Quills brought out the cold brew last week for a new (half of a) year's run. We've noticed that people get really excited about cold coffee. And with that- conversation abounds again over how to best make and enjoy it.
Prima wrote a great informative article last year about two different methods of brewing: Cold Brew/Toddy vs. Iced/Japanese method. Those looking for a quick reward might choose to brew the coffee hot through their favorite pour-over method - straight over ice. In addition to immediate gratification, this method serves in retaining much of the taste and aroma of what one is used to in a hot cup of coffee.
If you don't mind the wait, brewing cold (room temperature) from the start creates a less acidic, sweeter cup and goes better with milk and any other additions you might enjoy
The cold brew method also serves the busy barista well as it can be made in a large batch and lasts for a few days in the refrigerator.
Here's a brief synopsis of how Quills uses our own Toddy system to make our well-loved large batch cold brew:
1. After a long busy day of serving the best customers ever -and right before closing up shop- we place a giant mesh filter in a giant bucket, open end facing upward. Then we place a giant paper filter in the strainer (seriously- it's like all your normal coffee equipment got shot by that gun in "honey I blew up the kid")
2. We grind 5 lbs. of coffee on a coarse grind setting (18). Right now we are using the Peru Cenfrocafe (resorting to Papua New Guinea if Peru is out)
3. Place coffee in the filter.
4. We then pour 7 quarts of filtered water over the grounds and stir them up with a spoon to ensure that the entire bed is submerged.
5. Almost done- we wrap up the top of the paper filter, then tie tightly with string making sure there is plenty of room in the filter bag for the coffee to move around!
6. Finally we add 7 more quarts of filtered water to the bucket and move the strainer around a bit to agitate the grounds and integrate all the water and coffee.
7. Cover the lid
...Go home and enjoy some dinner, a drink with friends, a good book, a few plus hours of sleep...
8. Before opening the next morning we take the filter and strainer, and sit them in the metal strainer on top of the bucket, allowing all excess coffee to drip from the bag into the bucket.
9. Then we simply throw away the filter, wash the mesh strainer and decant the cold brew into designated pitchers
And now the best part... we serve it to you by filling the cup with ice, water (about 1/3 way full) and topping off with the concentrate. For a "dirty" cold brew, we add a smidge of half&half and one pump of simple syrup.
You drink it. You love it. You praise, applaud and adore us!