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Long Live the Cold Brew Coffee: A Refreshing Brew for Hot Summer Weather

Summertime is hot. You love a great cup of strong Ohio roasted coffee, but the heat leaves your kitchen feeling like the South American jungles where the beans were grown. How do you enjoy a great tasting cup of coffee that is delicious yet refreshing?

You have two options: iced coffee or cold brew.

Iced Coffee

With iced coffee, you start with regularly brewed coffee, whether it’s a flavored roast like Southern pecan or Sumatra, and you cool it down in the fridge and with ice cubes. To avoid a watered down coffee, always use coffee ice cubes. The trick is to take the end of a pot you’d probably just pour down the drain anyway and pour it into an ice cube tray. Still, some people think iced coffee still has a more acidic flavor. They prefer cold brew.

Cold Brew

Cold brew coffee is made without the heat. You simply grind the beans as fine as you can, mix them with cold water and let them sit for 12 hours so the grinds enfuse with the water. Generally, you want about one cup of coffee beans for every four ounces of water.

Here’s a great recipe for cold brew from Simply Recipes. **We have a cold brew recipe. You can link to the recipe on our website (look under recipes and grab the link)

I make a bunch over the weekend so it’s ready to go in the morning. It’s especially refreshing and satisfying on hot summer mornings. It saves me time and I’m not trying to slug a hot liquid in the heat of the day.

It’s still a good idea to further chill the coffee with ice cubes, ideally using coffee ice cubes. I really enjoy the taste of Highlander Grogg flavored coffee as a cold brew. I make sure the ice cubes are also Highlander Grogg for a truly exquisite, refreshing drink that tastes great all day long!

Happy brewing!

**Also, we use our medium roast (614) Blend for our cold brew – we make and sell this at the farmers markets. It’s unflavored. We offer syrups if customers want to add flavor to their cold brew.