Cold-Brewing Coffee Solved All My Problems
One of the first things I ever blogged about was how I’d never had a single cup of coffee in my life.
Well, I’m here today to apologize to the Universe, the Coffee Gods, and the humble java bean for my former ignorance. I was stupid. Very, very stupid.
And I have A LOT of time to make up for!
My sister Amy (also a recent convert to coffee) gave me my first hot cup of coffee homemade in her kitchen back in March. I’ve hardly skipped a day since, although I have gone through various incarnations in how I drink my coffee, how I sweeten it, what kinds of creamers I’ve used, and where I get my coffee fix.
It was nice of me to wear a shirt that matches my blog as I sipped my first cup of coffee at Amy’s house:
(What!?! You’ve never blingeed before? Hmmm…)
I think I’ve finally figured it all out now - thanks to our friend Kelsey (by the way, CONGRATULATIONS on your engagement, Kelsey and Amanda!) introducing me to the Toddy Cafe Cold Brew Coffee System.
This lovely device cold steeps your coarse grinds into a tasty coffee concentrate that has 1/3 of the acid of traditionally brewed coffee, as well as less caffeine (I’m not sure how much less) and no burnt taste. It’s pure coffee goodness and it’s changed my life!
I prefer my coffee iced year-round, so it’s perfect for me because you keep the “Toddy coffee” in your fridge and simply add ice, sweetener, creamer, and however much water you’d like to use to dilute to your personal taste.
You can also use Toddy coffee to make hot coffee and all you have to do is add hot water. No coffee is wasted because it keeps for 2 weeks in your fridge and each person in your household can add water to suit their own tastes.
The Toddy produces enough coffee to last me one week. So I only have to worry about brewing coffee and cleaning “a machine” every week or so. I hated cleaning my drip coffee maker every day. A waste of time, water, dish soap, energy, etc.
Watch the coffee drip and get ready to sip it up!
I use a pound of Trader Joe’s Organic Fair Trade Sumatra beans (pictured at the top of this post), fresh and coarsely ground at the store. After you set up the grounds and the water in the Toddy system, you let it steep for 12 hours on your counter, then remove the stopper and let it press and drain into the provided carafe. Pop the top on the carafe, put it in the fridge, and you’re set with the best coffee around!
The taste is addictive, clean, pure coffee yumminess. I add a little whole milk, sugar (or a squirt of agave nectar as I’ve taken to doing lately), ice, water, stir, and I’m done.
I also get to be a little High and Mighty because I’m “shrinking my carbon footprint” (UGH! Give me a break!) by using my own glasses at home and breaking the Starbucks cycle. Priceless!
But seriously, I highly recommend the Toddy to almost all coffee drinkers. Amanda told me that Bruegger’s Bagels uses Toddy coffee for their iced coffees, if you want to try out the taste before you get your own. My sister’s converted to the Toddy lifestyle, too, and I’m hoping that, with this blog post, Toddy coffee will start to take over the world!
~Beth
Coffee puts the system under the strain of metabolizing a deadly acid-forming drug, depositing its insoluble cellulose, which cements the wall of the liver, causing this vital organ to swell to twice its proper size. In addition, coffee is heavily sprayed. (Ninety-two pesticides are applied to its leaves.) Diuretic properties of caffeine cause potassium and other minerals to be flushed from the body.
Get the real scoop on coffee at CaffeineAwareness dot org
And if you drink decaf you wont want to miss this special FREE report on the Dangers of Decaf available at soyfee dot com
Comment by Marco — August 12, 2007 @ 11:16 pm
coffee could have crack in it and I wouldn’t care
Comment by Amy — August 13, 2007 @ 4:38 pm
The problem with cold brew coffee is that the most important aroma compounds are not very soluble in cold water. That means that you don;t get really coffee but a very diluted taste. To taste real coffee go to a good coffeeshop (Caffe Calabria in SD) and ask for a low acidic coffee. And to have a very low coffein level you should ask for an espresso which has very low cofferin levels.
Comment by honkman — August 14, 2007 @ 11:46 am
Forgive me, but I don’t think these people know what they are talking about. If my liver had swelled to twice its size, I think I’d know it by now. Cold brewed coffee is also what they use to make Vietnamese coffee - hardly weak! There wasn article about it recently in the NY Times, and a recipe. I’ve been wanting to try it ever since. You go girl!
Comment by Alice Q. Foodie — August 16, 2007 @ 6:16 am
Vietnamese coffee is cold brewed ? I don’t think so. They use hot water for that type of coffee. Here is a good instruction:
http://www.howtobrewcoffee.com/Vietnamese.htm
Comment by honkman — August 16, 2007 @ 12:19 pm
Try this…I have been using it for years, and you can get it online. It saves a lot of time and they make it stronger than I can with my Toddy…
www.coolbrew.com
Comment by Nola Lover — August 17, 2007 @ 11:23 am
I guess it’s New Orleans Coffee, not Vietnamese - but I’m sure you could use the cold press method for Vietnamese coffee as well, it’s pretty similar. Here’s the recipe:
New Orleans Cold Drip Coffee
adapted from Blue Bottle Coffee company
makes 8 cups coffee concentrate
1 pound dark roast coffee and chicory, medium ground
10 cups cold water
Ice
Milk.
1. Put coffee in a nonreactive container, like a stainless-steel stockpot. Add 2 cups water, stirring gently to wet the grounds, then add remaining 8 cups water, agitating the grounds as little as possible. Cover and let steep at room temperature for 12 hours.
2. Strain coffee concentrate through a medium sieve, then again through a fine-mesh sieve.
3. To make iced coffee, fill a glass with ice, add 1/4 cup coffee concentrate and 3/4 to 1 cup milk, then stir. To make café au lait, warm 3/4 to 1 cup milk in a saucepan or microwave, then pour into a mug and add 1/4 cup coffee concentrate. (Concentrate will keep in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.)
Note: Coffee with chicory may be ordered through French Market (www.frenchmarketcoffee.com) or Blue Bottle (www.bluebottlecoffee.net).
Here’s an excerpt from the article: It’s a mystery how cold drip has remained a regional specialty, especially after you taste it against conventional iced coffee, which is brewed and then chilled. Heat brewing releases acids and oils, and as the coffee sits in the refrigerator, the bitterness intensifies. Cold-drip coffee, according to Brett Holmes, a partner at the family-owned Toddy company, has 67 percent less acid, and it’s so smooth that it lets milk’s natural sweetness come through, making sugar almost unnecessary.
More info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iced_coffee
Comment by Alice Q. Foodie — August 19, 2007 @ 7:58 pm
Read this article… http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art36082.asp
Comment by Coffee Man — August 20, 2007 @ 4:07 am