French Press Cold Brew With Cold Foam is so delicious. Perfect for hot summer days.
Once you make this at home, you will wonder why you have been spending so much at the coffee shops. The best part is you don’t need any fancy equipment to make homemade cold brew. You can use it to make a Chocolate Coffee Martini too.
French press cold brew is smooth and bold. The velvety cold foam topping elevates your coffee experience creating the perfect balance of frothy goodness and rich coffee flavour.
With the help of a large French press and some good quality coffee beans, you can easily make a flavourful cold brew coffee concentrate. Once you master it (and it is so easy), you will be saving money making your own cold-pressed coffee. It tastes better than the bottled Starbucks coffee you can buy in the store.
Are you a coffee fanatic? WE ARE! No, I really mean it. I think I have tried just about ALL the gourmet coffee drinks out there. I am glad we have figured out a way to enjoy delicious coffee drinks at home.
Boozy Bourbon Iced Coffee, is a summer favourite. Of course, no fall season is complete without the famous Pumpkin Spice Latte.
And if you have never tried making a Chocolate Milk Latte, you don’t know what you are missing.
French Press Cold Brew Process
If you have never made cold brew using a French press, you are in for a surprise. It is so easy.
Honestly, in just a few simple steps, you are on your way to the best cold brew concentrate made right at home. No need for an expensive cold brew coffee maker.
- Place your coarsely ground coffee beans in the French press.
- Add cold water (leaving room for the lid).
- Gently stir to moisten the coffee grounds.
- Put on the lid (DO NOT PLUNGE).
- Let sit on the counter for 24 hours (if you can’t wait that long, at least wait 12).
- Slowly press the plunger down.
- Pour cold brew concentrate into a glass bottle.
- Store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks (ours never lasts that long).
Cold-Brewed Iced Coffee At Home
It’s as simple as 1-2-3.
- Pour some cold brew concentrate into a glass.
- Add ice (and additional cold water if you want a milder-tasting brew).
- Sweeten with your choice of sweetener (honey, agave, raw sugar or flavourings).
- Add milk or cream if desired (cold foam is amazing)
Cold Foam Perfection
This is the BEST part, like the icing on a cake. You know that wonderful steamy froth you get on hot lattes? This is a cold version.
Once I had at Starbucks cold foam, I was on a mission to make it a home. All you need is non-fat milk and a *(affiliate) handheld frother.
Starbucks uses a blender (I carefully watched to see how they did it). All milk is not created equal. It took a bit of trial and error to find out which milk worked best.
Non-fat milk produces the strongest foam. It contains more protein than fat. Higher-fat milk (1%, 2%, and whole) work best for latte art.
If you love oat milk, this is a great alternative to dairy. Be sure to purchase the barista oat milk for best results.
You can also flavour the milk before aerating. The new vanilla sweet cream cold brew is the new craze at Starbucks right now.
Suggestions/Recipe Tips
Fresh beans are best. If you cannot grind them at home, make sure they are coarsely ground. You can use both caffeinated and decaf beans for this cold brew recipe.
Don’t rush the brew time. Let stand at room temperature for a minimum of 12 hours. It takes time for the proper extraction to happen. Delicious things take time (and patience), but it is so worth it.
Once the brewing process is complete, it is time to strain the grinds. SLOWLY plunge. If you do it too quickly, the concentrate will become cloudy.
Glass bottled cold brew coffee concentrate can be kept in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
What is the coffee-to-water ratio? This is where it certainly comes down to personal preference. Weigh your beans before you grind them.
A good place to start is 1 cup of beans to 4 cups of water. Depending on the coffee beans you choose, how long you steep, and how strong you like your finished coffee drink, there is lots of room to experiment here.
Don’t worry, there is no wrong way. Let your taste buds guide you to making it just the way you like.
We have an 8-cup French press. We used 6 cups of water, along with the grinds of 120 grams of coffee beans (measured before grinding). This produces about 1 liter of cold brew concentrate. It is surprising the amount of water the grinds absorb!
You will quickly find the water-to-coffee ratio that works best for you. The type of coffee you choose will make a difference in the strength of the concentrate. So will the amount of coffee you use.
What are the best coffee beans for cold brew? It is really important to use good quality coffee beans to produce the best cold brew concentrate possible. Be sure to use freshly ground whole beans.
We used a nice dark espresso. You can experiment and find which coffee variety works best for you. Some people prefer a milder flavour so they don’t have to water it down as much.
The darker the coffee, the stronger the coffee concentrate. You don’t have to use the MOST expensive beans (because you need a lot), but don’t use the cheapest either.
If you prefer, you can always use flavoured coffee beans as well.
What is the best grind for cold brew concentrate? The grind of the coffee is VERY important, you don’t want the coffee to be bitter. Large, coarse grinds (similar to raw sugar) are what you are looking for.
Depending on your grinder, you may need to grind in batches until you get the amount you need. If your grinds are too fine, you will end up with cloudy coffee concentrate.
Check out this *affiliate link for coffee grinders to easily grind the beans at home.
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Give these recipes with coffee a try:
French Press Cold Brew With Cold Foam
Ingredients
- 6 ounces cold brew concentrate (or your desired quantity)
- ice
- 2 ounces water
- 2 ounces skim milk (made into cold foam)
- sweetener (if desired)
Instructions
- Place the coffee concentrate into a glass.
- Add ice.
- Add additional water (if desired).
- Sweeten (if desired) and mix.
- Top with cold foam.
Tracy Koslicki
Oooh you just saved us SO much money! Hahaha. My husband thanks you. He’s one of those rare people who doesn’t drink coffee because he hates the taste (I know, I don’t know what’s wrong with him…), so he doesn’t understand my love for coffee and all of the money I spend on it at coffee shops! Now I don’t have to – thank you! So perfect for this heat wave we’ve been having!
Homemade & Yummy
YES it does save money….going to the coffee shop is very expensive. Glad we can make these great drinks at home for a fraction of the cost.
Alexis
I love cold brew but never though of cold foam, great idea!
Homemade & Yummy
OMG…so good. Hope you give it a try. It is like the icing on the cake.
Arjhon
We always prefer cold brew coffee as a refreshment, especially during summer. Now I can make my own cold brew coffee at home! Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Homemade & Yummy
YES..and you can save so much money making it at home. We just put on a new pot to brew this morning.
Jacqueline Debono
We drink a lot of coffee here in Italy but I’ve never tried a cold press brew. Sounds intriguing. Def want to give it a go!
Homemade & Yummy
This is a great way to enjoy coffee, especially in the summer.
Michelle
What a great idea for these super hot days. And I love that you make it look so fancy!
Homemade & Yummy
YES..we have another pot brewing right now!! Perfect for HOT summer days…and anytime of year!
Lisa
I’ve recently started getting into cold brew coffee and I just love this method of using the french press to achieve it. I have one that’s sitting idly on my counter and definitely needs more use, so this solves two problems at once. Your cold foam sounds utterly divine — like a cappucino for summer. My husband is going to love this one! Thanks for sharing!
Homemade & Yummy
Hubby just put on another pot to brew this morning. Saving me so much money over Starbucks!!
Sondria
Even though the process may be long, it’s not very involved. Just a few step really. I love that, I’ll be making some this weekend.
Homemade & Yummy
YES you are right. The hardest part is the patience for it to brew. So worth the time…ENJOY!
Marisa Franca
This would be such a great treat in the afternoon! I like something hot in the morning, but in the afternoon I want a cold drink! A great tutorial and since I do have a French Press it will be easy to do. In fact, I have a milk frother (sp?) somewhere. I’ll have to look for that too. Can’t wait to try.
Homemade & Yummy
We just had one this afternoon. Now I need to make more concentrate…the “kids” had some on the weekend. Drained my stock LOL!!
Danielle Salmon
Oooh I so love this recipe because you make it look so easy — especially for someone who struggles in the kitchen like me. Plus the foam looks so refreshing!
Danielle | FollowMyGut.com <3
Homemade & Yummy
It really is super easy. Hope you give it a try.
Michelle
This sounds so good! I’m fascinated that a skim milk provided foam where a 1% did not. I would think the fat would help produce a better foam. And yayyyy another use for my Aerolatte! 😉
Homemade & Yummy
YES…the difference was incredible. Hope you give this a try.
Denise
Oh this looks so good! I think cold brew is supposed to have less acid which is good for me. I love that you made a cold foam. I have never heard of that. I need to get one of those froth maker things. This recipe is perfect for the dog days of summer!
Homemade & Yummy
YES…the hardest part is the patience while it brews. Saves so much money making this at home. The Aerolatte works great.
Veena Azmanov
This sounds so refreshing and light. Perfect for this weather. My husband would be all over this. He’s a big coffee addict. Love how easily you made that foam. Saving this for later. Sounds yum.
Homemade & Yummy
Hope you give this a try….it is easy…just need a little patience.
Jolina
I cannot believe it’s really this easy! My spouse is a coffee fanatic too so we have already all these things (and more!) at home. You bet this will happen very soon. Excited!
Homemade & Yummy
SOOOOO easy…and so delicious. You get to make it just the way YOU like it.
Kelly Anthony
Loving cold brew this summer especially on the 100 degree days here in Texas. This looks so refreshing!
Homemade & Yummy
Well I think it is going to be 100 degrees here this weekened. I know I have some brewing right now just in time for the weekend.
Stine Mari
I really want a cup right now. Looks really good! It can’t be easy waiting 24 hours… I don’t drink a lot of coffee, but I’ve been craving iced coffee for a few days now.
Homemade & Yummy
This makes the best iced coffee ever.