How To Make Cold Brew Coffee: The Cold Dripper

Does smooth, low acid cold brew sound tasty? Step right this way…

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1: Acquire A Cold Drip System

There are lots of choices for cold drippers with various options and price points available, but the important things are: a) an adjustable drip valve, b) filters for the bottom and top of your coffee, and c) something to pass the time. Cold-brewing with a dripper takes a few hours even at its shortest brew cycle.

On the cheaper end of the scale is the gosh! , then we have the cold bruer , the Nispiria and on the high end of the scale (but it looks awesome) we have Yama tower.

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2: Dose & Grind Your Coffee

We like to use around a 1:9 coffee to water ratio for a light and flavorful ready-to-drink cold brew, but you can bump the coffee ratio up if you prefer your cold brew with more heft, or want to make a concentrate. Grind size should be medium coarse, somewhere between a pour-over grind and a french press grind.

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3: Saturate Your Coffee

Placing a pre-wetted filter into the bottom of the coffee reservoir, pour your coffee into the reservoir. Add a small amount of water and stir gently to ensure all the grounds are wet. The water should help level out the grounds. When they settle, place a pre-wetted filter atop the grounds, taking care to get it as level as possible. This will help the water from the dripper spread evenly across the coffee.

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4: Set the Drip

Add your water and ice to the top chamber. Using the adjustable valve, set your drip speed. A good starting speed is 6 drips every 10 seconds. You want to make sure that your drip speed it slow enough that water doesn’t build up in the chamber.

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5: Watch Attentively

Just kidding. From this point on, gravity will take care of the rest. You can go to work or read a book or nap. If you have free time, you can check in on the coffee every hour or two. As water drains out of the reservoir, the drip speed will slow down a little, so you can readjust the speed if you need to.

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6: Drink Some Cold Brew!

When all the water has left the reservoir, your smooth and flavorful cold brew is ready! You can enjoy it over ice, with cream and sugar, or even straight-up. If you have left-overs, your cold brew will keep for up to two weeks in the fridge.

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7: Adjust to Taste

Don't expect your first brew to be perfect. Experimenting with different beans and grind sizes will yield different tastes, so play around with them. It's a slow process, so we recommend keeping a journal of what changes you've made. Basic experimenting guidelines:

Does your cold brew taste too dark and heavy? Next time, adjust your drip speed to be a little faster.

Is your cold brew is too light and watery? Slow that drip speed down on the next time around.

Is water pooling up above your coffee, even on a slow drip speed? Use a more coarse grind.

Is your water draining too quickly? Use a finer grind.

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