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The Best Coffee for Cold Brew (Guide to Buy)
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Cold brew coffee is easy to make and low in acidity. It has a touch of sweetness that rounds out a balanced bitter-free taste. Plus, they’re the perfect antidote for a sluggish summer day.
To get the best flavors from the cold brew, you need to pick the coffee that best adapts to this brewing technique. Not all coffee beans will do the job. Here is why we have done the leg work for you and we have picked the best coffee for a cold brew on the market by the time we write this article.
Top Recommended Coffee for Cold Brew
Don’t have the time to read through? These are our TOP 4 coffee for cold brew recommendations you can check out:
Last update on 2023-11-05 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
10 Best Coffee for Cold Brew
Stone Street Coffee
Colombian coffee is world-famous and it is deserved. While the flavors vary from region to region, Colombian coffee tends to have a substantial body with rich flavors. Coffee drinkers can enjoy hints of floral or tropical fruits in the taste and aromas.
Colombia has the perfect growing conditions. The mountainous regions stretch up to 6,400 feet in altitude, which provides a shady, fertile, and lush environment for cultivation. Considering that Stone Street Coffee uses 100 percent Arabica beans from Colombia, consumers will get some of the top coffee for cold brewing.
Cold Brew Reserve Colombian Single Origin Coffee is a mouthful to say. It comes with a sweet and smooth mouthfeel and a balanced profile. The low acidity levels and dark roast also appeal to occasional drinkers and coffee lovers.
Each Stone Street Coffee bag comes with three layers to ensure easy resealing. The packaging includes a foil lining and natural kraft that work to preserve the flavors of the Colombian grounds. That way, you can enjoy your Stone Street Coffee cold brew for a longer time.
The Chosen Bean
The Chosen Bean’s Premium Artisan Cold Brew offers a mixture of light-medium and dark-medium roasts. The combination comes from the time the beans spend in the flames of the company’s Loring Roasters. The result is a light body that mixes in nutty and chocolaty undertones.
The process of procuring this blend starts with coffee farms across the world. The Chosen Bean gets handpicked beans from fair trade and organic organizations, including Guatemala, Indonesia, Ethiopia, and Mexico. They go to the source to find the top beans for cold brew.
After roasting the beans to the specified complexion, the blend gets a coarse grind. These large granules allow for the retention of flavor and freshness compared to fine grinds. The Chosen Bean recommends people enjoy the dynamic cold brew with a 1:6 coffee-to-water ratio for 18 hours in a French Press.
The World’s First Carbon Negative Coffee – Tiny Footprint Coffee
The beans of Tiny Footprint Coffee start in the shade-heavy region. The fertile soil and condition yield coffee that offers a sweet and silky smoothness and a substantial body. Each brew comes with notes of flora and fruitiness for an added layer of brightness.
The World’s First Carbon Negative Coffee is tailor-made for cold coffee brew. It features a mix of light and dark roasts for a smooth balance of flavors, plus spikes of the best coffee from Ethiopia. To ensure a consistent roast coffee, Tiny Footprint Coffee uses German-manufactured drum roasters that deliver a thorough complexion.
Beyond the taste of the coffee, Tiny Footprint Coffee has gone beyond to make the harvesting, roasting, and distributing process as eco-friendly as possible. Every time you purchase a pound of this specialty coffee, the company donates the proceeds to reforestation in Ecuador. As a result, the new trees work to extra CO2 emissions from the atmosphere while bolstering the environment for native plants and animals.
Stone Cold Jo – Jo Coffee
Jo Coffee throws every buzzword in the book at consumers with their Stone Cold Jo. That includes, but is not limited to fair trade certified, USDA certified organic, non-GMO, and Kosher certified. These marketable phrases aren’t making up for shortcomings. Stone Cold Jo is one of the best coffees for cold brew.
The dark roasts in every batch exude a flavor that blends chocolaty and winey notes. The caramelization from the natural sugars adds subtle flavors to the sleek and smooth body. With no flavor additives, people can start their morning with a cup of Stone Cold Jo in hand.
The rich amalgamation comes from the intensive sourcing method. Jo Coffee purchases coffee from the top two percent of raw Arabica coffee across the world. Not only does it ensure the best possible ingredients, but the meticulous process supports small and local coffee growers.
Inspired Coffee Co.
If you want one of the top beans for cold brew that is from a single origin, you could do worse than Colombia. Colombian coffee gets praise for its depth of flavor and immaculate growing conditions. Some coffee aficionados are willing to pay any price to get their hands on this cold brew elixir.
When you kick off the cold brewing process with Inspired Coffee Co.’s Flavored Cold Brew Coffee, you can be confident in the freshness. The pre-ground beans come in degassing bags, which provide airtight sealing. Removing excess air mitigates the aging process of the coffee grounds.
Once you have the coffee brewing and are ready to enjoy, you will be able to taste smooth and creamy notes of caramel with a trace of sea salt. That is no accident. Inspired Coffee Co. prepares its coffee for the best cold brewing possible. The company recommends a ratio of three cups of hot water to one cup of ground coffee with the option of sugar for sweetness.
Olde Brooklyn Coffee
Olde Brooklyn Coffee takes inspiration from around the world for their French Roast Whole Bean Coffee. The company blends Arabica beans from Columbia, Brazil, and Guatemala. The result is a vibrant and complex flavor that outpaces regular coffee.
French Roast Whole Bean Coffee is one of the best coffees for cold brew. Olde Brooklyn Coffee makes assures each coffee bean is handpicked with meticulous care and maintenance. The product is airtightly sealed for maximum flavor and freshness.
Olde Brooklyn Coffee makes it easy to find your favorite coffee with a variation for dark, medium, breakfast, and Italian dark roasts. Whether you are a coffee connoisseur or enjoy a single brewed coffee in the morning, there is something for you. The versatility makes Olde Brooklyn Coffee conducive to drip brews, cold brews, iced coffee, and French presses.
Coffee Chicory – Café Du Monde
Café Du Monde is one of the quintessential culinary staples of New Orleans’ French Market. If you have never visited the Big Easy, Coffee Chicory is for you.
Chicory is the ground and roasted root of a native New Orleans plant. It is similar to sugar beets and gives off a caramelized flavor during the roasting process. Its robust and distinctive profile makes Coffee Chicory one of the distinguished tasting coffees on this list.
If you have brewed a cup of drip coffee with Coffee Chicory, you are in for a treat. The mellow profile and substantial body come with notes of wood and hickory. It is an experience that is sure to transport you to the News Orleans landmark.
Cold Brew Lab
Cold Brew Lab takes a scientific approach to their methodologies. In this case, they created this bag of coffee for cold brewing. It says it in the name.
Ground Organic Coffee Crafted for Cold Brewing is 100 percent Arabica Colombia. Each bean comes with a USDA certified organic and specialty-grade, so consumers get beans that are good for them and the environment. The beans get a dark roast that sets them up for a thorough cold brewing extraction.
The result is a rounded and silky flavor with a full body and low acidity. The mix of medium and dark roasts adds to the unique complex that is bold, yet enjoyable. Consumers can pre-ground bags of Cold Brew Lab or can take pleasure in grinding the beans themselves.
Verena Street
A rich body with a sweet and creamy finish. Verena Street harnessed that complexity and delivers it in the form of Shot Tower Espresso Whole Bean.
The dark roast of the beans provides a depth of flavor to each sip of this cold coffee. That is because Verena Street roasts and packages all of its products at their family-owned and operated facility in Iowa. Combine this with the fine grind, and consumers are sure to get the most out of every bag.
It is worth noting that Verena Street partners with the Rainforest Alliance. The organization helps protect farmers, the environment, and wildlife in the areas where farmers grow coffee. That way, you can enjoy peace of mind knowing that your beans for cold brew are also contributing to a worthy cause.
Koffee Kult – Dark Roast Coffee Beans
Koffee Kult’s Dark Roast is gourmet, fresh roasted, 100 percent Arabica, and oil-free. The company is family-owned and operated.
The single effective descriptor may be that the Dark Roast Coffee Beans were voted number one for strong, bold flavor. It is freshly roasted, 100 percent Arabica, and oil-free. The beans for this coffee come from Colombia, Guatemala, and Sumatra. The blend provides a smooth and low acid taste inside a substantial body with tones of cinnamon and cocoa.
Koffee Kult is self-described as obsessive for the roasting process. Roastmasters oversee the small batches of beans to ensure the ideal preparation. Consumers get the best cold brew coffee that does not utilize any oil or defective beans.
How to Brew Cold Coffee
At this point, you have found the best coffee beans brand that you love. The important thing is to prepare them. There is no single recipe or method to cold brewing. The brewing process will depend on your tastes and preferences.
For instance, whether or not you have a light or medium roast can alter the final flavor of the product. The same can be said of the coarse grind. These are two fast and easy ways to get a delicious cold coffee.
FAQ
What is the best pre-ground coffee size for cold brewing?
It is challenging to select a single pre-ground coffee because blends and preferences vary from person to person. That said, grind size matters. If the grind is too fine, the cup will be over-extracted. Grounds that are too fine will leave you with a watery beverage.
If you don’t have strong preferences about your cold brew coffee, we recommend average coarse grinds. These provide a consistent cold brew whether you use a drip grind or cold press. The best coffee beans for cold brewing, any of the companies listed in this article should satisfy.
How to make cold brew coffee
There are a couple of different ways to cold brew coffee. If you use a French press, all you need to add is water and coffee grounds. Add the contents to the machine before pouring room temperature water in and letting the mixture sit for 12 hours.
Another approach is to use a mason jar. Fill up the mason jar with water, add the grounds, stir, and refrigerate for 12 plus hours. Strain the mixture with cheesecloth or filters.
What’s the best cold brew ratio for coffee?
The best cold brew ratio will depend on how strong you like your coffee. A higher ratio allows more water into the coffee, which dilutes the potency of the cold brewing. This style may be preferable if you want to limit your caffeine intake or mix in milk or sugar.
If you want a strong cold brew coffee, we recommend three cups of water for every one part of the coffee. For people who want less potency, eight parts of water to one part coffee might be worth trying. What works best will vary based on the desired flavor profile.
Conclusion
Exploring the world of cold brew coffee can be a sensory overload, hence why it is so popular. There are countless factors to consider from origins to roasts, to recipes to brewing techniques and more. The most important single factor is how the coffee cold brew tastes to you.
This article can serve as your blueprint through the coffee chaos. If you are just starting, we recommend trying a few varieties to see which flavor profiles fit your palette best. From there, you can try various methods of prepping cold brewing until you’ve found your perfect cup.
