Cold Brew Coffee

I did not start drinking coffee until my late twenties, after my second son was born.  I am still not a coffee junkie, but I have found I really like starting my day with a cup of cold brew over ice with a splash of cream.  Then I switch to tea, because any more coffee makes me feel bonkers.  I suppose cold brew is a bit of a fad, but I do really like the taste of the coffee and am convinced it doesn't make me feel quite so...crazy. (The "cold" in cold brew reflects the way it is made- it is steeped for a long period of time in cold water opposed to a quick steep in boiling water like with a french press or drip coffee.  This produces coffee with lower acidity, though the caffeine content is actually greater.)  The only pitfall to my choice in coffee is that it is expensive.  I particularly like "Stok," which is $5.00 a jug, already diluted.  (If you are unfamiliar with cold brew sold it grocery stores, it often is sold in a concentrated form where you have to add water or milk before drinking.  These concentrated versions often stretch longer, having more actual cups coffee per jug, but the cost reflects this as well, capping out above $10 a jug.)  While it is not an outrageous price, it adds up quickly.  If I have a solid cup of ice coffee in the morning, every morning, I need at least two jugs.  I can stretch- I don't need coffee every morning, but I do like it.  So, by the end of the month, that is a potential $40 on only coffee for only me.  Add to that my husbands established and more substantial coffee habit, and we've broken $100.  While cheaper than buying a fixed coffee drink at the coffee shop every day, it is still more than what we would like to be spending.
This cost is what drove me to investigate making my own cold brew.  And oh my goodness, it couldn't be easier. So now we have started making our own cold brew coffee and it has cut our snooty cold brew coffee habit down to about $20 a month for the both of us.  All you need are some coarsely ground coffee beans, a jar, water and some time.  Seriously.  We are still shopping around for coffee beans we like the best as a cold brew, but we have gotten some great results.  The recipe below will make you a concentrated version of cold brew coffee that will need to be diluted before drinking.  I recommend a 1:1 ratio of the cold brew with water, but you should experiment and find what you like best.  If you have a quart mason jar handy, that would be perfect, as it has three cups marked right on the side, a lid ready to go, is easy to store and is very easy to clean.

Recipe
3 cups water 
2/3 cups coarsely ground coffee (like what you would use for a french press)

In a quart-sized mason jar, or similar container, place three cups of water.  To this, add 2/3 cups of your ground coffee.  Screw the lid on the jar, making sure it is secure, and give it a good shake.  Set the jar on the counter and leave it be for 12 hours or overnight.  After it has steeped, filter the coffee out of the mason jar (I filter it right into another mason jar using a flour sifter and a coffee filter) and store it, sealed, in the refrigerator.  Dilute the coffee 1:1 with water and/or milk or dilute it to meet your personal taste.

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