Make your own decaffeinated cold brew coffee - an easy and delicious, caffeine-free alternative to store bought coffee. Control the strength and flavor!
How much do you love cold brew coffee? Personally, I'm a huge fan. Drip coffee is amazing, but in the summer heat I want a drink that will cool me down.
There's just something about the light, refreshing flavor of cold brew that hits the spot for me. And the reason why cold-brew is my coffee of choice.
It's easy to buy store-bought cold brew, but if you want a decaf option or want control over the strength and flavor, a homemade decaf coffee is for you!
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Of course, I'm not opposed to heading over to Starbucks and grabbing myself a nice large class of cold brew. However, Starbucks can get expensive and they don't offer a decaf option.
Making homemade cold brew is so easy, too. You don't need any fancy gadgets. All you need is some coffee, water, and a pitcher. (And maybe some extra ingredients if you want to make one of my flavor suggestions.)
But seriously, there's no need to go to Starbucks for cold brew when you can make it right in your house.
Why I love this Decaf Cold Brew Coffee
- it's very easy to make
- you can customize the flavor and strength
- it's cheaper than going to a coffee shop
- it's so incredibly flavorful, with minimal effort
Ingredient Notes
- Coarse Ground Coffee: cold brew is very forgiving and does not require the most quality coffee to create a good flavor. Any decaf bean you enjoy drinking for regular drip coffee will work in cold brew. See my notes below about grind size.
- Water: use room temperature, filtered water for best results
How to make Decaf Cold Brew
Step 1. If you have the option to select a grind size on your coffee grinder, grind the coffee into a coarse kosher-salt size grind.
Step 2. Place the coffee and water in a jar or pitcher. Let sit at room temperature for 24 hours.
Step 3. Strain the cold brew using a fine mesh strainer with a coffee filter.
Step 4. Serve over ice. Store any leftovers in the fridge for up to a week.
Cold Brew Flavors
Of course, you can always drink the cold brew plain. But flavors are fun and a great way to mix up your drink. My favorite cold brew flavors are vanilla, almond, and mint.
All of them are super easy! You'll just need the extract of your choice. For vanilla, use vanilla extract, for almond, use almond extract, and for mint, use peppermint extract.
Pour yourself a glass and add a couple drops of extract. I like to do this so I can have multiple flavors from one batch of cold brew.
If you want to sweeten your cold brew, try my maple simple syrup - it is a delightfully rich syrup that is perfect in your favorite cocktails and coffees.
FAQ & Expert Tips
If you have the option to select a grind size on your coffee grinder, grind the coffee into a coarse kosher-salt size grind.
A grind too coarse will lead to under-extraction (i.e. weak coffee) and a grind too fine will lead to over-extraction (i.e. bitter coffee).
Pre-ground coffee is too fine a grind for cold brew. If you don't have the option to grind your own beans, start with a 12 hour extraction and see how strong a brew you get - you will need to experiment to make sure your coffee is not too bitter.
Cold brew is not as precise of a drink as other coffees like espresso, where the blend and type of coffee makes a big difference in the flavor. So when making cold brew, it isn't as important to have a high quality coffee. However, a high quality coffee will give you the best results. I'd recommend something like Blue Bottle's decaf coffee or a local coffee where you can see the roast date.
Starbucks doesn't sell decaf iced coffee or decaf cold brew.
If you want to order a cold decaf drink that is similar to iced coffee, I recommend a decaf iced americano. An americano is espresso with water. It's typically sold hot, but you can ask for it iced. And Starbucks does offer decaf espresso. So this is your best option!
Recipe Prayer
God, thank you for refreshing drinks. Let us enjoy the fun adventure of picking out new flavors. Amen.
Related Recipes
Love cold brew? Check out some other refreshing summer drinks:
Tried this recipe?
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📖 Recipe
Decaf Cold Brew Coffee (Three Ways)
Ingredients
- 50 Grams Whole Bean Decaf Coffee whole bean is ideal, but ground coffee can also work
- 750 Grams Room Temperature Water
Instructions
- If you have the option to select a grind size on your coffee grinder, grind the coffee into a coarse kosher-salt size grind.
- Place the coffee and water in a jar or pitcher. Let sit at room temperature for 24 hours.
- Strain the cold brew using a fine mesh strainer with a coffee filter.
- Serve over ice. Store any leftovers in the fridge for up to a week.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is an estimate.
Vicki Parker
Hello Elizabeth...I drink decaf sachet coffee in the winter, but would like to make a "base" mix ...a concentrated mix....which I could use little by little, adding milk of whatever kind to drink by the glassful in the summer.
Would appreciate any suggestions you may have, and appreciate you little coffee prayer😊
Many thanks
Vicki
Elizabeth
Hi Vicki - to make more of a concentrate you'll need to reduce the amount of water you use. I would start with 1 cup ground coffee to 4 cups of water. You could even go as low as 1 cup of ground coffee to 2 cups of water. Then you could dilute with milk or water to your taste. Let me know how this works for you!