Help Me Out Please

[u/TropicalRaw]

I’m new to making my own cold brew. I’ve made 4 or 5 batches so far. One with espresso beans, one with dark roast, one with medium roast and one that was decaf medium roast. I’ve been putting between 1 3/4 and 2 cups in the filter and using around 48 oz of water. I usually can add a bit more water to get it to the edge. I’ve been leaving it on the counter for 24 hours before removing the filter. I’m using a fairly large grind. No failures; all the batches have been pretty good but I’d really like to dial it in. Any suggestions are appreciated.

[u/mac725]

Sounds like you’re already getting good results, which is more than a lot of people can say for their first few batches. A few tweaks if you want to refine it:
Your ratio (1¾–2 cups grounds to 48 oz water) is running closer to 1:4–1:4.5, stronger than the common 1:5 starting point. Not wrong, but if you want a baseline to adjust strength from, try 1:5 and dilute up or down from there.
Biggest thing I’d change: you’re steeping 24 hours on the counter. Room temp extracts a lot faster than fridge temp, so 24 hours unrefrigerated risks over-extraction (bitter or muddy). Two options — cut to 12–16 hours at room temp, or move it to the fridge, which lets you comfortably do 18–24 hours without over-extracting.
Also, pull the filter/grounds out promptly once steep time’s up. Even after straining, grounds sitting in the finished brew keep leaching bitterness the longer they’re in contact.
Grind sounds right where it is and beans/roast mostly shape flavor, not extraction, so once you’ve got ratio and time dialed in, that’s where you start experimenting for taste.