How to make cold brew coffee at home

Name: Cold brew coffee
Total time: 12 h 10 min
Yield: 4 cups
Ingredients: Coarse-ground coffee · 100 g; Cold filtered water · 500 ml (or 1 litre); Glass jar with a lid; Fine sieve and a paper or cloth filter; Ice, water or fresh milk to serve

Cold brew (cà phê ủ lạnh in Vietnamese) is coarse-ground coffee steeped in cold water for 12–18 hours, then filtered. Smooth, low in bitterness, with a sweet finish; make it the night before, drink it the next day.

Time 12 h
Difficulty Easy
Serves 4 cups
Cold brew

Coffee: 100 g per litre of water (ready to drink)
Grind: Coarse, like coarse sea salt
Cold filtered water: 500 ml (concentrate, 1:5) · 1 litre (ready to drink, 1:10)
Steep: 12–18 h, in the fridge
To serve (concentrate): 1 part cold brew + 1 part water or milk
Keeps: Sealed, in the fridge, within 24 hours

You need

Coarse-ground coffee · 100 g
Cold filtered water · 500 ml (or 1 litre)
Glass jar with a lid
Fine sieve and a paper or cloth filter
Ice, water or fresh milk to serve

Method

Grind 100 g of coffee coarse, about the size of coarse sea salt. Too fine a grind makes the brew cloudy and bitter.
Put the coffee in a clean jar and pour in 500 ml of cold filtered water for a concentrate, or 1 litre for ready-to-drink.
Stir gently until all the grounds are wet and no dry clumps remain.
Close the lid and leave it in the fridge for 12–18 hours. Longer gives a stronger brew; past 24 hours it turns harsh.
Strain through a fine sieve, then again through a paper or cloth filter. Let it drip through; don't squeeze or press the grounds.
Pour the cold brew into a clean bottle, seal it, keep it in the fridge and drink it within 24 hours.
To serve, pour over ice. Dilute the concentrate 1:1 with cold water or fresh milk.

Tip: Scale to your jar: ready to drink is 1:10, so a 1 L jar takes 100 g of coffee and a 1.5 L jar 150 g; for concentrate (1:5) double the coffee (200 g for 1 L). Pre-ground phin coffee works too, but steep only 8–10 hours and filter twice through paper.