It’s 7 AM. The early morning rays of sun light sneak their way through the closed blinds, cascading beams of soft ember light across your bed. The alarm
clock on the night stand buzzes louder and louder with every second you stay lying in bed
contemplating a hard day’s work or a day of laziness. The warmth of your bed, and
the chilliness of what lies beyond the covers, beckons you to stay for a while
longer. The thought of getting out of bed and taking on the day leaves knots in
your stomach and a groan in your voice. The mere idea of dealing with the
rest of humanity sends shivers down your spine. Why did God have to create
Mondays?
Spend a night with me (invitations welcome. Just kidding, Mom) and you’ll quickly
see that I’m not a morning person. I
am a full blooded night owl. 3 AM is a cakewalk compared to the agonizing
reality of waking up at 7 or 8 o’clock in the morning. Both my parents and my brother
are usually in bed by 10 o’clock most every night, while I’m up for hours either writing, stalking Tumblr blogs, going on a Pinning rampage at 2 o’clock in the
morning, or just merely wasting my very existence on the Internet. When the
morning sun does come up, I need something that’s going to wake me up and give me
the energy to go out into the world and be a functioning member of society. My solution:
Cold Brew Coffee. I love iced coffee, but making iced
coffee at home is a tragedy. The minute you put the hot cup of steaming coffee into the pitcher of ice, the ice instantly melts and dilutes the coffee (into an endless sea of unhappiness and regret).
Your whole day is ruined and it’s not even 9 o’clock yet! This is where Cold
Brew comes in.
Rather than using hot water to brew the coffee, you steep the
coffee grounds using cold water and letting the mixture infuse for 24 hours. I know
24 hours seems like 24 years (aren't we being a little dramatic?) but it is
incredibly worth it. What you get is a more well-rounded subtle coffee that
fumigates and gives off this sense of comfort and well-being. When talking to
people about it, I describe it as a nutty tone of flavor. It’s gives the essence of that coffee house aroma that lingers rather than hits you in the face. I first found out about the exciting world of Cold Brew
Coffee by stumbling onto a video on Jamie
Oliver’s DrinkTube YouTube channel here. Finally! A chance to drink
iced coffee without the taste of crappy water. Plus, with this Cinnamon Sugar Simple
Syrup, your coffee taste buds are not going to know what hit them.
________________________________________________________________
COLD BREW COFFEE
WITH CINNAMON SUGAR SIMPLE SYRUP
Ingredients
Cold Brew Coffee
With
a 20oz French Press
1 cup Coffee Grounds
4 cups of Water
Cinnamon Sugar Simple Syrup
½ cup of light brown sugar
1/3 cup of maple syrup
½ cup of water
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
½ teaspoon of cardamom
Directions
Cold Brew Coffee
Pre-Step: Get out of bed and seize
the day! You're a winner.
Step 1: In a French Press of 8 ounce
pitcher, add in your coffee grounds. In 2 cups increments, add your water.
Note:
For every ½ cup of coffee grounds added,
you add 2 cups of water (hooray
math!)
Step 2: Take a wooden spoon (or any doable
spoon for that matter) and stir the coffee grounds into the water.
Note: Be prepared for a little bit of
a mess. Coffee grounds are rambunctious and do not play by societies rules. Let
your coffee grounds and water mixture sit for 10 minutes.
Step 3: After your coffee grounds have
had time to mingle with the water, place a lid (or in my case, plastic wrap)
over the cover. Place your French Press or 8 ounce container in the refrigerator
and let brew for 24 hours. I usually brew my coffee in the morning, so the next
morning I can drink it. (Hooray perfect timing!)
Step 4: 24 hours have passed and your
coffee/water mixture will resemble the essence of tar (this is right). If you
are using a French press, just do your thing and strain that mixture like a
champ
Step 5: (if needed) If you are using
an 8 ounce pitcher, you are going to use a fine-mesh strainer and paper towels
for this task. In your sink, place a fairly large bowl in the sink. Hold a mess
strainer with a paper towel or two covering the strainer over the bowl (this
will act as your filter). Simply pour your coffee through the strainer. The paper
towels will get clogged with mushy coffee grounds, so halfway through, replace
the soggy/dirt/wet paper towel with new ones. This will make the filtering
process easier and less traumatic.
Cinnamon Sugar Simple Syrup
Step 1: Grab a small sauce pan and put
it on the stove. Toss in your brown sugar, maple syrup, water, and the cinnamon
and cardamom. Turn your heat on to medium heat and whisk away. You want to
whisk this mixture for 5 minutes, keeping your full attention on the syrup.
Step 2: After 5 minutes of vigorous
whisking, let your mixture sit for 15 minutes. Put your syrup in an air-tight
container for up to a week.
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