By now, you may have discovered that cold water process brewing of coffee produces a lower acidity brew. That’s great news for people suffering from acid reflux or other gastrointestinal ailments. But what is the cold water process all about and how do you perfect this technique at home?

It is really a very simple coffee brewing method and is more or less just an adjustment from your normal routine.

HOW TO DO IT YOURSELF :

Step 1: Grind your coffee beans to a coarse setting.

Step 2: Place your coarsely ground coffee in a container and add cold water. A good rule of thumb is approximately one pound of ground coffee to nine cups of cold water.

Step 3: Let coffee grounds and cold water steep for 12 to 24 hours at room temperature. Many prefer to let their mixture sit overnight. There is no need to stir.

Step 4: Separate the ground coffee beans from the water to create a liquid coffee concentrate. There are a variety of techniques and appliances to assist in filtering the mixture, including paper filters, metal sieves, French presses and commercial products such as the Filtron unit. I have even heard of people scooping the grounds out with a perforated spoon, albeit somewhat messy. Pick the filter method best suited to your needs.

Step 5: You now have a coffee concentrate able to produce multiple cups of coffee. Pour a small amount of concentrate in a cup and add hot water to produce a wonderful mug of low acid coffee. Simply experiment with the dilution ratio of water to concentrate to perfect the preferred taste. A good starting point would be 1 part concentrate to 3 parts water. From this point, it’s a tasting game. Adjust concentrate versus water as appropriate.

Step 6: Store remaining concentrate in the refrigerator for future use.

That’s it! You have now completed the cold water process brewing of your coffee beans. Most individuals find the taste comparison between hot brewed and cold brewed coffee very different. Because the acidity is lower, you may find a sweeter, smoother coffee without the “bite” (but without the heartburn as well!). Many of the subtle underlying flavors which are produced only by high temperatures will be deficient, as a cold brew process will extract a different chemical profile. Now it’s your turn to give it a shot!

Many people believe that the brewing process affects the outcome of caffeine content in your coffee. For instance the longer you brew a pot of coffee, the higher the caffeine content in a regular cup. That’s why many people like to let coffee sit and percolate, they believe it increases the caffeine and makes the coffee ‘stronger’. That is where the old saying ‘coffee you can stand a spoon up in’ comes from… longer brewing= more caffeine, but practically sludge-like coffee!
And that is why many people mistakenly think espresso has less caffeine than a regular cup of coffee, because brewing time is much shorter.
In actuality, a serving of espresso is pretty much the equivalent to a strong cup of coffee caffeine wise. But because servings of espresso are very small in comparison to regular coffee, the actual caffeine content per milliliter is actually much higher.
Caffeine is assimilate more quickly when it’s in a concentrated form. Espresso is like concentrated caffeine! If you want actual numbers, there can be anywhere from 77mg up to 185mg in a double shot of espresso. In a cup of coffee, there is roughly 135-150mg of caffeine, depending on the type of bean and your brewing methods.
Many people are confused by the whole espresso and caffeine situation because of the myth regarding the darker roasted coffee beans that are used in making espresso. The idea is that those beans have less caffeine than regularly roasted coffee beans because of the roasting process, but there are no scientific studies so far that support that idea.
One thing that DOES affect the caffeine content of your espresso habit is the type of coffee beans you are using to make it. Robusta coffee beans have double the caffeine content of Arabica coffee beans, so when you brew your Joe with mostly Robusta coffee beans, your caffeine content will be MUCH higher, regardless of whether you’re making coffee or espresso. The bottom line? Espresso can be slightly higher in caffeine content if you do a double shot, but otherwise, it runs pretty neck in neck with a regular cup of coffee.

Yes, it sure is my friend! Your coffee beans were actually once a little red fruit that went through many stages to become the aromatic coffee bean you buy from your local coffee shop. Most good coffee will go through similar processes.
It starts with wet processing to remove the outer skin of the fruit and the inner parchment skin. The pulp is fermented away, and then the inner seed is dried out. The result is the green coffee bean that is often shipped out and housed all over the world. Think of the green coffee beans much like any other bag of dry beans you might purchase from your local grocery store.
Your green coffee bean is then bought by local coffee shops and providers, and either sold green or sold pre-roasted to consumers. Most often the coffee bean is sold already roasted by the provider, as that is the quickest way to a pot of fresh coffee for most consumers. Many don’t have the time or the inclination to roast their own coffee beans and instead prefer to purchase gourmet coffee ready to go.
However, some consumers DO enjoy roasting their own coffee beans, and will prefer to purchase them green from their providers to ensure maximum freshness, aroma, and flavor once they are roasted and ready to be brewed. Also many hobbyist coffee lovers enjoy roasting their own beans just as a novelty gift to give to friends and family, and to test different roasting methods and adjust their coffee to their own tastes.
Just like a tomato is often mistaken for a vegetable, but is in fact a fruit, coffee isn’t in actuality a bean, despite its current moniker as ‘coffee bean’. Despite the very involved process we just discussed, it did in fact start out as a fruit! Who knew?

Coffee roasting is undertaken to transform green coffee into the fresh, aromatic roasts you can buy from your local coffee shop. This is done because without roasting, green coffee would make a pot of coffee that is virtually undrinkable. Coffee made from green coffee beans is extremely acidic and bitter flavored. Definitely NOT something you’d like to share a cup of with the neighbor!
Green coffee beans are very similar to any other dried bean you might purchase at the store. Just like a bag of navy beans can be transformed into a tasty pot of bean soup, green coffee beans allow a much longer shelf life and can still be transformed by coffee roasting into a deliciously drinkable brew.
The process of coffee roasting actually forces water out of the bean, causing dryness and expansion in the bean. The coffee roasting process causes some of the natural sugars to be transformed into CO2 and still others get caramelized. This creates the complex flavor nuances that are the hallmark of ‘good coffee’.
By the end of the coffee roasting process, the coffee bean you wind up with is much darker and about 18% lighter in weight, as well as about 50-100% larger in size than its green coffee bean counterpart. After coffee roasting, it’s customary to allow the coffee to ‘degas’ for a day or two. This helps to protect the flavors and aromas, as well as avoid an acid taste that can occur if you drink the coffee immediately after roasting.
However, don’t wait too long to drink! Just a week from the time the coffee is roasted it will have already started to lose some of its best aromas and flavors. That’s why if you can find a coffee provider close to home that does their own coffee roasting you can be assured of the best freshness possible.