Making the perfect cold brew coffee isn’t easy, because ‘perfect’ is subjective. Some enjoy the strong flavour of Black Label coffee, while others prefer a diluted shot of Espresso. Whatever the case, it’s quite unlikely that your cold brew tastes exactly how you like it on the first try. Fortunately, you can fix this!
In this article, we will be covering some common issues people face when making cold brew. Read on if you’re wondering how to turn a failed cold brew from mud sludge, into authentic, refreshing coffee asif from Starbucks by a professional barista made at home!
What Happens If You Let Cold Brew Steep for Too Long?
Steeping is arguably the easiest part of making cold brew. But with many of us being impatient or forgetful, steeping cold brew becomes a difficult chore – because of the timing.
In case you don’t know, steeping the mixture is an important part of making a cold brew. This means to leave the brew to settle, yep, just leave it alone. How difficult is that?
Coffee enthusiasts recommend steeping the cold brew for 12 to 24 hours, depending on where you leave the brew. At room temperature, 12-15 hours is good enough, but in the fridge, 18-24 hours will be better.
Anything beyond 24 hours is a bit of a stretch. This could result in your cold brew tasting really bitter.
When you let your cold brew steep for too long, you “over-brew” your coffee. This is a concept we’ll be talking about later, but in essence, this turns your cold brew bitter. In some cases, it can even have a woody taste!
On the other hand, if you don’t give cold brew enough time to steep, you can expect a watery, diluted brew. More of a mud sludge than a brew if you ask me!
Either way, you shouldn’t let your cold brew steep for too long, or too short a time. But the problems you may encounter while making cold brew doesn’t end here.
Why does my cold brew taste bad?
Strong, bland, bitter, sour … there are four ways cold brew can go wrong. Here are some reasons why your cold brew tastes bad.
The Coffee Tastes Too Bland/Strong
When your cold brew tastes watery or is just too caffeinated, the problem is usually your water to coffee ratio.
One of the essential steps of making a cold brew is mixing coffee beans with water. But the perfect ratio of coffee beans to water? No one knows for sure. A popular ratio is 1 cup of coffee beans to 4 cups of water (1:4), but this is totally up to personal preference.
Simply add water if the coffee is too strong, or put in extra concentrate if the brew is too weak.
Another reason for the bland taste is the steeping process. As we mentioned earlier, not giving your cold brew enough time to steep can make it “under-brewed”, and hence taste diluted.
However, if the cold brew still doesn’t taste good, there is another (more worrying) reason. You could just be using the wrong type of coffee beans! Yep, some coffee beans naturally have a stronger flavour than others.
Unfortunately, you will have to restart your cold brew from scratch with a new batch of coffee beans if this is the issue. Well, take it as a learning opportunity!
Cold Brew is Bitter/Sour
This is perhaps the most common problem amongst rookies. Let’s talk about why your brew could have gotten sour.
Firstly, your cold brew or even coffee beans may have expired. If your cold brew has been in the fridge for more than a few days, or your coffee beans are months old, they’re probably the culprits of that sour taste.
But if your ingredients are all good, then the problem stems from under-brewing your coffee. In other words, the brew is “under-extracted”.
This basically means that not enough flavour from the coffee grounds has diffused into the cold brew – the extraction process isn’t complete. When the cold brew is under-extracted, this causes an imbalance in the tastes of bitterness and acidity. (With overwhelming acidity)
Hence, the sour taste.
It works the same for a bitter cold brew, but just the opposite. Your cold brew is bitter when coffee grounds are over-extracted.
Bitterness in the coffee comes out last, and that’s the flavour nobody wants to taste. This usually happens when you extract the concentrate over too long a time. Again, another negative consequence of steeping your cold brew too long.
Next, we will be going through how to fix the sourness and bitterness in a cold brew.
How to Fix Your Sour Cold Brew?
First and foremost, just wait a little longer. Since sour brew is usually “under-extracted”, you can leave the cold brew to steep for a few more hours. If the brew is slightly sour, leaving it to steep for 3-5 more hours should be fine.
Another way to fix your cold brew is to grind the coffee beans finer. The sour taste comes from the lack of extraction from coffee beans.
Scientifically, finer coffee beans will quicken the extraction process. With a larger surface area exposed to the liquid, more of that flavour can diffuse out efficiently.
Finally, you can get a darker roast. This has a more concentrated and caffeinated taste, balancing out the acidity well.
You can also fix your bitter cold brew, but this won’t be as easy. As we have mentioned earlier, bitter coffee is due to the “over-extraction” of flavour from the coffee beans, introducing the “unwanted compounds” into your coffee.
To put it bluntly, your cold brew is spoilt.
Next time, just let your cold brew steep for 12 hours or so. It’s unlikely that your coffee will still have that woody taste, but if that’s still the case, then you’re probably using the wrong coffee beans. Try to get beans a few steps lighter.
In some cases, the cold brew may taste sour after 12 hours. This is normal; just give the brew more time to steep, and do a taste test every two hours.
Also, you can use coarse beans to make cold brew, which slows down the extraction process by a few hours.
Outro
To sum up, there are many uncertainties when it comes to making cold brews. While it isn’t easy to make the perfect cold brew, fixing it is no big deal.
The next time you make a strong, bland, bitter, or sour cold brew, at least you’ll know what went wrong, and how to fix it!