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Over the years, I’ve made a lot of cold brew coffee; it’s my household’s favorite way to caffeinate in the morning! After a ton (and I mean A TON) of trial and error, I finally found the perfect ratio for cold brew coffee at home.

A hand pours iced coffee from a glass pitcher into a tall glass filled with ice, illustrating how to make cold brew, with two more glasses on a wooden board and a jar of coffee beans in the background.

Whether you prefer a lighter, less caffeinated, ready to drink cup of coffee, or you want to brew a big batch of concentrate like I do, I’ve got you covered in this ultimate guide to making the perfect cup of cold brew coffee at home. We’ll break down the best kind of beans to use, the best grain size for your beans, the best ratio of coffee, and the best infusion time, so you can make the perfect cup of cold brew every time.

Coffee is something that my family has always taken seriously maybe because my grandma is from Italy a.k.a. the birth place of espresso. We literally order coffee in 5 pound bags at my house and we go through pretty fast too.

While I do love making espresso drinks, like a simple iced Americano or easy iced cortado every now and then, it’s hard for me to abandon my love of cold brew coffee. It’s just so smooth to drink and it’s so easy to make in big batches to keep on hand for the whole week.

Cold brew is the perfect base for any flavored coffee creation mix in any of your favorite flavored syrups and you’re basically a culinary mad scientist in the kitchen. What’s more fun than that?! 🤓

why this cold brew recipe works:

⚖️ weighed ratios. Measuring out the ingredients by weight means you get the same results every single time.

👌 smooth & sippable. Cold brew coffee is great because it’s less acidic than hot coffee, meaning it’s smoother and easier to sip through throughout the day.

📅 big batch ready. Making cold brew means you can make a big batch and use it allllll through the week. You can even make a concentrate and freeze it for months on end!

🛒 the best cold brew ingredients

A wooden board displays a small bowl of kosher salt, a glass of filtered water, and a blue bag spilling coffee beans—key ingredients when learning how to make cold brew. Labels clearly identify kosher salt, filtered water, and coffee beans.
  • coffee beans – You’ll need your favorite coffee beans and make sure to buy them a whole not pre-ground. I’ll elaborate further down in the blog post, but the beans you choose DO matter and it’s really important to grind them fresh when making cold brew.
  • filtered water – Using filtered water is also important because you wanna make sure that there’s no funky flavors coming into your cup of coffee from your water source. If you wouldn’t drink the water on its own, do not use it in your coffee infusions.
  • salt – I know it’s really weird to see salt in coffee, but trust me There’s a reason. Check out my post on saline solution for drinks for a bit more detail on why using salt in your beverages can help to balance flavors. In a nutshell, salt helps to cut any additional acidity that can happen when brewing coffee.

See the recipe card for the exact quantities.

🍳 step-by-step cold brew process

1: Roughly grind your coffee beans, so that they are course in texture and not super fine, and put them in your brewing container.

A hand pours water from a glass pitcher into a bowl of ground coffee, set on a wooden board and digital scale—a step in how to make cold brew. A jar of coffee beans and kitchen tools rest nearby on a light blue surface.

2: Top with just enough water to cover the grounds.

A hand stirs ground coffee and water in a food processor bowl, showing how to make cold brew. The bowl sits on a digital kitchen scale atop a wooden board, surrounded by kitchen items and coffee beans on a light blue surface.

3: Stir the mixture to really saturate all of the coffee grounds.

A person wearing a light pink watch holds a teaspoon of salt over a large clear bowl filled with a brown, grainy mixture, preparing to add it—perfect for showing how to make cold brew at home. The bowl sits on a wooden board.

4: Add in the rest of the water, then add a pinch of salt if using.

A clear plastic container with measurement markings holds a dark liquid with sediment at the bottom—like the first step in how to make cold brew—resting on a round wooden board against a blue tiled background.

5: Put the lid on your container and allow it to brew for up to 48 hours. If brewing longer than 24 hours, make sure to put it in the fridge to brew.

A person demonstrates how to make cold brew by pouring brewed coffee and grounds from a large bowl through a fine mesh strainer into a glass measuring cup on a wooden board, set against a blue-tiled background.

6: Pour your coffee through a fine mesh sieve to separate the grounds from the coffee.

7: Double strain your coffee through an even finer strain sieve or line the sieve with a paper coffee filter. This helps to remove any fine sediment from your coffee.

A hand pours iced coffee from a glass pitcher into a tall glass filled with ice, set on a wooden tray. A jar of coffee beans and a blue tiled wall hint at the process of how to make cold brew at home.

8: Store your cold brew in the fridge or portion it into cubes and freeze for longer storage.

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💡tips & tricks for getting it right

🍽️ ideas for using cold brew

  • in cocktails – you can use your cold brew and any coffee cocktail that calls for espresso measure for measure, as long as you brew your coffee at a stronger ratio like 1:4 or 1:6. Try out my vanilla espresso martini or my chocolate espresso martini with cold brew!
  • in your favorite lattes – use your cold brew in place of espresso for making your favorite coffee drinks at home too! Add in 1-2 ounces of syrup and you’ve got an easy seasonal flavored latte, no espresso machine required!

ℹ️ tips for getting the perfect cold brew

  • grind it good – unlike espresso, which requires a super fine grind cold brew coffee is best when the beans are coarsely ground. Grinding the beans too fine can lead your cold brew to become bitter, so err on the side of caution and use a chunkier grind.
  • timing matters – make sure to set a reminder over an alarm, however you need to remember how long your coffee is brewing for. It doesn’t necessarily get stronger the longer it’s brewed instead it can get acidic or bitter, so make sure to pay attention to how long you’re steeping your beans. Don’t go over 48 hours for the best flavor.
  • filter it out – if you’ve ever been the unfortunate recipient of gritty coffee grounds at the bottom of a brewed pot of coffee you know why filtering out the grinds matters. While this step can be time-consuming, double filtering your coffee helps to improve the flavor and texture of your drink. No one wants sludge coffee. 🥲

⚖️ scaling tips

  • big or small – I’ve included ratios so you can make a small batch OR a large batch of concentrate. I like to make a very big batch of coffee and store it throughout the week. I also love to make a batch of concentrate (brewed at a stronger ratio), then freeze it into cubes to keep on hand for emergency caffeine fixes.

♻️ customize your cold brew

  • swap the roast – you can make cold brew coffee from any sort of beans you like, whether it’s dark roast, medium roast, light roast, or even flavored coffee beans! The roasting level of the coffee impacts the flavor of the beans. Think of it like this: the lighter the roast, the more of the actual coffee flavor you will taste. The darker the roast, the more of the roasting process you will taste. A good coffee company knows how to tailor the roast of the coffee to the flavor of the beans.
    • dark roast beans – dark roast beans are sometimes called espresso roast, because this is the type of bean most used in espresso shots. Lots of folks tend to associate dark roast beans with bitterness, but they actually are not more bitter or acidic, and that taste has more to do with brewing style and time. In cold brew, dark roast beans will give you a bolder, stronger, punchier coffee taste. Other tasting notes include chocolate, smoke, and earthiness.
    • medium roast beans – I like to associate a medium roast coffee bean with a medium-cooked steak. It’s got a sear on it, but it is still pink in the middle. Medium roasted coffee won’t be as toasty and deep in color as dark roast, and you’ll get to taste a bit of the unique characteristics of the beans AND the roasting process.
    • light roast beans – these are my favorite roast because they have greater variation of flavor due to a lighter roasting time. This means that you really get to taste more of what makes the coffee unique, from the growing region to the variety of coffee beans! The taste of this roast tends to be more citrusy, fruity, or even floral in flavor.
  • flavor it – add in a pinch or two of your favorite spices and flavorings for custom flavored coffee! I love cardamom, cinnamon, or vanilla. Just be sure to start small with the flavor or add it in after the longer steeping time so it’s not too overpowering.
Three white bowls on a light surface, each labeled with different coffee bean roasts: dark roast, medium roast, and light roast. Scattered beans, a metal scoop, and a coffee grinder hint at how to make cold brew with your favorite roast.

🧰 equipment needed & storage tips

  • brew container – you can get your own special brewing container, or you can use a big tupperware or food storage container, too! Make sure it’s large enough to stir your cold brew batch around, especially if you are making a big batch of coffee. I have a couple tools I love using for smaller batches of cold brew, including this infusion-style pitcher and this french-press style pitcher (affiliate links).
  • coffee grinder – freshly grinding your beans will help the flavor of the coffee to be best, but there’s another reason to grind at home, too. Cold brew benefits from a coarser grind than preground coffee, the chunkier grind helps the flavor to be more mellow.
  • filters + non-reactive sieve – make sure any tools you use like a mesh strainer are NON-REACTIVE metals, such as stainless steel, not aluminum. Coffee is acidic, even cold brew, and using stainless steel tools helps keep the flavor on the coffee, not metals.
  • storage container – you will need a large airtight bottle or jar for storing your finished coffee. I love using these bottles that are “milk bottle” style jugs (affiliate link).

🫙 how to store homemade cold brew

Store your coffee in an airtight bottle in the fridge throughout the week. Technically it can last up to two weeks, but I’ve never had it last that long in my house. 😂

I also like to freeze the coffee in 1 ounce portions to use as a cold brew concentrate.

Think of it like ounces of espresso. The night before I’ll pull out 2 to 4 cubes of concentrate and allow them to slowly melt in the fridge. By the morning, they’re ready to be diluted further in water and sipped throughout the day.

A black silicone ice cube tray filled with brown frozen cubes—perfect for learning how to make cold brew—rests on a round wooden board, with a clear plastic lid nearby, some cubes topped with small bits.
A plastic ice tray with several brown coffee ice cubes, some scattered on a round wooden board, demonstrates how to make cold brew easy and refreshing. The scene is set on a light blue background.

💬 q+a

What’s the best grind for making cold brew?

Coarsely grind your coffee beans for the best taste. Unlike with espresso, with benefits from a finer grind, cold brew is best (and less acidic) when it’s made from a coarser grind. It’s also easier to strain out, too!

What coffee beans are best for cold coffee?

The beans that you use depend on your own personal preferences, But I found that I like lighter to medium roasted coffee beans for making cold brew. Dark espresso style roasted beans can be a little too bold for cold brew, especially when using a stronger ratio such as a concentrate. Medium and light roasts just tend to be smoother in taste, in my experience!

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A glass filled with iced coffee sits on a white coaster atop a wooden surface, with crushed ice visible and a blurred blue background—perfect inspiration if you want to learn how to make cold brew at home.

How to Make Cold Brew: Cold Brew Coffee Concentrate

Lindsey Neumayer
This homemade cold brew concentrate recipe is super easy to make at home and way better than anything you'll find at your local grocery store! Perfect for those hot summer days when you need a flavor blast of smooth, less acidic coffee. This recipe lets you batch a big jug that'll keep you caffeinated all week long.
5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe Pin Recipe Rate this Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Brew Time 1 day
Total Time 1 day 15 minutes
Course Beverages, Breakfast, Brunch, Coffee
Cuisine American
Servings 8

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Equipment

Ingredients
  

Standard 1:10 ratio brew (see notes for other stronger ratios)

  • 120 g coffee coarsely ground
  • 1200 g water about 42 ounces, 5 1/4 cups
  • pinch kosher salt optional

Instructions
 

Use the ratio chart in the recipe notes to get the perfect brew!

Then, follow the instructions below using the weights of coffee grounds and water.

  • Coarsely grind coffee. The grind should be much coarser than what you'd use for drip coffee, sort of like raw sugar crystals vs. granulated sugar.
  • Weigh grounds. Weigh your ground coffee and place in your brewing container.
  • Combine grounds + a little water. Add just enough cold filtered water to cover the grounds.
  • Stir to combine + add the rest of the water. Stir gently to ensure all grounds are wet and no dry pockets remain. Add the remaining water to your mix.
  • Add salt. Add a pinch of kosher salt, if using. For larger batches, use up to 1/4 tsp of salt.
  • Steep. Cover container and let steep for 12-48 hours either at room temperature or in the refrigerator.
  • Strain. Strain your coffee through a non-reactive mesh sieve to separate it from the grounds.
  • Double filter if desired. Line a fine mesh strainer with cheesecloth or a coffee filter and position over a clean container. Slowly pour the cold brew through the strainer to filter out all grounds. You may need to do this in batches.
  • Store. Transfer strained cold brew to a clean, airtight container and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

Notes

Cold Brew Ratio Cheat Sheet

Use this chart to get the PERFECT ratio of coffee beans to water, every time, depending on the strength of the cold brew you prefer!
1:10 Ratio (Drinkable As Is)
120 g coffee coarsely ground
1200 g water about 42 ounces, 5 1/4 cups
  pinch kosher salt optional
1:8 Ratio (Strong Brew)
120 g coffee coarsely ground
960 g water about 32 ounces, 4 cups
  pinch kosher salt  
1:6 Ratio (Stronger Concentrate)
340 g coffee coarsely ground, 12 ounce bag
2040 g water about 72 ounces, 9 cups water
1/4 tsp kosher salt optional
1:4 Ratio (Strongest Concentrate, “Espresso Strength”)
340 g coffee coarsely ground, 12 ounce bag
1360 g water about 48 ounces, 6 cups
1/4 tsp kosher salt optional

 

Straining the wet coffee grounds:

Do not worry about the wet grounds at the bottom of your coffee container. Some water will be lost to the steeping process and it’s not worth it to try to squeeze it all out.

A note on volume:

When you strain the coffee grounds, you’ll lose a significant amount of water in the process. For instance, when testing the 1:4 ratio brew, even though I used nearly 6 cups of water to brew, when strained I ended up with less than 4 cups of coffee concentrate. 
On average, I lost about 1-2 cups of water volume during the brew process.

Stronger ratio notes:

If you plan to make a stronger brew, such as a 1:6 ratio or 1:4 ratio, I recommend using a french press or specialized cold brew container. Due to the lower volume of water, it can be hard to extract all the coffee from the grounds when using a standard drip filter process for these ratios.

Nutrition

Sodium: 8mgCalcium: 5mg
Did you make this?! 👀Let everyone know how it was! 💕
Keyword: cold brew, no cook

Lindsey Neumayer is a culinary content creator at A Recipe For Fun based in Central Florida. She is a classically trained baking and pastry student from Valencia College who also has over 14 years of experience in the fields of education, training, & development. She uses her expertise in education and the culinary arts to share easy-to-follow recipes that you can recreate with confidence at home!

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