What’s the Best Coffee for Cold Brew?
We’ve chosen nine great coffees to try for your next cold brewing session at home. It’s hard to drink hot coffee when it’s hot outside. So, to please my cold beverage craving I thought I’d give cold brew coffee a shot. It’s very popular lately so we’ve spent hours finding the absolute highest quality and best coffee for cold brew.
The 9 Best Coffee Beans for Cold Brew (2024)
Here is a table comparing my favorite cold brew beans, followed by their details below.
| No. | Coffee Brand | Origin | Roast Level | Taste Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Volcanica Cold Brew Coffee (Top Choice in 2024) | Sumatra | Medium roast | Hints of wine, dried fruit, and brown sugar sweetness |
| 2 | Tiny Footprint Cold Press Elixir | Ethiopia | Light + Dark roast | Hints of floral and fruity tones in a cocoa-like body |
| 3 | Grounds and Hounds Sunny Spot Cold Brew Coffee | Blend | Dark roast | Hints of nuts, chocolate, and spices |
| 4 | Stone Street Cold Brew Coffee (Colombian Single-Origin) | Colombia | Dark roast | Hints of chocolate and caramel |
| 5 | Cold Brew Lab (Colombian Supremo) | Colombia Supremo | Medium + Dark roast | Hints of milk chocolate, marshmallow, and graham crackers |
| 6 | Bizzy Organic Cold Brew Coffee | Peru, Guatemala and Nicaragua | Dark roast | Hints of molasses and cocoa notes |
| 7 | Hugo Coffee Roasters’ Dog Daze Cold Brew Coffee | Central Africa | Dark roast | Peru, Guatemala, and Nicaragua |
| 8 | Jo Coffee’s Stone Cold Jo | Blend of top 2% arabica farms | Dark roast | Hints of toffee, caramel, chocolate and grapes |
| 9 | Cooper’s Cask Coffee (Guatemalan Coffee Beans) | Guatemala | Medium roast | Hints of fruit, caramel, and chocolate |
Volcanica Cold Brew Coffee – Top Choice in 2024
The Volcanica cold brew coffee displays the palatable boldness of Sumatra blend mixed with the exceptionally low-acid Arabica coffee. It’s a medium roast cold brew perfect for the hot afternoons.
You can brew it for over 12 hours inside the refrigerator and serve it over with ice cubes. For a better cold brew coffee, mix a cup of coarse Sumatra coffee blend with 4 cups of water in a French Press. Filter, refrigerate, serve, and enjoy!
- Origin: Sumatra
- Cupping notes: dark, bold but mild in acidity with clean finish
- Tasting notes: hints of wine, dried fruit, and brown sugar sweetness
- Roast level: medium
This special medium roast blend by Volcanica is designed for cold brew enthusiasts, combining bold Sumatra with low-acid Arabica coffee. With flavor notes of sweet chocolate and nuts, it is processed using a washed method and is Kosher Certified.
It boasts a low acidity, achieved by roasting beans naturally lower in acid for longer durations, resulting in a higher pH and smoother taste.
Check out our Volcanica Review – Volcanica Coffee: Delicious Coffee Cultivated Sustainably.
Tiny Footprint Cold Press Elixir
This cold brew coffee is made from 100% organic, shade-grown, Arabica coffee beans using a vintage 90-kilo German-built Probat drum for roasting. The Tiny Footprint craft roast their coffee beans sourced from the top coffee regions. Thus, this coffee roaster manages to craft beans with clean and flavorful finishes.
- Origin: Ethiopia
- Cupping notes: sweet-toned, rich and silky
- Tasting notes: hints of floral and fruity tones in a cocoa-like body
- Roast level: light + dark roast
The Cold Press Elixir is a coffee blend designed specifically for cold brew, combining light and dark roasts with Ethiopian coffees. It features a flavor profile that includes sweet and silky richness, bright fruit, and floral notes within a cocoa-like body. This product is made from organic, 100% shade-grown Arabica beans.
Grounds and Hounds Sunny Spot Cold Brew Coffee
“The best cold brew in the kitchen,” is what Grounds and Hounds guarantee. Their Sunny Spot coffee blend is the perfect beverage to beat the heat with your furry friend. This dark and delicious French roast offers a different kind of summer treat.
Grounds and Hounds use the European method for roasting beans. With this coffee blend, you can expect a rich and bold flavor in every cup. Best of all, you’ll find no traces of burnt taste and bitter notes. 100% Arabica in both ground and whole bean.
Cupping notes: full-bodied, rich and silky body
Tasting notes: with hints of milk chocolate, marshmallow and graham crackers
Roast level: dark roast
The Sunny Spot Cold Brew Blend, a product of five years of research and testing, is designed specifically for cold brew coffee. This blend is a dark French Roast with aromatic notes of hazelnut and red currant, complemented by flavors of milk chocolate, marshmallow, and graham cracker. It is 100% organic certified, made from Arabica beans, and available in both whole bean and ground forms.
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Stone Street Cold Brew Coffee (Colombian Single-Origin)
Stone Street Coffee Company roasts their coffee specifically for cold brew. They roast single-origin coffee beans directly from the coffee triangle of Colombia. Stone Street has a smooth body. Best of all, their cold brew is not watery or bitter and is slightly less acidic.
- Origin: Colombia
- Cupping notes: dark with rich, smooth body and low in acidity
- Tasting notes: hints of chocolate and caramel
- Roast level: dark roast
The Cold Brew Reserve is a dark roast coffee blend made from large, high-quality arabica beans sourced from Colombia, designed specifically for cold brewing. This coffee, ideal for brewing in various systems like mason jars or French presses, is noted for its chocolatey flavor profile. Additionally, customers have options for pre-ground or whole beans and can select from three different bag sizes to suit their needs.
Cold Brew Lab (Colombian Supremo)
Cold Brew Lab custom roast beans for coffee drinkers craving a delicious cold brew. CBL brews its cold coffee with Colombian Supremo, the largest coffee bean size in Colombia. It uses the European Preparation (EP) style to ensure a full-flavored coffee.
To make a cold brew blend, Cold Brew Lab uses a mixture of medium and dark roast coffee beans. No wonder that their cold brew coffee is velvety, bold, and flavorful.
- Origin: Colombia Supremo
- Cupping notes: well-rounded, smooth, and full-bodied; low in acidity
- Tasting notes: hints of fruit, caramel and chocolate
- Roast level: medium + dark roast
This product is a pesticide-free, USDA-certified organic Colombian coffee, made exclusively from specialty-grade, 100% Arabica Colombian Supremo beans. It features a proprietary blend of medium and dark roasted beans, tailored to enhance the flavor profile of cold brewed coffee, resulting in a smooth, yet bold and flavorful cup.
Bizzy Organic Cold Brew Coffee
Bizzy Cold Brew offers a smooth and sweet cold brew coffee for the hot summers. Bizzy uses coarse ground coffee for their cold brew and medium roasted the Arabica beans. When you sip cold brew from Bizzy, you’ll notice that it’s engineered to be smooth and sweet to the taste. You can adjust its strength with the amount of water you use making cold brew coffee at home.
If you want a less robust cold coffee, you simply add more water. For a more potent cold brew with all the flavors, drink it straight!
- Origin: Peru, Guatemala and Nicaragua
- Cupping notes: full-flavored, dark and rich
- Tasting notes: with a hint of molasses and cocoa notes
- Roast level: dark roast
This medium roast coffee, designed specifically for cold brewing, offers a balanced flavor with notes of caramel and hazelnut. It is made from 100% USDA Organic, ethically sourced Arabica beans from Guatemala, Peru, and Nicaragua, available in light, medium, and dark roasts for a smooth and sweet finish. The product allows flexibility in brewing strength, catering to individual preferences for stronger or milder cold brew coffee.
Hugo Coffee Roasters’ Dog Daze Cold Brew Coffee
Whenever you enjoy a cup and save a pup with Dog Daze cold brew coffee, you also beat the summer heat. It’s a delicious cold brew coffee to bring tp the campsite, work, or drink on days you want to chill at home.
Hugo Coffee Roasters uses coffee beans cultivated on Central African coffee farms. The beans in this region are famous for their chocolaty, nut, and spicy flavors. Roasted specifically to cool down those hot months.
- Origin: Central Africa
- Cupping notes: Strong, bold and rich, smooth body
- Tasting notes: with hints of nuts, chocolate and spices
- Roast level: dark roast
Dog Daze Cold Brew offers a convenient way to create cold brew coffee at home or while camping, using carefully selected and roasted beans. The product promises a high-quality, strong, bold, rich, and smooth concentrate. It features tasting notes of chocolate, nut, and spice, and originates from Central Africa.
Jo Coffee’s Stone Cold Jo
Jo Coffee roasts coffee beans sourced from the top 2% Arabica coffee farms around the world. It’s a third-wave cold brew coffee with professional tasters in mind. It is very flavorful, which occurs as the coffee’s undertones. Yet, there are no flavors added to intensify the taste.
- Cupping notes: silky smooth with low acidity
- Tasting notes: hints of toffee, caramel, chocolate and grapes
- Roast level: dark roast
The Stone Cold Jo is a cold brew coffee blend featuring a dark roast with coarse ground organic beans. It is distinguished by its silky smooth texture, low acidity, and natural flavor notes of toffee, caramel, chocolate, and grape, with no added flavors. This product is USDA Certified Organic, Fair Trade Certified, and non-GMO.
Cooper’s Cask Coffee (Guatemalan Coffee Beans)
Cooper’s Cask Coffee uses Guatemalan Reserve beans for cold brew. These coffee beans can be characterized as full-bodied, creamy, with a chocolatey flavor. Beans cultivated in Antigua and Atitlan often display floral acidity. To ensure consistency, Cooper’s roasts in small batches.
- Origin: Guatemala
- Cupping notes: smooth and well-balanced; sweet-toned
- Tasting notes: hints of milk chocolate, creamy caramel, and orange undertones.
- Roast level: medium roast
This organic cold brew coffee from Guatemalan Reserve features medium roast beans noted for their smooth caramel flavor with hints of cherry and orange. The coffee is made from Grade 1 Single Origin Beans, ensuring quality and taste through rigorous cupping of each new lot.
Cold Brew Coffee: Is it Simply Coffee But Cold?
Cold brew coffee was first invented back in the 17th century in Japan. It became a popular drink among the French troops in 1840 as it helped them cope with the desert heat. A few decades later, the soldiers of the American Civil War indulged in this cold coffee brew as well.
It’s no wonder a drink as famous as cold brew coffee is smooth, sweet, and less acidic than hot coffee. Its taste and packaging are very appealing to Millenials. Based on an NCDT report, people under 40 popularized this drink. It has recently gained over 80 to 89% popularity among the coffee drinkers.
Even Starbucks has a line of cold brew coffee. It is freshly brewed and vacuum-sealed in glass bottles. You can find it sold in more than 2800 stores in the US and Canada and in supermarkets and groceries. Also, some local roasters have started to offer their versions of cold brew. They use their best coffee for a cold brew to showcase the versatility of their coffee beans.
Yet there’s a big misconception about cold brew. Many believe that iced coffee and cold brew are the same. But according to a New York City roaster, brewing iced coffee is far different from cold brews. This cold joe uses more chilled water to brew the coffee beans. Likewise, it doesn’t extract bitter and acidic compounds from the beans.
How to Make Cold Brew Coffee
The next time you crave a cold brew, you don’t need to rush to the nearest cafe or a convenience store. You can make your cold brew coffee even in an Instagrammable mason jar!
Here’s the simplest and best cold brew coffee recipe, but here are the major steps if you’re pressed for time:
What you need:
- 100g coarse grind dark roast coffee
- 500g coldwater, whether it’s purified, distilled or Kangen, anything is fine as long as it’s not hot water
- a 32 oz mason jar
- coffee filter
- a bowl or a larger cup
How to make a cold brew:
- Put the 100g coarsely ground dark roast coffee in the clean mason jar.
- Fill the mason jar with cold water halfway and stir. Make sure that no grounds are lying flat at the bottom of the jar. Or it will make the coffee taste bitter due to over-extraction.
- Add the remaining cold water to fill the mason jar and stir again.
- Seal the mason jar for 12 to 24 hours.
- Once the brewing time is up, remove the lid and put a fine mesh strainer over a bowl or larger cup. Line it with a coffee filter to keep the coffee grounds from getting to your cold brew in the container.
- Slowly transfer the cold brew to the bowl or larger cup lined with a fine mesh strainer and coffee filter.
- Clean the mason jar by rinsing off the remaining grounds stuck in the jar and put the coffee back. Refrigerate.
Voila! You now have a brewed cold coffee in a mason jar. You can bring it anywhere you go and enjoy coffee anytime.
Another feature that made cold brew popular is the many flavorings you can add to your cold brew. Here are some of the ideas:
- Milk
- Foamed heavy cream
- Sweetened condensed milk
- Salted caramel
- Pumpkin spice
Check out more options in this list of DIY flavors you can add to your cold brew.
Japanese-style cold coffee
Iced coffee is prevalent in Japan. But the way people prepare it in this style is different from what you’re used to. To prepare a cold brew in this method, you brew the coffee beans with hot water. Afterward, you’ll transfer it to a cup full of ice. The coffee brewed gets diluted with water from the melted iced. And that’s what makes the Japanese-style cold brew.
To Grind or Not to Grind?
Since we’re aiming to make the best cold brew coffee as simple as possible, whether or not you should use ground coffee is a real consideration. Should you buy pre-ground coffee beans? The whole point of making the best cold brew is to celebrate the flavors of fresh coffee on the hottest days.
Below is best time to grind your coffee beans for cold brewing:
Pre-Ground coffee is good when…
- You don’t have enough time to fix a cold brew for the day with a coffee grinder.
- You can buy pre-ground packs of coffee beans for cold brew to ensure that you will never run out of coffee, especially when you need a caffeine kick.
Pre-ground coffee is bad when…
- You really want to taste the freshest batch of coffee possible. Once you grind the coffee beans, 60% of the coffee beans lose their aroma in 15 minutes.
- The coffee bean oil adapts the odor and flavor of whatever is near them. Especially if you don’t store it well.
- Moisture can dilute the precious oils of the best coffee beans. Since coffee is soluble to water, if it gets contact with moisture in the air, it loses its flavor.
Grinding your coffee beans is good when…
- You’re willing to spend the bucks for the best coffee beans for a cold brew and a good burr grinder. It is vital to choose your coffee beans and grinder well to ensure that you’ll get a consistent, even grind. Choosing a good quality coffee and buying a grinder is not capriciousness. It’s giving value to what you make.
- You use a burr or mill coffee grinder to grind your beans. These coffee grinders are the best options for an even and consistent coffee bean. It can grind medium to coarse coffee beans, which allows you to extract your desired flavor.
Grinding your coffee beans is bad when…
- You’re not willing to spend money on coffee grinders and the best quality of coffee beans for cold brew. Keep in mind that whole bean coffee costs a bit more than ground.
- You will not use the coffee beans right away. Fresh, roast-to-order coffee beans often last for two to three weeks. Even before the coffee beans expire, you should consume it to maximize its flavor.
- You’re a busy person, and you see grinding coffee beans a waste of time. When you grind your coffee beans, you have to clean the grinder after using it.
If you think a lot about whether to grind or not to grind, the decision is up to you. Weigh how much time you can spare to make coffee and how much are you willing to spend to make a delicious cold brew.
Can You Use Regular Coffee for Cold Brewing?
Absolutely! However, don’t expect that your cold brew will be up to par with barista-made cold brew. Yes, it can quench your thirst like a cold beverage on a hot summer day but it won’t quench your craving for delicious coffee.
To make a rich, flavorful cold brew coarse grind coffee is required. The lengthy brewing time and low temperatures allow proper extraction but if you’re on a budget, you should pick an Arabica coffee and go for a light roast coffee. The quality of the cold brew might not be as decadent as cold brew in cafes but it is, at least, a decent cold, homemade brew.
Can You Make a Decaf Cold Brew?
If you have a low tolerance for caffeine but still love drinking coffee you can always make a decaffeinated cold brew. There are two setbacks you might encounter in making decaf coffee. First: limited choices. Second: the concentration ratio.
Unlike regular coffee where the options vary, there are few decaf options. So you might get stuck drinking the same decaf roast. Likewise, you may have to continually tweak the ratio of your coffee and water to make a decaf cold brew. That’s because decaf can’t compete with regular coffee when it comes to taste.
My Favorite
Among the many cold brew coffees available the Volcanica Cold Brew coffee stands out. It is bold, dark, but low in acidity. It’s a great cold brew especially if you’ll drink it in an almost ice state.
This special medium roast blend by Volcanica is designed for cold brew enthusiasts, combining bold Sumatra with low-acid Arabica coffee. With flavor notes of sweet chocolate and nuts, it is processed using a washed method and is Kosher Certified.
It boasts a low acidity, achieved by roasting beans naturally lower in acid for longer durations, resulting in a higher pH and smoother taste.
- Blend of beans
- Low acidity
- Kosher certified
Conclusion
No matter how many cold brew coffee brands the market introduces, nothing beats what you can brew in your kitchen. Brewing coffee cold is not only about the ice and the coffee. It’s a work of art that requires great attention if you want to quench your insatiable cravings.
History has shown how delectable cold brew coffee is. From soldiers in the 1840s to all the customers at your local coffee shop, the cold brewed coffee has remained a popular choice for the warmer seasons.Try any of our recommended cold brew coffee above and follow their prescribed recipes/ratios to find which is best for you.
What’s your favorite coffee for cold brew? Have you tried any of our recommended coffee before? What brewing methods work best for you in making cold brew? Please share with us your cold brew coffee thoughts on the comments below.
