeped for 8-12 hours to achieve desired strength of extraction, which is caffeine-wise about equivalent or a little stronger than espresso. Some people steep coldbrew for longer. (Personally, I think after 18 hours coldbrew becomes syrupy and undrinkable on its own.) The highest octane coffees are both lightly roasted and cold-brewed. How do I know all this? 12 years as a professional barista and 3 years as an artisan roaster for a small company.