UPDATE: black gold: cold press iced coffee

UPDATE SUMMER 2014: this recipe makes ready to drink iced coffee, NOT a concentrate. for a concentrate, simply follow the same procedure but use 1/3 cup coffee beans (whole) to 1 1/2 cups of water.

i'm putting my coffee snob hat back on today to teach you about a little secret: cold press iced coffee. iced coffee gets a bad name for itself, with its watered down wimpy taste, but not cold press. it's magical, smooth and delicious. black gold. cold press coffee is brewed cold for a long period of time so it's never hot and never needs ice. this is the way caribou makes their iced coffee and it's a trade secret i've never forgotten!

the cast of characters: 

(will make one gallon)

6 oz coffee

1 gallon cold water

metal filter

giant spoon

plastic wrap

2 (1) gallon pitchers

the process:

first tip: make this at night. it's going to brew for 12 hours so if you start at night it will be ready in the morning (and NOT the middle of the night)

weigh out your coffee. i use my trusty postal scale. add a jar or bowl and then zero out the scale. 

you'll need six ounces of coffee. aren't those beans just beautiful? 

set your grinder to coarse and grind up your beans. 

same grind you would use for french press. (french press...cold press...get it?) 

you'll end up with big beautiful coarse pieces of coffee. dump the coffee into your one gallon pitcher. 

add enough water to cover the grinds & stir the mixture. fill the pitcher with water. you want to make sure the water goes all the way to the one gallon line, so the coffee will come to the very top of the pitcher. 

cover the mixture & set it out on your counter for 12-16 hours.

less than 12 hours and the coffee won't have its full flavor.

more than 16 and it will start to taste bitter.

this does not need to be refrigerated but shouldn't be left in the sun. 

wait patiently for 12-16 hours. 

if you're smarter than me you'll make this at night and spend most of that time happily asleep. i was not so smart, so i had to strain my coffee at 2:00am. i'm sorry for the terrible pictures!

after 12 hours, a lot of the coffee will have floated to the top. use a giant spoon and remove as much of it as you can. once you touch the mound of grinds with the spoon, they will start to settle back to the bottom, so you only have one shot to get as much as you can!

pour the rest of your sludgy mixture through a metal coffee filter into your second one gallon pitcher. 

(a strainer lined with a paper filter will work but the end result won't be nearly as delicious. if your coffee maker didn't come with one of these guys in it, go out and spend the $3. you won't be sorry.)

this part is tricky to photograph and do all at the same time and since this was 2:00 am my usual photographer was fast asleep! i also didn't yet own two one gallon pitchers so there was a lot of container shuffling. basically a giant mess. 

here it is in all its glory! cold press iced coffee. store it in an airtight container (caribou uses this one and we do too!) in your fridge & enjoy! 

cold press iced coffee tastes best when enjoyed black. drunk from a mason jar. with a green straw.

also delicious: half & half and a little bit of white chocolate syrup. 

linked up here & here!

an optimistic recipe

 one of my very favorite warm weather drinks is the iced white mocha. i usually hate fancy coffee drinks AND white chocolate but this drink is an exception. i recently rediscovered our stove top espresso maker and in an effort to make spring arrive i've started making myself iced drinks.  so without further ado here's how i make an iced white mocha {which coincidentally is very close to the caribou coffee recipe...but not close enough to get me in trouble for sharing my secret training!}

the cast of characters: 

coffee. good coffee. finely ground. 

{begin coffee rant} it doesn't need to be an espresso roast although it will taste more authentic if it is. espresso refers to two different things, one is a roast, one in a brewing method that involves high pressure and high temperatures. you can make espresso with any coffee. so long as it's good coffee. buy it whole bean and grind it at home. never, ever, ever no matter what anyone tells you, put your coffee in the freezer! so bad. little moisture droplets form and crystalize on the coffee then turn into moisture then back into ice. its bad news for the flavor and freshness. store your coffee in an opaque container away from the sun. {end of rant}
milk. it will taste better the fattier it is, but we use 1%. if i'm feeling totally crazy at a coffee shop i order a breve latte. that's a latte made with half and half. just so darn good. 

white chocolate chips. mini chips would be best but you can use regular old white chocolate chips or shave bits off of a white chocolate bar. the goal is tiny, uniform pieces.

ice. the bigger the pieces the better. melts slower & keeps your delicious drink from getting watered down too quickly. 

the process: 

yuck! yes i cleaned the stove immediately after looking at this photo. i'm a messy cook.

1. prepare your espresso. have you ever used a stovetop espresso maker? they're a fairly inexpensive way to make some delicious espresso! i didn't failed to document this part of the process BUT the wonderful kim of yellow songbird has already posted all about making espresso. go over to her post & see step by step photos!

the quick how-to: 

fill the bottom with water, to below the steam valve. 

fill the filter with very finely ground coffee and tamp it {pack it in}. i've found filling it all the way to the top makes slightly bitter espresso, so i underfill just slightly.
screw the lid on as tightly as possible. you want to make a good seal so the steam is forced up through the coffee grounds.
put the espresso maker on your stove at medium high heat and wait.
once the water starts boiling the espresso will force its way into the top chamber. at that point remove the espresso maker from the heat and let all espresso bubble up to the top. 

you will probably get 3 or 4 shots of espresso from your pot, but i only used this much. probably 2½ shots. 

2. dump some chocolate chips into your cup. not too many or they won't melt and things get gross. if i were one to measure i would guess we're looking at about 2 tablespoons? maybe 3.  

3. pour the espresso over the white chocolate chips and stir until melted. this will take a lot of stirring if you don't want sludge at the bottom of your cup!

4. fill the cup up the rest of the way with milk, add a few ice cubes to help it continue to cool, add a straw and you're done! if you're feeling adventurous, top this with some homemade vanilla flavored whipped cream. truly delicious. speaking of caribou coffee recipes... ;)

a quick note: you could easily change out the white chocolate chips for milk or dark chocolate chips & turn this into a regular mocha!

i'm linked up with what i whipped up wednesday at sugar & dots!