Cold brew coffee is exactly what it seems like. It’s coffee, brewed cold. At the simplest level you just add some coffee grounds to cold water and leave it to stand for at least 8 hours. You don’t need any special equipment, cold brew can be made in a plastic tub or French Press. As long as you have some way to filter it you’re golden.

But why?

Cold coffee is nice, and cold brewed coffee has a mellow rounded taste without the bitterness you can get from hot coffee.

Coffee brewing in a large plastic tub with a green lid
This is cold brew

Cold brew is coffee concentrate (usually) so you want to make it stronger than you think. The mix pictured above is 1:10 by weight, however people do make it stronger.

You can leave this to brew for as long as you like, just remember the longer you leave it the stronger it gets. However, if you brew it in the fridge it will come out weaker than if you let it brew at room temperature, this can be useful if you don’t want to have to think too much about how long it’s been brewing for or if you live with cats/children/a general ability to knock things over. Typically I make it last thing at night and strain the coffee in the morning when it’s strong enough. Once strained it stores well in the fridge.

You have a special coffee pot though!

Just after I started making cold brew in a box I got gifted a "Mizudashi" Coffee Pot by a friend. These make perfect, reproducable cold brew every time. So if you want to make the whole process easier, do consider one.

Box containing a "Mizudashi" Coffee Pot
If you want the same strength every time, this is a good option

The plastic box worked great though.

If you want a more detailed post on cold brew I recommend “What is Cold Brew Coffee?” which helped me get started.