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On the Road, Cold Coffee Is a Good Thing

by Iva Skoch (RSS feed) on Jul 28th 2007 at 3:48PM

Struggling to find a good cup of coffee while traveling to remote areas? There is hope for us!

I am a huge iced-coffee fan in the summer time. A friend recently introduced me to a great new thing: cold-pressed coffee. Instead of using hot water and adding ice cubes (often impossible when traveling), you simply mix ground coffee with cold water (and let sit overnight). Guess what - it tastes great and it is noticeably less bitter than regular brewed coffee. Next time I travel, I am packing ground coffee.

NY Times recipe: Cold-Brewed ICED COFFEE

Time: 5 minutes, plus 12 hours' resting

1/3 cup ground coffee (medium-coarse grind is best) Milk (optional).

In a jar, stir together coffee and 1 1/2 cups cold water. Cover and let rest at room temperature overnight or 12 hours.
Strain twice through a coffee filter, a fine-mesh sieve or a sieve lined with cheesecloth. In a tall glass filled with ice (opt.), mix equal parts coffee concentrate and water, or to taste. If desired, add milk.

Yield: Two drinks.

(NOTE: To make hot coffee, dilute concentrate one-to-one with water and heat in the microwave.)

Filed under: Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania, South America, Antarctica

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Luc Rodgers Jul 29th 2007 10:17AM

Did you know that you can also add hot water to the cold concentrate and have a wonderful cup of hot coffee? Try it. Delicious. There is also a company called Toddy that make a nice cold press.

Crabby McSlacker Jul 30th 2007 11:20AM

Hmm, this looks worth a try. I love iced coffee in the summer but so often it ends up tasting watered down.

I take it the milk stays in the fridge until it's time to drink the coffee, and doesn't sit in the jar with the coffee at room temperature all night? The instructions, for dumb-dumbs like me, look a bit ambiguous.

(And for those of you who are really bored and want a reminder of why coffee is actually good for you:
http://crankyfitness.blogspot.com/2007/05/coffee-mighty-fine-beverage-after-all.html

Iva Skoch Jul 30th 2007 11:56AM

Yes, you add milk in the morning or whenever you are ready to drink it :-) That's why this is great for traveling. You can bring the coffee with you and add milk whenever you buy it...assuming milk is easier to buy than freshly brewed coffee, of course.

And I agree, iced coffee is often watered down. I usually ask them to go easy on the ice.

Malcolm Aug 1st 2007 2:55PM

Luc, I use Toddy everyday. It is closer to the cold coffee idea in the article - drop in coarsely ground coffee and let sit overnight. Put 1/4 cup of the resulting concentrate in cup and fill with boiling water. Great , smooth, low-acid coffee.