Cold Brew for Beginners

If you've never made cold brew before, the recipe is much simpler than the gear-and-ratios content makes it sound. You need a jar, some coffee, water, and one night. This page is the beginner's version — no scale required, no precision grinder, no jargon. A mason jar of cold brew tomorrow morning, starting with what's in your kitchen tonight.

What you'll need

  • A 1-quart or 2-quart jar with a lid. A mason jar is perfect. A pasta jar that's been washed out works fine. The jar has to seal — a plastic deli container with a snap lid is okay too.
  • About a cup of coarse-ground coffee. If you have whole beans and a grinder, grind to a setting that looks like sea salt. If you have pre-ground coffee, use it for now — the cup won't be perfect but it'll be drinkable. Most grocery stores will grind beans to "French Press" coarseness for free at the bean bar.
  • Cold water. Filtered if you have it, tap water if you don't. Cold or room-temperature, either is fine.
  • Something to strain through. A coffee filter, cheesecloth, a clean cotton dishtowel, or a fine-mesh sieve — anything you've got.

That's the entire equipment list. No scale, no fancy grinder, no special vessel. Add gear later if you want to keep brewing.

The beginner's cold brew recipe

This is the no-precision version — measurements by volume instead of weight, so anyone with a measuring cup can make it.

For a 1-quart jar (about 4 cups of brew) For a 2-quart jar (about 8 cups of brew)
1 cup coarse-ground coffee 2 cups coarse-ground coffee
3.5 cups cold water 7 cups cold water
Steep 12 hours overnight Steep 12 hours overnight

That works out to roughly a 1:8 ratio by weight — the same recipe as the main cold brew guide, just without the scale. If you have a scale, use it; if not, this volume-based version gets you 95% of the way there.

Step-by-step

  1. Put the coffee in the jar. One cup of coarse-ground coffee for a 1-quart jar, two cups for a 2-quart jar. Use a measuring cup or eyeball it — beginners should err on the side of more coffee, not less.
  2. Pour the water in. Add cold or room-temperature water, leaving about an inch of headspace at the top. The water should fully cover the grounds with room to swirl.
  3. Stir it up. Use a long spoon or chopstick to stir for about thirty seconds. Make sure every clump of coffee is wet — dry pockets won't brew. The grounds will float for a minute and then start to sink.
  4. Put the lid on and leave it. Set the jar on the kitchen counter or in the fridge. Don't open it, don't stir it again. Walk away for twelve hours — overnight is perfect.
  5. Strain once through a sieve. The next morning, pour the brew slowly through a fine-mesh sieve into another container (or a clean bowl). This removes the bulk of the grounds. Don't press or squeeze the grounds in the sieve — let gravity do it.
  6. Strain again through a filter. Line the sieve with a coffee filter, a piece of cheesecloth, or a clean dishtowel. Pour the once-strained brew through that into your storage jar. This is the slow step — give it ten minutes to drip through.
  7. Pour and drink. Fill a tall glass with ice, pour 4 oz of cold brew, top with 4 oz of cold water or milk, and you're done. The remaining concentrate keeps in the fridge for ten to fourteen days.

Common beginner mistakes (and the fixes)

  • Used pre-ground coffee that was finer than "coarse." The cup will be muddy and the strain step will be slow. Next time, ask the grocery-store bean bar to grind to "French Press" coarseness, or buy whole beans and grind yourself.
  • Forgot to stir before steeping. Dry clumps don't extract, and the brew comes out weak in spots. Stir for thirty full seconds at the start — that's the only "skill" the recipe asks for.
  • Steeped on the counter in a warm kitchen. If your kitchen is above 75 °F, the room-temp steep can over-extract and turn bitter. In summer, put the jar in the fridge instead.
  • Squeezed the grounds during straining. Squeezing pushes fine particles and bitter compounds into the cup. Let the strain drip — patience is part of the recipe.
  • Drank it straight at full strength. The brew is a concentrate. Dilute 1:1 with water or milk over ice. Sipping it undiluted is a strong, sometimes unpleasant experience.

Once the first batch works

If the recipe above produced cold brew you like, here's what's worth upgrading next, in priority order:

  1. Buy a $15 kitchen scale. Volume measurements vary by coffee — a cup of dark roast and a cup of light roast weigh different amounts. A scale makes every batch consistent.
  2. Buy a burr grinder. A Baratza Encore is $130 and lasts a decade. Freshly ground coffee, in the right particle size, is the single biggest taste upgrade you can make. See the best coffee for cold brew spoke for grind specifics.
  3. Try a higher-quality bean. Specialty-grade single-origin coffees taste meaningfully better than blended grocery-store coffee in cold brew, where the long steep amplifies any flaws. Cerrado Catuai is our recommended starting point.
  4. Try the Hario Mizudashi. If you've made cold brew three or four times and want to skip the messy double-strain step, the Hario Mizudashi bottle is the simplest upgrade. $25 buys you fridge-door form factor and a built-in filter.

Cold brew for beginners FAQ

Do I need a scale to make cold brew?

Not for your first few batches. The volume-based recipe above — 1 cup coffee + 3.5 cups water in a 1-quart jar — gets you a solid cold brew without weighing anything. Once you've made a few batches and want consistency, a $15 kitchen scale is the single most worthwhile upgrade.

Can I use pre-ground coffee for cold brew?

Yes, especially for your first batch. The cup will be slightly less fresh than coffee ground that morning, but it'll still be drinkable. Two warnings: avoid pre-ground espresso or "fine grind" — they'll over-extract into a muddy cup. And use the bag within a week of opening; pre-ground coffee oxidizes fast.

How long do I steep my first cold brew?

Twelve hours overnight. That's the easiest interval to plan around — start at night, strain in the morning. Once you're comfortable with the recipe, you can experiment with longer steeps (up to twenty-four hours) for a stronger cup, or shorter steeps (eight to ten hours) for a milder one.

Do I really need to strain twice?

If you want a clean cup, yes. The first strain (sieve) removes the bulk of the grounds; the second strain (through a filter or cheesecloth) catches the fine silt that would otherwise settle at the bottom of your glass. You can skip the second strain if you don't mind a little texture — French Press cold brew is what you get when you stop after one strain.

Should I steep on the counter or in the fridge?

Either works. Fridge steep is slower and gentler — twelve to sixteen hours produces a smoother cup. Counter steep is faster — twelve hours is enough — and slightly more intense. In summer or in a warm kitchen, default to the fridge to avoid over-extraction.

What if my first cold brew tastes weak?

Two likely causes: the grind was too coarse, or there wasn't enough coffee for the water. Next time, use a slightly finer grind (still within the coarse range — kosher salt, not sea salt) or tighten the ratio by adding more coffee. The recipe above is forgiving, but it benefits from the upper end of "1 cup of grounds" if your scoop ran shy.

What if my first cold brew tastes bitter?

The most common beginner cause is grinding too fine — pre-ground "drip grind" coffee can over-extract over a long steep. Switch to a coarser grind (ask the grocery-store bean bar for "French Press"). Other fixes: shorten the steep to ten hours, switch to a medium roast rather than a dark roast, and let the strain drip rather than squeezing the grounds.

Where to go next