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Cold Brew Recipe: The iCoffee House Brew

Smooth, low-acid cold brew concentrate for iced drinks. 200g coffee, 1000ml cold water, 1:5 ratio, coarse grind. 20-hour steep, dilute 1:1 to serve.

Two glasses of iced cold brew on a gray serving tray beside a vintage Fujifilm rangefinder camera, the coarse-ground concentrate diluted over ice

What a week's worth of cold brew looks like, diluted over ice and ready to drink. · Photo by SingSing Wade Kim on Unsplash

TL;DR

Cold brew runs on time instead of heat. We steep 200g (7.05oz) of coarse coffee in 1000ml (33.8 fl oz) of cold filtered water, a 1:5 ratio, for 16–24 hours in the fridge. The result is a concentrate to dilute 1:1 with water or milk, smooth and low-acid by design. Yields about 900ml (30.4 fl oz) of concentrate, enough for a week of iced coffee.

Ratio
1:5
Coffee
200g (7.05oz)
Water
1000ml (33.8 fl oz)
Temperature
20°C (68°F)
Grind
Coarse
Total time
20 hr
Yield
900ml (30.4 fl oz)
Difficulty
Easy

What you need

Equipment

  • Large jar or pitcher (2 L capacity)
  • Fine-mesh strainer + paper filter, or a dedicated cold brew filter
  • Kitchen scale
  • Refrigerator space

Ingredients

  • 200g (7.05oz) freshly ground coffee (coarse grind, like raw sugar)
  • 1000ml (33.8 fl oz) cold filtered water (straight from the tap if filtered, no need to boil)

The recipe

1
at 0:00:00, ~0:01:00

Add 200g (7.05oz) of coarse coffee to the jar.

Even distribution of grounds in the jar helps consistent extraction.
2
at 0:01:00, ~0:01:00

Pour 1000ml (33.8 fl oz) of cold filtered water over the grounds and stir to combine.

All grounds need to be wet to avoid dry pockets.
3
at 0:02:00, ~20:00:00

Cover and steep in the fridge for 16–24 hours. Around 20 hours is the sweet spot.

Refrigeration slows extraction and gives cleaner flavor.
4
at 20:02:00, ~0:05:00

Strain through a fine-mesh sieve first, then through a paper filter. Store the concentrate chilled in a sealed jar for up to two weeks.

Filter thoroughly to remove fines for a clear concentrate.

Why this recipe works

Cold brew is a slow extraction, not a fast one. Without heat to drive solubility, the brew pulls sugars and caffeine cleanly while leaving most of the acids behind. That's the entire reason cold brew tastes smooth rather than bright.

Ratio. 1:5, a true concentrate. Heavier ratios are a waste of beans; lighter ones produce a "cold brew" you have to drink straight without dilution, which means the fridge is full of mediocre coffee. The 1:5 concentrate dilutes 1:1 at the cup, so the brewed yield serves twice the volume.

Temperature. Cold, around 20°C (68°F) at room or fridge temp. Room-temperature steeps run faster but pull more bitter compounds; fridge steeps run cleaner and let you forget about it overnight.

Grind. Coarse, like raw sugar. Finer grinds over-extract during the long contact time and produce a muddy concentrate that won't filter clean.

Steep duration. 16–24 hours, with 20 the target. Under 16 and the concentrate tastes weak after dilution; past 24 and woody, papery flavors creep in.

What makes this ours

Most cold brew recipes either run a weak 1:8 that doesn't survive dilution, or push the steep to 36 hours and call the woody flavor "complexity." A clean 1:5 at 20 hours is the actual sweet spot, and the resulting concentrate keeps in the fridge for two weeks without degrading.

What to adjust

If your concentrate tastes too bitter or woody: your steep ran past 24 hours, or your grind is too fine. Cut the next batch to 18 hours and step the grind one click coarser.

If your concentrate tastes thin straight from the jar: your steep was too short. Push to a full 24 hours, and check the grind isn't so coarse the water can't penetrate the bed.

If your concentrate is muddy or sediment-heavy: your filter step wasn't enough. Strain through a mesh sieve first, then a paper filter. The two-step filter is non-negotiable.

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