What is Cold Brew?
Cold Brew:
Compared to brewed coffee or iced coffee, cold brew doesn’t use a different type of coffee bean, but rather has a different steeping and brewing method. This particular brewing method helps to further bring out the natural flavors, aromas, and sugars from the coffee bean itself. It also creates a coffee that is less acidic than traditionally brewed coffee, but can sometimes also end up tasting flat with less body and mouthfeel.
HOW IT IS MADE
Depending on the cold brew recipe, there can be slight differences in how cold brew coffee is made. However, the basic steps are all the same. Essentially coarse coffee grinds are steeped in room temperature or cold water for 12-24 hours to make cold brew coffee. This method uses more time to extract coffee by leaving it in the water rather than using heat or steam, like in traditional brew. This creates a coffee concentrate that has to later be diluted with water or milk before drinking. Since the cold brew method literally makes “cold coffee,” it prevents coffee from watering down, like can happen when using ice cubes in iced coffee.
HOW MUCH CAFFEINE IS IN YOUR COLD BREW
Just like any other coffee, the caffeine content in cold brew varies and is dependent on how the beans are extracted and the amount of coffee grounds used. While cold brew coffee may seem like it has more caffeine at first because it is made with a higher ratio of coffee grounds to water, it is a concentrate that is diluted with a 1:1 ratio of coffee to water or milk. Due to this, it has around the same amount of caffeine as a regular iced coffee, which is about 70-140 mg of caffeine per 8 oz cup.
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