Comments on: HOWTO hotel-room upside-down cold-brew coffee

By: Dan Hibiki

Dan Hibiki — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 13:24:00 +0000

Let’s just say that if I throw a stone in any direction i’ll probably hit a barista.

By: Dan Hibiki

Dan Hibiki — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 13:23:00 +0000

so you’re going to drink shitty instant coffee instead. Congratulations.

By: chgoliz

chgoliz — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 04:00:00 +0000

Another data point for making it at room temp.

I think it’s like cold-brewed tea: making it in the sun, on the kitchen counter, or in the refrigerator are all slight variants. The point (with tea) is to avoid bringing out the tannins by not using boiling or nearly-boiling water.

If anything, if cold-brewed coffee *is* like tea, then making it in the refrigerator means it won’t be as good by morning as if it sat overnight at room temperature. The cold seems to retard steepage in some way for tea, which would probably be similar for coffee.

By: chgoliz

chgoliz — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 03:55:00 +0000

The point is to avoid drinking bitter coffee.

Also, “free” (with paid room).

By: swagv

swagv — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 00:50:00 +0000

Sometimes “ghetto” is inventively clever. At other times it’s unnecessarily stupid.

By: Alexander Borsi

Alexander Borsi — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 21:52:00 +0000

Hotel rooms are the most disgustingly filthy places on the planet. The toilet is frequently the cleanest part of the room.

I hate staying in hotels.

By: billstewart

billstewart — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 21:38:00 +0000

He said this gives you a concentrated coffee, which you dilute down to drinking strength. If so, 8 oz is probably fine; 16oz (~500ml) of concentrate would really be a lot.

By: Mark Creasy

Mark Creasy — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 21:23:00 +0000

More likely: downstairs.

By: lava

lava — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 20:22:00 +0000

Why not just fill up the coffee pot with water, drop in the coffee packs, and be done with it? Why do you have to seal it off from the air?

By: Secret Squirrel

Secret Squirrel — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 18:41:00 +0000

It does look cool but you only really need to dunk the grounds to be sure they are covered by the water.

By: kentbrew

kentbrew — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 18:06:00 +0000

The point of inverting the cup was to maximize the water-to-coffee surface area contact, Jack. Also, it looked cool. :)

By: welcomeabored

welcomeabored — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 16:45:00 +0000

Cold-brewed coffee is my new use for my old Nissan french press. I drop in a couple of heaping spoons of medium roast coffee grounds, fill most of the way with cold tap water, place the plunger on top and press out the air, then let it sit over night. In the morning I pour a cup full with a little cream and heat it up in the microwave. Not the best cup of coffee I’ve ever had, but the reduction in acidity allows me to keep drinking coffee, otherwise… oy vey, heartburn that lasts all day.

By: Jack Nymus

Jack Nymus — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 16:40:00 +0000

This seems unnecessarily complex. What was the point of inverting it? Wouldn’t just covering the top of the glass with something serve the same purpose without so much fiddling?

By: grumble-bum

grumble-bum — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 16:28:00 +0000

I’m not a truly hardcore coffee freak, so some may disagree, but my cold-brew system sits on my kitchen counter for 24-48 hours before decanting. Good, concentrated coffee results.

Of course, I store it in the fridge. My guess is that the method described in this post has more to do with having the coffee chilled for immediate consumption?

By: dragonfrog

dragonfrog — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 16:01:00 +0000

Does this really need to be at refrigerator temperatures?

I’ve never really experimented with cold-brewing coffee, so I don’t know how much of a difference it would make. I just figured, from a fridge to room temperature is a delta of maybe 18-20 C, from room temperature to coffee maker temperature should be around 70-75C. So, doing the whole thing at room temperature you’re 75 or 80% of the way to fridge-cold – do those last few degrees make a big difference?

EDIT – and for that matter, how much difference does reducing the filter bags’ exposure to oxygen make – is that the point of the inverted cup? Or is that just to stop them from floating up and losing contact with the water?

By: Dan Hibiki

Dan Hibiki — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 15:41:00 +0000

or you can just go across the street to the Starbucks.

By: NoOne Specific

NoOne Specific — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 15:38:00 +0000

This method makes a lot of assumptions. 1) Most hotel rooms I have been in have only two coffee packets. One regular and one decaf. He ideally wants two regular packets. 2) The glass he uses is a tall plastic, 16 oz. bar glass. The in room glasses are typically shorter 8 oz glasses. These are not always available if you are checking in late in the night.