How Is Cold Brew Made?

Sometimes an afternoon pickup doesn't hit right with a hot drink.

Imagine the extra kick you can get with a cold brew coffee during a slow afternoon. The smooth, cold brew can add vibrance to a hum-drum weekday and give you that extra boost.

Before you jump up to get your first cup of cold brew, learn what cold brew is and how cold brew is made.

Then, be sure to shop Joyride for our signature cold brew beans. Our popular cold brew blend is perfect for crafting cold brew coffee at home when you want to pour it over pebble ice or drink from your reusable tumbler.

What Is Cold Brew?

Reader's Digest describes cold brew as: "A classic cuppa is made from ground coffee brewed with hot water, while cold brew calls for steeping coarsely ground java in cold water in the fridge for 12 to 24 hours. This process yields a strong, richer, and smoother concentrated coffee with character."

Cold brew coffee at home or from your favorite café means a magnified coffee experience poured over ice.

You will never get a bland flavor, and it all makes sense when you understand the process:

Cold Brew Coffee Ingredients

Learn the ins and outs of how to make cold brew, and you can understand why the ingredients are so important. Choosing fresh coffee beans specifically formulated for cold brew goodness is essential to getting that burst of flavor.

You will never regret sourcing fresh and consciously-roasted coffee beans.

Joyride practices sustainability in every step of the process, ensuring that your coffee is grown by the best farms with strict quality control practices.

Cold Brew Ratio

The fundamental answer to how cold brew is made lies in soaking the ground coffee.

Soak one part coffee with four parts room temperature water in 1:4 cold brew ratio for best results.

Use top-quality coffee beans, freshly ground, to a coarse and granular texture.

Brewing Cold Brew

Once the ground coffee is mixed in the perfect cold brew ratio and saturated with water, place the cold brew coffee at home in an airtight container.

Store the mixture in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours to get the best results in flavor and smoothness. Love strong cold brew? Try 24 hours of seeping. 

This steep time is essential to bringing out the flavors in the coffee beans that will enrich your cup of cold brew.

Strain your coffee grounds from the cold brew using a mesh strainer or paper filter and voila! 

Cold Brew Storage

After making cold brew coffee at home, store the drink in an airtight container for up to seven days.

Count on the flavors staying robust for the first three days and slowly fading.

Learn how to make cold brew at home and enjoy it for seven days without having to make it again.

Cold Brew vs. Iced Coffee

You've got it down. You know the answer to what is cold brew.

But do you know that cold brew and iced coffee are not interchangeable?

While both beverages are delicious, cold brew and iced coffee are very different.

Cold Brew Coffee

The key element to how to make cold brew is soaking the coffee grounds overnight in cold water…and never introducing HEAT into the equation!

Cold brew is meant to keep a strong coffee flavor, exciting your tastebuds with a cool, smooth, velvety richness…and never bitter!.

Iced Coffee

On the other hand, iced coffee is made the same way as regular coffee. It is brewed with hot water.

Then the drink is cooled and poured over ice. The time between being brewed and served, along with the melted ice, produces a more diluted flavor than cold brew.

What's the difference between cold brew and iced coffee?

Food Network specifies, "Cold brew is not the same thing as iced coffee, which is hot-brewed and then chilled. Instead, it's made by steeping coarse-ground coffee beans in room-temperature water for 10 to 20 hours."

Iced coffee is brewed with hot water and then ice is added while cold brew is made with cold water.

Coffee Strength

Cold brew coffee absorbs the most caffeine possible as it soaks for twelve or more hours.

Therefore, your cold brew ratio can result in the precise coffee strength that you prefer.

Coffee Taste

Cold brew coffee at home or from a coffeehouse will have a stronger taste than iced coffee.

If you want a concentrated coffee flavor with no bitterness, choose cold brew coffee.

Making Cold Brew at Home

Learn how to make cold brew and tweak it to your liking! The best thing about brewing your own coffee at home is that you know what you like that a coffeehouse may not offer.

Proper Brewing

If you are pinched for time, it's not the time to learn how to make cold brew.

The steep time is non-negotiable. Find the best brewing length for your taste by soaking the coffee grinds for 10-24 hours.

Good Quality Coffee

Use the freshest, highest quality beans possible to maximize the richness and depth of your cold brew coffee at home.

Joyride offers incredibly fresh beans, sourced from farmers who are responsibly growing their coffee crops.

We support sustainability by working only with those that ensure farmers are fairly compensated and provide us with top-quality coffee beans.

Storing Coffee the Right Way

Choose reusable containers to store your coffee and throw it out when the flavor starts to fade.

The coffee expires after seven days. Watch for mold that could appear before seven days if the container is not sealed.

All in the Process

Follow these steps to make cold brew from home that is delicious and café-quality.

Making your own cold brew feels exciting, especially once you get it down to an art.

Make Cafe-Quality Cold Brew at Home

Skip the drive-through line and single-use products. Purchasing your coffee from a restaurant every day is expensive and unsustainable.

Instead, enjoy a full cup of cold brew as you walk around in your slippers. You'll never have to leave the house when you know how to make cold brew successfully.

"Joyride Original Cold Brew Blend beans are carefully chosen and roasted to give you fudgy notes with a velvety smooth finish until the last drop." Run, don't walk to order your first bag of Joyride cold brew.

Cold brew coffee on the mind? It's time to give Joyride a spin! Shop our top-quality coffee beans and blends today for your office or home.