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Cold Brew, French Press

by Matt Kennard

1:12, ready to drink. Sixteen hours in the fridge.

Grinder
Fellow Ode 2 On your grinder
Grind setting
8.0 On your grinder
Dose
100 g
Water
1200 g
Brew time
16 hours
Ratio
1:12.0
Cold brewFrench press1200 g
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1:12, ready to drink rather than a concentrate. Brewed to strength means the bottle is the recipe: pour it and drink it. A concentrate means guessing at a ratio every morning, and a different cup every time.

This is the dark roast recipe. Sumatra or the Blue Bottle Espresso, not the Valle del Cauca — long cold extraction favours the chocolate and body end, and it leaves light roasts thin.

Adjust by roast: dark 10 to 12 hours, medium 14 to 16, light 16 to 20. Longer is not always better; past 20 hours it goes woody.

It keeps a week in the fridge and gets rounder after the first day.

The ice will dilute it, which is already accounted for at this ratio. Over ice is the intended serve.

Brew process

  1. Dose

    Grind coarse, 8.0 on the Ode. Coarser than the French press setting, because sixteen hours is a long time for anything fine to sit in water.

  2. Pour 1200

    Add the coffee and the water to the press. Stir once to wet everything, then check that nothing is floating dry on top.

  3. Steep

    Steep 16 hours in the fridge. Not on the counter: cold means cold, and room temperature pulls a muddier, more fermented flavour over that long.

  4. Press

    Plunge slowly, then pour it off into a bottle. Leave the last inch behind.

  5. Serve

    Pour over ice and drink it. No dilution, no math. Milk if you want it, but it is finished as it is.

If it's not right

What you seeWhyWhat to do
Sour and thin Too short a steep, or too coarse a grind. Go finer, or give it longer — up to 20 hours for a light roast.
Muddy and heavy It sat at room temperature, or the grind was too fine. Keep it in the fridge, and go coarser. Room temperature pulls a muddier, more fermented flavour.
Weak at 1:12 The ratio is not carrying this bean. Go to 1:10 rather than reaching for a concentrate and a measuring cup.

Beans for this

Every bag I have written up for the French press

If your bag is lighter or darker than that

100 g to 1200 g is about 1:12. Everything below is relative to this recipe's own numbers.

A lighter roast than this recipe

Temperature
Go hotter. A lighter roast is denser and gives up less at the same temperature — take it to the top of the range, or just off the boil.
Time
Give it longer. Another fifteen to thirty seconds of contact, whether that is a slower pour or a longer steep.
Grind
Grind finer, one step. Light roasts under-extract before they over-extract, and sour is the failure you will meet first.
Dose
Leave the dose alone at first. If it is still thin after the other three, add a gram or two.

A darker roast than this recipe

Temperature
Go cooler. A dark roast is brittle and gives up everything it has immediately — back off five degrees or let the kettle stand a minute.
Time
Cut it short. Stop the brew at the first sign of it slowing down; the last of the drawdown is where the ash comes from.
Grind
Grind coarser, one step. Bitter and hollow is the failure you will meet first, and coarser is the fix.
Dose
You can use slightly less and lose nothing. A dark roast tastes stronger than it is.

The roast it was written for

Temperature
The temperature on this recipe is written for exactly this roast. Start there.
Time
The time is the time. Change it only after you have tasted it once as written.
Grind
Grind is still the one thing worth moving. Everything else in the recipe is fixed so that it can be.
Dose
The dose below is what these numbers were dialed at.

More on what the words mean: light, medium and dark roasts.

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