Cold Brewed Coffee Experiment

Why Cold Brew?
Cold brewing provides a milder, less acidic coffee with less caffeine.  Letting hot brewed coffee go cold and then adding ice makes a bitter iced coffee.  Heating up a cold brewed coffee should provide a more soft and supple coffee than achievable by traditional hot brewing coffee maker techniques. 

How to Cold Brew
Most sites recommend using lighter roasted coffees that have higher acidity than those used for hot brewing methods.  A medium grind is preferred.  This should enable enough coffee surface area to make contact with the water while not becoming completely soluble within the water.  Some coffee shops use a concentrated cold brew method to make their iced coffees.  Concentrated cold brew can be diluted with milk or water.  Concentrated cold brew can also be used for hot coffee when reheated with hot water.  Probably want to use a darker roast for coffee that is going to be reheated.  General recommendation of 9 cups of water to ½ pound of coffee.

Cold Brewing Coffee Experiment No. 1 (17 September 2011)
Ingredients:
2 ½ cups of tap water
5 scoops of Seattle's Best pre-ground Breakfast Blend Level 2

Procedure:  Poured water into a small jar.  Add ground coffee then stir until coffee is completely incorporated into water.   Put lid on jar and let sit for 15 ½ hours at room temperature.  Finally, strain coffee through gold drip coffee wire mesh strainer, put into a jar, seal, then place in refrigerator.

Results:
Poured over ice, the cold coffee was pretty good and very similar to but slightly cleaner than Starbucks iced coffee.  There was a slight bitterness on the finish and the texture seemed a bit gritty.

Next Steps:
Try again with 4 scoops of the same pre-ground coffee.  Should also try with same coffee but with a coarser grind.