How to make cold-brew coffee at home

Cold brew is made with cool water over hours, not hot coffee poured over ice. You can make it in a clean jar and filter it later, or use a pitcher with a removable mesh basket. The fundamentals are dose, water, contact time and removing the grounds. Our cold-brew maker comparison helps choose equipment; this page is the recipe.

The starting ratio: drink now or dilute later?

For a gentle ready-to-drink baseline, try 60g coffee to 750g water, a 1:12.5 brew-water ratio. The grounds retain liquid, so the final volume will be lower than 750ml. Taste it over ice before adding milk or water. If you want to keep concentrate, try 100g coffee to 500g water, a 1:5 ratio, then start serving with roughly equal parts filtered concentrate and water or milk. That dilution is only a starting point; the strength of the concentrate varies with coffee and extraction.

These ratios describe water added, not the amount collected. A one-litre nominal pitcher might not accommodate an arbitrary one-litre recipe once its mesh basket and coffee are inside. Stay below the manufacturer's fill line and scale the weights down if necessary. A coffee scale makes it easy to repeat what worked.

Make the batch in a jar or mesh pitcher

1. Clean and dry the vessel and filter. Use medium-coarse to coarse grounds; a very fine grind makes mesh filtration muddy.
2. Weigh coffee and water for your chosen ratio. Put coffee into the mesh basket if using a pitcher, or into a clean lidded jar.
3. Add cool potable water gradually, ensuring all grounds are wet. A gentle stir or swirl helps break dry clumps. Do not exceed a product's marked capacity.
4. Cover and refrigerate. Start tasting after about eight hours; around 12 hours is a useful overnight baseline. Hario specifies at least eight hours for its Mizudashi.
5. Lift out the basket or strain from the jar. Let it drain gently; avoid aggressively pressing fines through the mesh. For a cleaner cup, pass a small amount through an appropriate paper filter.
6. Put the filtered coffee into a clean covered container and keep it in the fridge. Serve over ice, dilute concentrate and label the recipe for next time.

If you use the OXO release-switch brewer, its chamber sits on the worktop for the steep according to its instructions, then drains into the carafe. Follow its manual for the chosen recipe and handling; the jar/pitcher approach above deliberately refrigerates throughout. Do not leave a prepared batch warm for an extended improvised steep when you intend to store it for later.

How to fix the next batch

Weak and watery? First check whether you accidentally made ready-to-drink coffee and then diluted it again over melting ice. Try a slightly higher coffee dose or a longer steep next time. Strong but rough? Dilute in the glass before changing the full recipe; then try a shorter steep or coarser grind. Silty? Use coarser grounds, drain without squeezing and add a paper pass. A stale, dull flavour may be the beans or lengthy storage rather than the brewer.

Cold extraction does not mean caffeine-free or automatically lower caffeine. The dose and serving dilution matter. If you are comparing it with hot pour-over, change one variable and note the result instead of treating every cold brew as a fixed flavour profile.

Storage and cleaning

Remove wet grounds when the steep is complete, refrigerate finished coffee promptly in a closed clean container, and make modest batches you can finish over the next couple of days. There is no reliable universal shelf-life promise for every vessel, water source and cleaning routine; discard a batch that smells or looks wrong. Clean a mesh basket before residue dries, rinse all crevices and dry thoroughly. Avoid leaving glass where it can be knocked from a crowded fridge shelf.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use ordinary ground coffee?

Yes, but fine grounds are harder to filter and can produce more sediment. A coarser grind makes a mesh pitcher easier to use.

Does cold brew need 24 hours?

Not necessarily. Start near 12 refrigerated hours and taste. Hario's Mizudashi guidance says at least eight hours; more time is not automatically better.

Can I use a cafetière?

Yes, if it fits safely in the fridge and can be covered. Press and pour gently, then paper-filter if you dislike fines. See best cafetières for vessel differences.

How much concentrate should I pour?

Begin with one part filtered concentrate to one part water or milk, then change to taste. Record the batch ratio so next time is repeatable.