Cold Brew Coffee

The best part of waking up is having cold-brew in your cup...

About 6 months ago I started cold-brewing my morning coffee. I had read that cold brew is much less acidic and less bitter than hot brewed coffee – and it's true. (If you have a stomach acid problem this is for you.) You can make a bunch of it, refrigerate it and it's on-hand every morning or whenever you want it. By the time I put a mug in the microwave to heat up, turn on the Today Show, get my paper off the front porch and return to the kitchen it's ready - 90 seconds.

I cold-brew my coffee in a French Press. You can brew it in anything but you will need some kind of sieve to separate the grounds from the coffee when it's done steeping. You need to use a medium grind coffee, nothing too fine. I use 6 scoops of grounds to 2 cups of water in my press.  Stir it well once you have added the water to the grounds. I hear that using bottled water or distilled water makes it even better. Let it sit on your countertop for 12 hours, strain, place it in a container and refrigerate. It keeps for a week. It's also great for making an iced coffee - just add milk and ice.

Add the cold-brew coffee to your mug about 1/3 or 1/2 full and fill the rest with water (or milk) – it's not meant to be drunk full strength. You can adjust the ratio per your taste. The coffee grounds go farther as well because cold brewing extracts more flavor and is more intense.

If you are having a lot of people over and you know your coffee maker can't keep up make cold-brew in advance.

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