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Learn how to make homemade cold brew concentrate with just two ingredients. It’s perfect for cold brew coffee, iced lattes, and more.
These days, cold brew coffee has become one of the most popular ways to enjoy coffee. If you love a good nitro brew, you’ll love its origin.
A classic cold brew combines cold brew concentrate with iced or warm water. As the name suggests, the concentrate is like a shot of espresso to which we add water and/or milk. It also refers to brewing, which involves the ground coffee releasing the flavor and caffeine into the water.
I like to whip up a big batch of it and have iced and hot coffees for the week ahead. It’s also so much cheaper than store-bought!
Table of Contents
Why I love this recipe
- 2 Ingredients. All you need is ground coffee and water, and that is it.
- Affordable. A standard cold brew starts at around $5 for a small cup. Making your own homemade version costs less than 20 cents!
- Easy to make. Like my almond milk latte, there are no fancy gadgets or equipment needed, but you’d never tell.
★★★★★ REVIEW
“Like you, I was spending at least $5 a pop for a cold brew coffee, but now that I can make the concentrate, I’ve stopped buying coffees out.” – Fergal
Key Ingredients
- Ground coffee. Roughly ground coffee is the best texture for cold brew. This means the granules have a similar texture to coarse sugar or salt. I like to ground my own coffee, but pre-ground coffee is fine, too.
- Water. Filtered cold water, not tap or lukewarm water.
How to make cold brew concentrate
This is an overview with step-by-step photos. Full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
Step 1- Gather the ingredients.
Step 2- Add ground coffee and cold filtered water to a jug. Whisk until dissolved.
Step 3- Pour the coffee through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl. Pour the sieved coffee through a cheesecloth.
Step 4- Add 1/4 cup of concentrate with 1/2 cup of iced filtered water to make one cup of strong cold brew coffee.
Cold brew concentrate ratio
Now that we’ve made the cold brew concentrate, you can use it to make an actual cold brew. The ideal ratio is one part cold brew concentrate to four parts cold or hot water. This depends on how strong or weak your coffee is! Here are my tried and tested ratios:
Milky coffee: Combine three tablespoons of cold brew concentrate with 1/3 cup of cold water. Add milk of choice.
Strong coffee: Pour 1/4 cup of cold brew concentrate with 1/2 cup cold water.
Standard coffee: Add two tablespoons of cold brew concentrate with 1/2 cup of cold water.
Flavored coffee: Combine three tablespoons of cold brew concentrate with 1/3 cup of cold water. Add flavorings of choice.
Arman’s recipe tips
- Use filtered water. If possible, I find using filtered water gives the coffee a cleaner flavor.
- Use coarsely ground coffee. Don’t use coffee that is too finely ground; otherwise, it can make the concentrate gritty (even when put through the cheesecloth).
- Strain twice. While it may seem cumbersome, straining the coffee twice (through a fine mesh sieve AND cheesecloth) will ensure the cleanest and most refreshing coffee.
- Be patient. Pouring the coffee through the sieve can take an hour, so just leave it be.
Storage instructions
To store: Coffee concentrate should be stored in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 2 weeks.
To freeze: Pour the concentrate into a shallow container or sterilized jar and store it in the freezer for up to 6 months. Alternatively, you can freeze them as ice block cubes for single serving coffee drinks.
Frequently asked questions
Unless you enjoy extremely bitter coffee, drinking the concentrate straight is not recommended. In addition to its bitterness, it contains excessive amounts of caffeine.
Per 1/4 cup cold brew concentrate, there are around 100 mg of caffeine. This is about 1 1/2 standard cups of coffee.
More homemade coffees we love
If you tried this Cold brew concentrate recipe or any other recipe on The Big Man’s World, please rate the recipe and let me know how it went in the comments below. It really helps others thinking of making the recipe.
Cold Brew Concentrate
Equipment
Video
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup ground coffee * See notes
- 6 cups cold water filtered
Instructions
- In a large pitcher, add the ground coffee along with 2 cups of the cold filtered water. Whisk together until the coffee begins to dissolve. Add the remaining cold water, cover the pitcher, and set it aside. Let the mixture sit at room temperature for at least 12 hours.
- After 12 hours, pour the coffee through a fine mesh sieve into a large mixing bowl. Next, pour the sieved coffee through a cheesecloth to ensure no excess coffee granules remain.
- Pour the sieved coffee concentrate back into the pitcher and refrigerate until ready to make cold brew coffee. If using vanilla extract, whisk it through the end.
- To make one cup of strong cold brew coffee, add 1/4 cup cold brew concentrate with 1/2 cup of iced filtered water.
Notes
- Salted caramel cream– Use the concentrate in the base and make a caramel cream cold brew.
- Vanilla sweet cream- Add sugar-free or traditional vanilla syrup to a mixing bowl with 2 tablespoons of heavy or plant-based cream. Beat together with a hand mixer until smooth and fluffy. Pour over the cold brew and swirl through using a spoon or straw.
- Add chocolate– Whisk in 2 tablespoons chocolate syrup into the cold brew.
- Add milk– Almond milk, whole milk, oat milk, or your favorite milk of choice.
- Honey almond cold brew– Whisk in 2 tablespoons honey (or try my keto honey) and 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk to the prepared cold brew.
Nutrition
Originally published August 2022, updated and republished June 2025
Can you put the grounds into a filter bag and submerge that in the water or does it need to specifically be loose in the pitcher?
Yes you can do it that way too.
I make my own cold brew often. I use paper towels as filter. 12 oz coffee and 7 cups water. Sit at room temp24 hrs. Drain through sieve. Dilute as to strength you like. Yummy. By the way I love your recipes. And have made several. Keep up good work
Thanks, Lisa!
Love this recipe & have made this 5 times in 2 months following the recipe as I read it.
However, I do have questions & they are:
Wait for coarsely ground coffee to dissolve???
Are the cups of water regular 8oz or the coffee cup version of 6 ounces?
How much coffee do you add when you say “add the coffee to pitcher”?
I don’t see measurements.
Thank you!
The recipe card has all the information.
Hey Big Man! The coffee concentrate sounds fantastic and it’s on my list to do today!