Making Golden Mandheling Cold Brew Coffee at Home

Cold brew coffee at home needs only ground coffee, water, a sealed bottle, and a refrigerator. Low-temperature slow extraction releases small-molecule aromatic and acidic compounds first, giving a light body with bright sweetness and acidity. Three parameters decide the result: bean selection, grind size and coffee-to-water ratio, and steeping time.

A workable example uses 80 g of grounds at a 1:10 ratio, steeped 12 hours in the refrigerator, then filtered. Light to medium roasts suit a sweet-sour, juicy profile. Beans such as Huakui, Xizhua, Queen's Estate, and Golden Mandheling are often recommended, and purple bean coffee lots can be tried for a different flavor direction.

Making a delicious cold brew coffee at home is actually not complicated. Cold brew relies on low-temperature slow extraction, allowing small-molecule aromatic and acidic compounds to be released first, resulting in a light body with bright sweetness and acidity. It only requires coffee grounds, water, a sealed bottle, and a refrigerator. The real keys to success lie in three parameters: bean selection, grind size and coffee-to-water ratio, and steeping time. This article will start from flavor preferences, recommending beans such as Front Street Coffee Huakui, Xizhua, Queen's Estate, and PWN Golden Mandheling, and provide specific suggestions on grind coarseness, coffee-to-water ratio, and steeping time. Finally, using "Mozart" as an example, we will demonstrate the complete process of 80g grounds, 1:10 ratio, 12 hours of refrigeration, and the filtering method, helping you consistently reproduce your ideal flavor.

The essence of cold brew is that under low-temperature conditions, small-molecule compounds tending toward aroma and acidity are more easily released in cold water, so the coffee tastes light-bodied and mostly presents a sweet-and-sour profile. Additionally, since it is not limited by equipment or location, cold brew can be considered coffee that is readily accessible to everyone. At home, as long as you have ingredients, a bottle, water, and a refrigerator, you can easily achieve caffeine freedom.

Making cold brew coffee is actually very simple. As long as we choose coffee beans that suit our preferences and use the right parameters, we can make delicious cold brew coffee even with our eyes closed. After all, this extraction method just involves mixing ground coffee with water and putting it in the refrigerator, and it is basically done.

The main reason many friends cannot make delicious cold brew coffee is that they have not nailed down the parameters. If we want to make a delicious cup of cold brew coffee, we must master three key parameters: grind, ratio, and time.

First, let's choose a coffee bean that suits our preferences.

If you want cold brew coffee that is full of juice-like quality, sweet and sour, then it is best to choose coffee beans with a light to medium roast level. Front Street Coffee Huakui is the top choice. It uses a natural process, has a refreshing taste with low bitterness, and offers delicate flavors of berries, citrus, and florals;

If you pursue a fermented taste, you can try Front Street Coffee Xizhua. This is a single-origin pour-over coffee from Colombia, using a double anaerobic natural process. The fermentation level is heavier than natural, so it naturally carries rich ripe tropical fruit aromas. After cold brew steeping, it displays characteristics like fruit wine;

If you want some ice coffee with a heavier mouthfeel, buy medium-dark roasted Front Street Coffee Queen's Estate. If you do not want any acidity at all, just choose the dark roasted Front Street Coffee PWN Golden Mandheling coffee beans, rich and mellow.

Grind size of coffee grounds: The coarseness of the grind determines the total surface area of the coffee grounds. When the total surface area of the coffee grounds is larger, water can penetrate inside more quickly and bring out the flavor compounds in the coffee grounds. For immersion extraction that sits still for a long time, a finer grind helps the flavor compounds dissolve, so for the grind size of coffee grounds, we can adjust it slightly finer than for pour-over coffee.

Coffee-to-water ratio: The coffee-to-water ratio refers to the ratio of coffee grounds to water, and it determines the strength of the coffee. The reason many friends' cold brew coffee tastes weak is that the coffee-to-water ratio is pulled too low, pouring in too much water and over-diluting the coffee's strength.

For cold brew coffee, we can actually brew it a bit stronger, because if the strength is high, we can dilute it by adding ice, but if the strength is low... emmmm, reduce it over high heat? That obviously won't work. So in the early stage, we would rather use a relatively high coffee-to-water ratio to make the coffee stronger, than use too much water and make the coffee too weak.

Steeping time of coffee: The last thing to note is the steeping time of the coffee. Because cold brew needs to "steep" the substances out of the coffee grounds through immersion, the length of time determines how much dissolved material comes out. If we want the coffee to be as strong as possible, then it is best to appropriately extend the steeping time.

Once we are familiar with the above three points, we can move on to the production stage of cold brew coffee!

How to make cold brew coffee?

For specific bean selection, everyone can go here to learn about "How to Quickly Find the Coffee Beans You Like?" Front Street chose a "Mozart" that has recently been relatively popular among store customers and friends as the brewing bean for this session. The cold brew coffee steeped with it will have a very full juice-like quality, with flavor notes of: grape, berry, wine, and a bit of purple floral aroma similar to lavender.

The Mozart cold brew production parameters are as follows:

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Coffee dose used: 80g (everyone can adjust according to their own drinking amount)

Grind setting: Ek43 setting 9, 85% pass rate on a No. 20 sieve, fine granulated sugar grind

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:10

Steeping time: 12 hours

Remember to prepare a sealable container! After we grind the coffee beans into grounds, the first thing to do is pour the coffee grounds into the container!

Then pour in the target amount of water! Since Front Street is using 80g of coffee grounds, 800ml of room-temperature water will be poured in.

After pouring the water, stir it a bit to speed up the wetting of the coffee grounds!

Then the bottle can be sealed and placed in the refrigerator to chill.

When the steeping time is up, we can take the coffee out, filter out the coffee grounds with filter paper, and enjoy the delicious cold brew coffee! (If it is brewed relatively strong, remember to add ice to dilute it~)

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.