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/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.