Cold Brew Coffee Hot Trend! Cold Coffee Recipes

Cold-brew coffee is a hot trend

Brewing java in the fridge creates a trendy but low-tech drink


02:56 PM CDT on Tuesday, August 21, 2007
By KAREN ELIZABETH WATTS / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News



EVANS CAGLAGE/DMN
Make shots with cold-brew coffee concentrate and heavy cream, and serve with a bite of chocolate for an after-meal sweet. If summer's heat has left you feeling bitter and overextracted, think cold brew, as in cold-brewed coffee.

Fans say cold-brewed coffee is less bitter than coffee that's been subjected to heat. And while there are gadgets for producing cold-brew, you can make it with no special equipment. The technique is so low-tech that anyone with running water can enjoy it.

The following recipes were tested with Parisi Artisan's Bolivian organic dark roast coffee from Costco. The description states that the blend is "rich and sweet with hints of milk chocolate and a nuance of honeysuckle." It made a perfect cold brew.



Karen Elizabeth Watts is a Kansas City food stylist.


BASIC COLD-BREW COFFEE


10 cups of cold water

1 pound coffee, medium grind


Place ground coffee in a large container. Pour water over coffee. Refrigerate container for 12 to 24 hours.

Strain elixir through a coffee filter, and strain it again. (Sometimes, it is a good idea to strain it again, just to make sure no grounds made it through.) Refrigerate and use as needed. Makes 6 cups of cold-brew concentrate.



FLANK STEAK MARINADE TO WAKE YOU

½ cup cold-brew coffee

¼ cup soy sauce

¼ cup vegetable oil

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

3 tablespoons dark brown sugar

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon minced garlic

2 large flank steaks


In a large zip-top bag, combine coffee, soy sauce, oil, vinegar, sugar, ginger, pepper, salt and garlic. Add flank steaks to marinade, and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours.

When ready to cook, remove steaks from marinade, reserving marinade. Grill steaks to desired doneness.

Pour marinade into a skillet and bring to a boil. Allow to boil for at least 3 minutes, reducing liquid by half. Serve with grilled sliced flank steaks. Makes 2 to 4 servings.


USING COLD-BREW

Use treat sticks and paper cups to make Frozen Café pops with milk and cold-brew coffee concentrate. ICED COFFEE: Add 1/4 cup cold brew to 1 cup of cold water. Serve over ice.


ICED COFFEE WITH MILK: If you prefer milk in your coffee, begin with the same 1/4 cup cold brew and add 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup milk. Serve over ice.

BABY MOCHA CAKES (pictured): Using your favorite chocolate cake mix, simply replace the water with the cold-brew concentrate, adding the perfect coffee undertones to the cake. A regular cake mix makes 6 to 7 dozen "baby cakes" in mini muffin pans. The cooking time should be decreased to 6 minutes (at 350 F). Top finished cakes with buttercream icing, cocoa powder or powdered sugar.




Baby Mocha Cakes are infused with cold-brew coffee, which replaces the water in the recipe. SHOTS SHAKEN, NOT STIRRED (pictured): Fill a martini shaker with ice and add 1/2 cup cold-brew concentrate and 1/2 cup heavy cream. Shake and strain into shot glasses. Serve with a bite of chocolate for a perfect after-meal sweet.

FROZEN CAFÉ (pictured): If you don't have a frozen treat mold, you can make your own. In a small plastic or paper cup, freeze your favorite blend of cold brew and milk in layers. To keep a stick in place while freezing the first layer, tightly cover the cup with plastic wrap, and poke the stick through the middle into the liquid. After the first layer is frozen, the plastic wrap can be removed for freezing the rest of the layers.

CAFÉ BUTTER
Place 2 tablespoons cold-brew coffee, 1 table- spoon vanilla and 2 sticks softened, unsalted butter into bowl of food processor and pulse with metal blade until coffee and vanilla are incorporated into butter. Refrigerate until ready to wake up pancakes or toast.

COFFEE ICE TIPS
•Freeze cold-brew coffee in an ice-cube tray.

•When making iced drinks, use half regular ice and half cold-brew coffee ice, avoiding the proverbial meltdown of an iced coffee drink.