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Want to know what really grinds my gears? Cold brew coffee prices. Itseriously gets me worked up. How can a jug of cold brew cost $10+ at the grocery store, when you can make it yourself in less than 5 minutes of touch time with pre-ground coffee and water? $9+ worth of marketing cost and $0.50 worth of ingredients?? I just don’t get it. To understand my confusion/frustration for yourself, try out this how to make cold brew coffee recipe 1 time, demystify cold brew and never buy that overpriced jug again!
How to Make Cold Brew Coffee
$0.10 and 5 Minute Cold Brew
Just like it sounds – Homemade Cold Brew for only $0.10!
Prep Time5 mins
Steep Time1 d
Total Time5 mins
Course: Coffee, Drinks
Cuisine: American
Keyword: coffee, cold brew
Servings: 7 servings
Calories: 5kcal
Author: apartmentchefnick
Cost: $0.70
Equipment
Large bowl or plastic container
1/2 cup measuring cup
See AlsoDoes it get expensive?Coffee filter (I use aSea to Summit filterbecause it has a metal filter! You can also use a funnel and paper filters. Either #2 or #4 filters will work!)
Large containers for storage
Ingredients
- 1 cup grocery store brand pre-ground coffee
- 5 cups water
Instructions
Combine coffee grounds and water in the large plastic container.
Cover the container and place it in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
Remove from refrigerator and use the measuring cup to skim the grounds off of the top and discard.
Use the measuring cup to scoop out coffee and pour it through the filter into storage containers.
Cover and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks!
The coffee will be strong! Dilute it with roughly equal parts water/ice when serving.
Notes
Storage: Up to 1 week in the refrigerator.
Tips:
Step 1 – Stir until all coffee groundsare wet before moving the container to the refrigerator.
Step 3 – Don’t stir the coffee once you remove it from the refrigerator! Gravity has been hard at work overnight to make your job easier! Most of the grounds will settle at the bottom while some will remain at the top! The picture below shows what I mean by “skim the grounds of the top”. No need to be a perfectionist, just get most of them.
Step 4 – As you near the bottom, tilt the container to one side so that you can scoop out delicious coffee while leaving most of the grounds behind. No worries about accidentally scooping out some grounds, you can quickly clean a metal filter or replace a paper filter as needed.
Below is a picture of the metal filter I use. It’s advertised as perfect for camping but it should say perfect for cold brew!
Cost:
- 1 cup of pre-ground coffee ~$0.50
- 5 cups of water – negligible
Total Cost per batch ~ $0.50
Cost per serving (~7 servings) ~ $0.10
Conclusion:
Coffee is expensive. You may not think so at first but let’s do the math. 1 coffee shop cold brew costs at least $4 including tip. Let’s say you buy coffee 5 times per week, that’s $20 per week right there. Run the numbers and you’re out about $1000 per year on coffee. Compare that to a week of $0.10 homemade cold brew. Add up the numbers and with your own homemade cold brew you spend only ~$35 PER YEAR on coffee (even drinking it 7 days a week). $35 per year for a glass of homemade cold brew every single day.
Not saying you need make your own coffee every day, but if you’d like to save an extra $500 this year, coffee would be a great place to start.
For more homemade coffee ideas, liking learning to home-roast your own green, organic, fair trade coffee beans and create stovetop espressos, check out my $0.13 and 20 Minute Homeroasted Espresso Recipe!
As always, make informed food decisions. Know your ingredients, know your costs!
