Rise of Cold Brew Coffee

Cold brew coffee is made by steeping coffee grounds in cold water for 12–24 hours, producing a smooth, low-acid, naturally sweet concentrate that can be served over ice or with milk. Kochere’s roast-to-order single-origin coffees—especially Brazilian Santos, Colombian Medellín, and Honduran Marcala—are ideal for crafting balanced, flavorful cold brew at home.

Cold brew went from a niche “third wave” experiment to a staple on coffee shop menus and home counters in a few short years. Today, it’s a year-round favorite for people who want smooth, low-acid coffee that still delivers big flavor and caffeine.

In this guide, we’ll break down why cold brew became so popular, how it’s different from other iced coffee drinks, what’s driving innovation in the category, and how to choose the right beans—plus which Kochere coffees are standouts in your cold brew glass.

What Exactly Is Cold Brew (and What It Isn’t)?

Cold brew is a brewing method, not a flavor. It’s defined by time and temperature:

• Brew method: Coarse-ground coffee steeped in cold or room-temperature water.
• Typical brew time: 12–24 hours.
• Result: A concentrated brew, usually diluted with water, ice, or milk.

Cold Brew vs. Iced Coffee

People often use “cold brew” and “iced coffee” interchangeably, but they are very different:

• Iced coffee
  Brewed hot, then cooled and poured over ice. It tastes like your usual drip coffee, just colder, and the acidity and bitterness from hot extraction are still present.
• Cold brew
  Never sees hot water. Extraction is slower and more selective, so it tends to be smoother, lower in perceived acidity, and naturally sweeter, with chocolate, caramel, and nutty notes highlighted.

If you want to go deeper into how brewing temperature shapes flavor, pairing this article with the brew method overviews in Pour Over vs. Espresso is useful.

Why Cold Brew Took Over: The Key Drivers of Its Rise

Cold brew didn’t explode by accident. A few big shifts lined up at once.

1. Flavor That Fits Modern Palates

Many coffee drinkers want smooth, sweet, low-bitterness cups. Cold brew delivers exactly that.

• Cold extraction mutes sharp acidity.
• Sweet, chocolatey, and caramel notes come forward.
• Even people who don’t like black coffee often like cold brew black.

Kochere’s Brazilian Santos Coffee is a classic example of a cold-brew-friendly profile, with elegant, smooth cocoa notes.

2. Lifestyle Fit: Ready-to-Drink and Batch-Friendly

Cold brew fits the way many of us live:

• You brew a batch once, then pour from the fridge all week.
• It’s easy to turn into iced lattes, coffee cocktails, or breakfast smoothies.

If you’re building out your home setup for cold brew and other methods, Kochere’s Home Brewing Tips and Equipment guide is a helpful companion.

3. Health & Comfort: Lower Perceived Acidity

While scientific data is still evolving, many drinkers report that cold brew feels gentler on the stomach and more comfortable for people sensitive to acidity. The extraction temperature and longer brew time change how acids and bitter compounds dissolve.

If you’re already reading about coffee and health, this connects nicely with:

• Coffee and Antioxidants – overall health context
• Myths About Coffee and Health – separating fact from hype

4. Innovation and Coffee Culture Trends

Cold brew also rode the wave of specialty coffee trends:

• Third-wave shops started offering nitro cold brew, single-origin cold brew on tap, and seasonal cold brew specials.
• Ready-to-drink cold brew in cans and bottles made it a grocery-aisle staple.
• Consumers became more origin-curious, wanting to taste Ethiopia vs. Colombia vs. Brazil—exactly what Kochere specializes in with its single-origin lineup.

Explore Kochere’s Single Origin Coffee Collection to see how different origins behave in cold brew.

For broader context on how cold brew fits into specialty coffee’s evolution, look at:

• History and Evolution of Specialty Coffee
• Specialty vs. Commercial Coffee

How Cold Brew Changes Coffee Flavor

Cold brew doesn’t just cool coffee down—it brings out a different side of the bean.

What Cold Brew Tends to Emphasize

• Chocolate and cocoa
• Caramel, toffee, and brown sugar
• Nutty notes like almond or hazelnut
• Rounded, syrupy body

For example:

• Colombian Medellín Coffee – shop now
  Tasting notes: dried orange, berry, chocolate. In cold brew, the chocolate and berry can feel jammy and dessert-like.
• Honduran Marcala Coffee – shop now
  Tasting notes: caramel, spice, brown sugar. Cold brew brings out rich sweetness and baking-spice warmth.

What Cold Brew Softens

Cold brew often softens:

• Sharp, bright acidity
• High-toned citrus
• Some floral aromatics

That doesn’t mean you should avoid bright coffees; it just means they’ll behave differently than in a pour over. For a deeper dive into how flavor works in coffee, see Understanding Coffee Flavor Profiles.

Best Coffee Beans for Cold Brew

Choosing the right beans is where you can really stack the deck in your favor.

Roast Level: Why Medium Often Wins

While you can make cold brew with any roast, medium roasts tend to hit the sweet spot:

• Light roasts: can taste too sharp or under-developed in cold water and require very careful dialing in.
• Dark roasts: can quickly become ashy or flat in long steeps.
• Medium / medium-dark: have enough caramelization for sweetness while retaining origin character without harshness.

Kochere roasts to order, so your beans arrive fresh and ready to shine in long, cold extractions. Explore the Specialty Coffee Collection for great options.

Origin Profiles That Shine in Cold Brew

Here are some Kochere picks that pair naturally well with cold brew:

• Brazilian Santos Coffee – chocolatey & smooth
  Notes: elegant, smooth cocoa notes.
  Why it works: cocoa and low acidity translate into a dessert-like cold brew.
  Shop Brazilian Santos Coffee
• Colombian Medellín Coffee – balanced and versatile
  Notes: dried orange, berry, chocolate.
  Why it works: a rounded profile with enough fruit to keep it interesting.
  Shop Colombian Medellín Coffee
• Honduran Marcala Coffee – sweet and comforting
  Notes: caramel, spice, brown sugar.
  Why it works: those brown sugar and caramel notes feel almost like cold-brew caramel sauce.
  Shop Honduran Marcala Coffee
• Ethiopian Sidamo Coffee – for adventurous palates
  Notes: milk chocolate, fruity, caramel.
  Why it works: when brewed cold, Sidamo’s fruit and caramel can feel like chocolate-covered berries in a glass.
  Shop Ethiopian Sidamo Coffee

If you’d like to test multiple origins side by side, the Kochere Single Origin Coffee Sampler is a fast track to understanding which profiles you prefer in cold brew.

How to Make Cold Brew Coffee at Home (Step by Step)

You don’t need a café setup to make excellent cold brew. You just need patience, good water, and the right beans.

1. Choose Your Brew Ratio

A practical starting point:

• 1:4 concentrate – 1 part coffee to 4 parts water by weight (for example, 100 g coffee, 400 g water). You can then dilute 1:1 with water or milk in the glass.
• For a ready-to-drink strength from the fridge (no dilution), you can brew lighter, around 1:8.

For a more general primer on ratios and grind size, see:

• Home Brewing Tips and Equipment
• Types of Coffee Grinders and Grind Size Chart

2. Grind Size Matters

Aim for a coarse grind, similar to French press.

• Too fine: over-extraction, muddy, bitter, silty brew.
• Too coarse: under-extraction, weak, flat flavor.

If you’re ordering from Kochere, choosing a coarse grind option can remove this variable while you dial in other steps.

3. Combine Coffee and Water

• Add coffee grounds to a dedicated cold brew maker, a French press, or a jar with a fine mesh or cloth filter.
• Pour in filtered, cold or room-temperature water.
• Stir gently to wet all grounds.

Water quality matters here; clean, neutral-tasting water tends to yield the best results.

4. Steep Slowly

• Cover and steep 12–18 hours at room temperature, or up to 24 hours in the fridge.
• Taste at the 12-hour mark. If it’s already rich and sweet, you can stop. If it still feels thin, keep going a few more hours.

5. Filter Carefully

• Strain through a French press plunger.
• Then run the brew through a fine mesh sieve or paper filter for clarity.
• Store the concentrate in the fridge in a sealed container.

Proper storage matters just as much as brew method. For freshness tips beyond cold brew, check Proper Coffee Storage Methods.

6. Dilute and Serve

In your glass:

• Start with a 1:1 ratio of concentrate to cold water or milk.
• Add ice.
• Adjust:
  • More concentrate for a stronger cup.
  • More water or milk for a lighter, sessionable drink.

Try topping your cold brew with a splash of oat or whole milk and a pinch of cinnamon over a caramel-forward origin like Honduran Marcala for a café-level experience at home.

Cold Brew Variations and Innovations

Cold brew exploded partly because it’s a canvas for creativity. A few popular variations:

Nitro Cold Brew

• Cold brew infused with nitrogen gas.
• Served on tap, like stout beer.
• Texture: creamy, velvety, cascading head, with sweetness emphasized.

Cold Brew “Mocktails” and Signature Drinks

Bartender-style builds are everywhere now:

• Cold brew with citrus like orange peel or lemon tonic.
• Cold brew with spices such as cardamom or cinnamon.
• Cold brew with simple syrups or flavored syrups.

These are a great way to showcase nuanced single origins like Ethiopian Harrar or Tanzanian Mbeya.

Cold Brew as a Recipe Ingredient

Cold brew concentrate is fantastic in:

• Breakfast smoothies paired with bananas, oats, and nut butter.
• Dessert sauces.
• Baking recipes like brownies, tiramisu, and coffee cakes.

If you enjoy playing in the kitchen, Kochere’s Coffee Blog offers more ways to experiment with coffee beyond the mug.

Where Cold Brew Fits in the Bigger Coffee Trend Story

Cold brew is now a permanent fixture, not a passing fad. It intersects with several larger trends:

• Specialty coffee education: customers want to know origin, process, and roast details. Articles like Coffee Processing Methods help people connect processing and flavor—even in cold brew.
• Ethical and sustainable sourcing: many cold brew drinkers also care about fair trade, organic, and farm-direct sourcing. Kochere’s focus on organic, single-origin beans from regions like Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda is a natural match:
  • Organic Coffee Collection
  • Fairtrade Coffee Collection
  • Ethiopian Coffee Collection
  • Tanzanian Coffee Collection
  • Kenyan Coffee Collection
  • Ugandan Coffee Collection
• Urban specialty shop culture: many people first fell in love with cold brew in city cafés and then wanted to replicate it at home. For that broader cultural angle, see Specialty Coffee Shops in Urban Areas.

FAQs About Cold Brew Coffee

Is cold brew stronger than regular coffee?

Cold brew is usually brewed as a concentrate, so before dilution it can contain more caffeine per ounce than regular drip coffee. Once you dilute it to your preferred strength, the total caffeine in a serving is often similar to—or slightly higher than—a standard cup, depending on your ratio and beans.

How long does cold brew last in the fridge?

Properly filtered and stored in an airtight container, cold brew concentrate generally keeps its best flavor for 5–7 days in the fridge. After that, it’s still safe for a bit longer but can start to taste flat or oxidized. Brewing smaller, weekly batches is ideal.

Can you make cold brew with any coffee beans?

Yes, but the flavor results vary by origin, roast, and process. Medium roasts with chocolatey, nutty, or caramel notes are the most forgiving. Kochere’s Brazilian Santos, Colombian Medellín, and Honduran Marcala are particularly well-suited for cold brew, while the Single Origin Coffee Sampler is a great way to experiment with different profiles.

Ready to Brew Your Own Cold Brew Adventure?

If you’ve been buying cold brew at cafés or grabbing cans from the grocery aisle, brewing it yourself is the next logical step—and it’s easier than it looks. Start with a medium roast that matches the flavor profile you love, a basic jar or French press, and a little patience.

When you’re ready to experiment with origins and flavor profiles, explore Kochere’s roast-to-order Single Origin Coffee Collection and pick a few beans to test side by side in your next batch.

Or let us curate the journey for you with the Single Origin Coffee Sampler or the Kochere Safari “Coffee of the Month” Club, and turn every cold brew into a new destination.