Everyone we know is addicted to coffee. We were never big fans…too acidic! Then we discovered a way to make coffee that reduces the acid by almost 70% and provides a smooth, delicious flavor. And you don’t need a special coffeemaker to do it…

It’s cold brewing! It’s really not a secret. In fact, there are numerous cold-brew coffeemakers available online…but we prefer to stay as gadget-free as possible and stick with the “old-fashioned” home brew of glass pitcher and filter.

Freshly grind one-half pound of your favorite coffee (scant two cups ground), and add to a glass pitcher. Add four and one-half cups of ice-cold water (we use refrigerated filtered water), and stir so any coffee that floats blends with the water (it does not have to sink completely). Let this mixture sit covered for 18 to 24 hours at room temperature. Then strain the coffee through cheesecloth over a sieve or a paper cone filter or use a mesh coffee filter (which is what we use). It may take a few tries to get all the liquid coffee to pass through completely. This yields about four cups or eight servings. The coffee is strong, so add one-half cup of just-boiled water to a half cup of your cold brew or serve over ice for the best iced coffee ever! This freshly made cold brew will keep for a week refrigerated.

If you want to make the process easier with a special gadget coffeemaker, you can try a French press (add ice-cold water instead of hot, and simply press the coffee down after 18 hours) or a “Cold Brew Coffee Sock” (available online), which makes filtering the coffee much easier. Also feel free to experiment with different ratios of coffee to water (one cup ground to four cups water, for example) to develop your favorite cold-brew blend.

If you love coffee and suffer from occasional joint pain: Some nutritionists believe that choosing less acidic cold brew over traditional hot-brewed coffee can help ease the aches of arthritis and other joint discomfort. And we have a friend who suffers from frequent heartburn. She finds that cold brew is a lot easier on the gut and esophagus than regular joe.

Thank you to Scott Howard, AllRecipes.com and TheDailyBeast.com for help with this tip.

More to good health with coffee…

Save Your Liver with Coffee

Coffee Helps Migraines

Coffee Combats Parkinson’s Disease

 

Related Articles