I cannot survive without caffeine. I mean, I guess I could, but I’d be grumpy and foggy and overall just a complete grouch. In an effort to be more budget friendly and also find alternatives to the free yet really poor quality coffee at my office, the thought occurred: cold press! Well, well, well…I might as well delete by Starbucks app because this is amazing.
You’ll need a french press or a pitcher, bowl, sieve and cheese cloth. Years ago I worked as a Starbucks barista and maximized every bit of the employee discount by buying an insulated french press. It is irrelevant to making cold brew, but when making traditional french press, the insulated body keeps your coffee warmer much longer than the common glass presses.
For the beans, I prescribe to the ‘French for french’ methodology. Meaning, unless pressed (punny!), I’ll pick the local french roast bean for french pressed coffee. The grind also matters here – use your local store/coffee shop grinder with the setting to french/percolator for a coarse ground. [And yes, the late 90s party animal in me cannot write the word percolator without head bobbing…’Its time for the percolator/Its time for the percolator.’] The cinnamon is clearly your garden variety, affordable grocery store brand. And while the Williams-Sonoma ground Tahitian vanilla bean isn’t cheap, I’ve been nursing this same jar for about 6 years now. So live a little; buy and use the good vanilla bean.
You’ll want to add the coffee, cinnamon and vanilla to your french press and add about two cups of water and then stir to make sure all the grounds are wet. Add 1 cup of water, stir again. Repeat until the press is filled with liquid but enough room to secure the lid and screen. Then simply place the lid on the press and walk away/go to sleep. Do NOT press the coffee – just let it sit out over night or about 12 hours.
When you finally do press the liquid gold, the cold brew will be strong. Like rocket fuel strong. So I cut mine with about a 1/4 cup of unsweetened Whole30 compliant almond milk and then equal parts water and cold brew. For the size of travel mugs I use, one press gets me two mornings worth of coffee.
Ingredients
5 heaping tablespoons of French roast coffee, ground for French press
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground vanilla bean
Water
And either French press or pitcher/mason jar with sieve and cheese cloth
- Add the dry ingredients to French press and stir together to combine.
- Starting with about 1 cup of water, add to press and stir to make sure all the grounds are moist. Keep adding water, one cup at a time, and stir to incorporate into grinds until press is full but there is still enough room for lid.
- Place lid on top of press and let sit for 12+ hours or overnight.
- When ready, press the coffee. Cold brew will be strong and you might want to cut it 50/50 with water or a combination of water/cold brew/milk.
Enjoy!
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