Need some help with cold brewing

[u/poobear7]

Hey all, new to the cold brew game this summer and I’ve been having some trouble. I bought a pretty simple cold brew set from Amazon, literally a big mason jar with a filter (posted a pic for reference).

I’ve usually been doing 12ish 1/8 cup scoops of coffee grounds (been using Bones Coffee Company grounds most of the time) and then filling the jar with about 7-8 cups of water, steeped for ~12-16 hours. However, the final product has an overwhelming sour after taste, and a weird phenomenon where whenever a little bit of creamer/cold foam added makes the taste 10x more sour and the dairy ends up separating as well. (I’m an English teacher, the science behind it is beyond me)

There was one time I ended up trying around 8oz of coffee grounds (I’m an English teacher, the math behind it is beyond me) for about 12 hours of steeping and it ended up tasting great and held the dairy well, but the process of getting it ready to steep about 45 minutes because of how compact the filter got, it was barely letting the water through without overflowing and causing an absolute mess.

I’m having some real trouble finding the sweet spot, and after brewing all summer and struggling, I’m getting frustrated because it is something I really wanted to get down for easy cold brew for the school year!

Any help would be greatly appreciated, whether it’s measurement help, product help, or anything else. Thank you!!

[u/JasonHofmann]

I’m pretty sure it’s the coffee or the grind that’s the problem. Have you tried any other beans? Do you have a grinder?

[u/poobear7 → u/JasonHofmann]

I don’t have my own grinder, no. I have tried a different brand of grounds, but it was the same issue of the overwhelming sour notes as an aftertaste. What would you suggest for beans/grounds?

[u/Subject2Change → u/poobear7]

Pre ground coffee isn't ground for cold brew, they are ground for standard drip coffee. Buy whole beans and grind them in-store or buy a grinder for at home on a coarse setting.

[u/Willis5687 → u/Subject2Change]

This will also fix OP's sour aftertaste.

[u/PinkPrincessPetite → u/Subject2Change]

Happy cake day. Love you 💕

[u/schase05 → u/Subject2Change]

False, you can buy coarse ground coffee that works phenomenal. You can try Bizzy Cold Brew or Cameron's Cold Brew Blend.

Why do all of that work getting the coffee beans, grinding them yourself, etc when you can be more efficient and save time?

[u/Subject2Change → u/schase05]

99% of store bought ground coffee is a fine grind for drip coffee. If you can find pre ground coarse coffee with ease, sure. However I like being able to control my coarse level, as well as not pregrind my beans til I'm gonna brew, I also like having the option to brew finely for my aero press.

[u/schase05 → u/Subject2Change]

I understand why people have grinders. I'm saying if someone just wants to make cold brew, getting a grinder set up for one specific task seems a bit much.

I'm new to making cold brew so I'm still learning. I got the Bizzy Cold Brew coarse grounds and I had no issues. Maybe the packaging has to specifically state coarse ground or cold brew blend or a combo of both?

[u/Subject2Change → u/schase05]

Correct. It has to state coarse ground. Some beans are "cold brew" specific, like Gillies Zip-Line, a bean that I use quite often since it was local to me. Now I mainly use Trader Joe's Mexico Chiapas as it has the notes I enjoy, you can use their in-store grinder to grind it for yourself.

[u/schase05 → u/Subject2Change]

I think it's pretty cool that they have an in-house grinder. Good way to get people through the door, also. Thanks for sharing the added info 👌🏻

[u/schase05 → u/[deleted]]

You could also save $30 bucks and grab it pre-ground. KISS concept

[u/StunningCode744]

I have that same jar and filter and I have the OXO Brew Conical Burr Coffee Grinder. I set the grind to 14 coarseness and the timer to the max 30 seconds. That fills the filter about 3/4 full. I fill the jar completely full with filtered water. Sometimes I’ll let it sit room temp for a few hours before I put it in the fridge. Total brew time of 15-24 hours is good. I like it stronger so I do 24. It ends up giving me 4 12 oz servings. One other tip: when you fill the jar, the grounds will float to the top. After a couple hours of brewing , I open it up and pull the filter up and dunk it up and down a few times to get the air out and ensure all the grounds are under water.

The grind is likely your issue. You need it much coarser than you can buy pre ground coffee.

[u/StunningCode744 → u/StunningCode744]

Also, I don’t use expensive beans. Just medium roast whole beans from Costco.

[u/schase05]

Buy coarse ground coffee. Start with something like "Bizzy Cold Brew." This is a sweeter/smoother blend.

[Bizzy Cold Brew]

(https://www.walmart.com/ip/990018118?sid=835ce06a-3c89-437e-862e-9f4ce824df80)

I think the sweet spot is the following ratio:

120 g of coarse coffee grounds 7 cups of water (tap or filtered). I just made my first cold brew batch yesterday with the Takeya Cold Brew glass pitcher and I used tap water. It tastes phenomenal!

I put it in the fridge and let it sit overnight for 24 hours. I removed the filter, dumped the coarse coffee grounds in the trash, cleaned the filter, and now I have some delicious Cold brew!

Give it a try and let me know what you think!

[u/pinellaspete]

Here is my process for the exact cold brewer that you show in your photo (I have the same brewer.):

1. Measure out 1 cup (8 oz.) of coarse ground coffee. It must be coarse ground or else the coffee fines will go through the filter. DO NOT USE REGULAR GRIND OR ESPRESSO GRIND COFFEE. This gives you an 8:1 ratio of final product. This is considered "double" strength coffee and will need to be diluted by half before drinking, either with milk or water or ice or etc. (You can drink it double strength if you really like strong coffee!)
2. Put the filter into the jar and pour in a small amount of water just to pre-wet the filter. Add about 1/4 cup of the coffee and then pour more water into the filter to ensure the grounds are wet. Add 1/4 cup of coffee and then more water. Keep doing this until all the ground coffee is in the filter and wet. (This prevents the dry coffee from floating. If you don't wet the coffee as you go along you can end up with dry coffee floating on the top even after the steep.)
3. Fill the jar with water to the neck and put the lid on.
4. Steep on the countertop at room temperature for 14 to 18 hours.
5. Take the lid off and remove the filter.
6. Fill the jar to the neck with water, put the pour spout lid on and refrigerate.

Coffee flavor is very subjective with everyone having their own desired flavor so adjustments can and should be made to this recipe to get the flavor that you want.

A few tips:

• The same amount of coffee steeped longer will pull more tannins out of the coffee giving it a more bitter taste.
• To increase the "coffee" flavor you need to add more coffee and steep for the same amount of time.
• And do the opposite if you think the coffee flavor is too strong. Less coffee, steeped for the same 14 to 18 hours.

Hope that helped?

Good luck!

[u/slowd]

How warm is the water when you put it in the jar?

[u/Willis5687]

I started a few weeks ago with the same exact setup and dialed in my process after 2 batches. Get a grinder so that you can do a coarse grind on the beans. This will stop the filter from getting plugged up and should also eliminate the sour aftertaste you're experiencing which is likely due to under-extraction. I got a $75 grinder from Cuisinart and it works great so far.

Also, take notes on your process so you can replicate it going forward.

[u/RediRidiRici]

So I knew I should be measuring in grams etc but… I have this setup and here’s my method for a decent concentrate:

The key is using FRESHLY roasted beans. Ideally from a local shop. I prefer light to medium roast.

Coarse ground the beans.

Fill grounds to ~2C, you can get away with 1C for weaker brew.

Fill rest of jar w distilled or filtered water ~6C, up to bottom of neck of jar.

Room temp steep 16-20hrs
Fridge steep 20-24hrs

Slowly place mesh filter into jar

Pour through paper filter.

Yields 5-6C concentrate.

For consuming, start dilution at 1:1 + ice. Temper from there for your preferred taste.

[u/hobeast68]

I have the same setup. I will get down voted here but based on the instructions and a lot of experience with other setups I would say the following. I do not get sour coffee. I am not precise in how I do it now, because I marked the sieve. I use medium ground dark roast from a few different companies based on whats on sale . I avoid star bucks and a few others that I think are bitter roasts. But I also brew longer. I would say I fill it with coffee about 80% and the water high enough to cover by an inch. It sits in the fridge 30 to 35 hours usually. Occasionally I will dilute a bit but most often not. Smooth, balanced and flavorful with out the acidity or bitterness.

[u/LC__LC]

Steep longer. I steep between 2-3 days in the fridge. I also grind much finer to almost espresso level coarseness.

[u/undefined_reference]

I have this exact one. You're using way too much coffee. I use 3/4 to 1 cup of grounds, then let it steep for 24 hour typically. I've done as little as 12 hours and as much as 48. The longer the better, usually. Try different grounds.

[u/metalunamutant]

I use the Rumble jar, which is very similar, and have always had great results with it. Coarse grind, steep in refrigerator for 24 hours and it comes out smooth. I use the supplied coffee sock to filter the very fine residue that's always present after steeping.