The Easiest Way to Liven Up Your Cold Brew

For coffee enthusiasts like myself, a quality cup is always a good beverage option. In the morning, it is the only choice. Winter tries to push tea into my life, but coffee is always there to right my ship. And summer? Well, we might as well change the name to simply “cold brew season.” Now that I’ve switched out my sweaters for my cold-brew-season wardrobe, it’s time to focus on how to zhuzh up my favorite bev. My advice to you: Try making your brew with whole spices.

Set up your cold brew materials

The truth is, the best way to make a better cold brew is to buy great beans. Good coffee is not cheap—I can’t bring myself to tell my Folgers-sipping parents how much I spend on beans—but you’ll be stunned at the difference in the quality of your cup. (I’m a Café Grumpy girl, myself.) Once you’ve found a bean and roast you like, it’s time to begin the overnight cold brew process. 

If you’ve spent the money on good beans, go get yourself a coffee grinder, too. I know, I know, you can buy them pre-ground, and I love that. However, you’re about to enter a realm where you can use your beans for espresso, drip, and cold brew. Those all do best with differently sized coffee grinds. Plus, a great coffee grinder will last you for years. 

Spice up your cold brew

The whole notion of cold brew is that it's a slow extraction process with no heat. The components—ground coffee and water—sit together for 12 to 24 hours in a chilly place—your fridge, ideally. The resulting chilled beverage features a smoother texture with less acidity and fewer bitter notes. Since your coffee grinds are sitting there imbuing the liquid with their flavors, this is a great time for other such things to do the same. Specifically, hunks of complementary and flavorful spices.

1. Set up your brewing container

Brewing cold coffee in your fridge overnight does require some sort of container apparatus, but I just use a basic French press to take care of business—it has a reusable filter and plunger and makes my life easier. (You could also use a nut milk bag in a jug, or a container designed for the job.)

2. Grind the coffee

Set your coffee grinder to the coarse or medium-coarse setting. You’ll need to filter out the pieces at the end and that’s much harder to do with fine particles floating around. Grind as much coffee as you need and add it to the filter, bag, or French press. 

3. Add the water and spices

Add as much cold water as you need for your cold brew ratio. Now for the fun part: Add whole spices. Depending on your batch size and how you like your concentrate (do you add milk too?), you may prefer quite a few of everything—like four cinnamon sticks and a tablespoon of cloves—or a smaller amount. When you dilute it later the flavors will mellow out considerably. Give the mixture a stir, or a light plunge, to mix things around. Put the lid on and set it in the fridge to brew for 12 to 24 hours. Strain the mixture when it’s ready and prepare it as you like. 

I've found that baking spices work well. Try whole cinnamon sticks, cloves, star anise, black peppercorns, or add in some citrus peel. If you’re not sure where to start, check the packaging. Many coffee roasters will write the flavor profile on the label of that particular blend. If you see “floral, citrus, silky” on the label, add some strips of lemon peel to bring out those flavors. If you see “candied pecan and milk chocolate” then I could see cinnamon going quite nicely.

I added star anise and cloves to a medium roast I had and the flavor was present and playful, but not crowding out the basic elements of the cold brew at all. So go ahead, take your time and enjoy trying out some different combinations; there’s no need to rush. Cold brew season is only just beginning.