Cold-Brewed Coffee
I don't have a photo of this, and frankly it just looks like coffee. But I was intrigued by how well cold-brewing works, so I'm writing it all down before I forget.
Cold brewing proponents claim that it produces a less acidic, smoother coffee than coffee made with hot water. People seem to waver about which type of coffee contains more caffeine. Near as I can tell, the cold version is stronger.
In either case, cold brewing results in a very strong concentrate which can be mixed with hot or cold water or milk. The benefit is that you do your cold brewing once every week or two and don't have to worry about it until you run out of concentrate. The concentrate is kept in the fridge, so you can have iced coffee any time you want without firing up the stove or coffee machine. You can cold brew with a Toddy system, or with a few simple tools:
- large glass jar with a lid
- manual coffee drip
- paper cone coffee filters
- a large mug
- empty bottle with lid
If you don't have a manual coffee drip, a strainer linked with paper basket coffee filters will work but be a little messy. As far as ingredients go, it's even simpler:
- 1 pound coffee, ground for an American drip machine (medium/fine)
- 9 cups cold filtered water
Combine the coffee and water in the glass jar. Stir well so that all the grounds are wet. Place in the fridge for at least 10 hours and up to 24 hours. I put mine in for about 12. I would imagine that the concentrate would start taking on bitter qualities if the grounds are left too long.
Set up your manual cone and paper filter over a mug. Pour in the concentrate and grounds, and let it drip for at least half an hour. Stir periodically and press the grounds gently. You won't be able to get all the water out. Switch filters when one becomes full of grounds. For a pound of coffee you will use four or five paper filters. Yes, it's a lot of filters, but for me it's still cheaper than investing in a $30 Toddy. It occurs to me that a manual drip with a gold filter would be a nice $10 compromise, but oh well. I enjoy working with what I have.
Bottle the concentrate and keep in the fridge for up to two weeks. To use, pour two tablespoons into a mug and fill with water or milk. The amount is of course up to you. The coffee is very concentrated, so start light. I'm thinking the concentrate would be awesome for baking and for frozen drinks as well. I can't wait to start experimenting.
Warning: the concentrate is highly addictive. It has a smooth, nutty flavor and pleasant aftertaste.
posted by Pei @ 6:35 PM
2 Comments:
Pei,
I wonder if this will work with tea to make those ultra strong Hong Kong milk teas. Do you also know what kind of tea will work well to make those?
Problem Child
What do you mean ultrastrong? I've never been to HK, so if it's something you can only get there I won't be any help.
If you're just talking about tea concentrate, I think this would work. Check out the Toddy official website. They tell you how to use their contraption to make tea concentrate. You can use the method I used, but check their website for proportions.
Personally, I find milk tea flavor hard to achieve because of the poor quality of black tea in the US. Try to get Lipton black that's made in the UK. You can find it in ethnic stores, in bags and loose leaf. Just check the back of the package. How good it is will still depend on how long it's been sitting in the store, but American Lipton's is just terrible.
If you have a good Chinese tea store nearby, check them for tea made especially for milk tea.
And when you make the milk tea, try a few different sweetners. Sweetened condensed milk is popular, and you have to use sugar syrup. Adding dry sugar to tea never tastes right, because the stores always use syrup.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home