Cold brew coffee

Want to make the best cold brew coffee? To make this recipe, you need to buy a piece of kit, such as this Hario cold brew jug (£15, Pact), or cobble together your own kit using a funnel, some good quality filters such as Chemex or a cloth filter, a very fine sieve like a chinois and a glass jug. Buy freshly roasted coffee beans if you can, and because you need coarsely ground coffee it’s best to grind your own (see our expert's pick of the best coffee grinders). Filtered water will also help give a better flavour, or reverse-osmosis filtered water if you can find and afford it! If you are using a dripper, refer to the instructions, otherwise the instructions below are a rough guide.

Coffee expert Celeste Wong says, "Do not confuse this with an iced americano or espresso over ice. Cold brew has increased in popularity over the last few years, made with cold or room temperature water, it gives a different quality to the flavour because it’s less soluble than brewing in hot water. By increasing the time at which you are “extracting” or “brewing”, you can maximise the solubility of the coffee grounds, so the ratio of coffee to water is much higher than when using hot water. Also, when you extract coffee using hot water, it oxidises and degrades much more, and faster. When using a cold brew method, which is slow, you’ll often find that acidity and bitterness is very low. The coffee should not only be refreshing, but have clean, vibrant and maybe even slightly boozy flavour notes."