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.

Cold Brew Coffee: Is it Simply Coffee 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 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 on 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 is the same. But according to a New York City roaster, making a cold brew is far different from iced coffee. This cold joe uses more chilled water to brew the coffee beans. Likewise, it doesn’t extract bitter and acidic compounds from the beans. 

The 9 Best Coffee Beans for Cold Brew

Volcanica Cold Brew Coffee

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

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

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

Save 15% Off Your Order + Get FREE SHIPPING over $50 – click this link and use the coupon code BigCupofCoffee.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 way to make it.

Cold Brewing in a Mason Jar

What you need:

• One and a half cup coarse grind dark roast coffee
• 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:

1. Put the dark roast coffee in the clean mason jar.
2. 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.
3. Add the remaining cold water to fill the mason jar and stir again.
4. Seal the mason jar with a lid and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours. If you like a well-balanced cold brew, you can refrigerate the cold brew for 16 hours but if you prefer a stronger cold brew, we recommend refrigerating it for 24 hours.
5. 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.
6. Slowly transfer the cold brew to the bowl or larger cup lined with a fine mesh strainer and coffee filter.
7. 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.

Other Methods

The method of making your cold brew is impactful. The taste and texture of a perfect cold brew to quench your thirst on a sunny day depends on the method to use.  So how can you maximize the flavors of your favorite cold brew coffee beans into your cold joe? Read on.

Immersion Method (The easiest and most affordable method)

All the materials you’ll need for the cold brew using this method are at home. A coffee filter, a jar or bottle, the best cold brew coffee beans, and cold water is enough to make a homemade cold brew.

To make a cold brew using this method, put the filter above the jar. Pour in the coffee grounds and fill the jar with water. Afterward, refrigerate it for 12 hours. Once the cold brewing cycle is up, transfer the cold brew into another cup while filtering it. And there you have it! A brew cold coffee prepared from your kitchen.

Ice Drip Method (The Lazy Joe)

When you use this method, you prepare the cold brew the traditional way. You brew your coffee using a drip machine. After refrigerating it for 12 hours, you can now drink your cold brew. When you use this method, the taste is bland and watery if you don’t use the right ratio.

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.

Our 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.

I like my cold brew really cold to the extent that you can feel the texture of small, broken ice crystals on your tongue. Even this cold, you can still taste the coffee flavor. That’s the wonder of a Sumatra blend cold brew.

If you’re considering Volcanica Cold Brew Coffee, here’s a heads up:

Pros

• Coffee beans have mild acidity but remain bold and flavorful.
• You can brew this coffee with any method. ( I definitely recommend French Press for more concentrated flavor)
• Available in different grind size (whole bean, drip, espresso and French Press)

Cons

• a 16-oz bag of Volcanica coffee is a bit expensive
• you’ll need a burr grinder for the whole beans grind size
• it goes out of stock really fast (so buying an extra bag is highly recommended!)

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.