Cold Brew at Home: Equipment Guide and Tips

The secret to smooth, low-acid coffee you can make in your own kitchen.

Cold brew has gone from café trend to home staple and for good reason. It's smooth, naturally sweet, and incredibly versatile. The best part? You don't need expensive equipment to make it well. Here's everything you need to get started.

What Is Cold Brew (and Why Bother)?

Unlike iced coffee, which is just hot coffee poured over ice, cold brew is made by steeping coarsely ground coffee in cold or room-temperature water for 12–24 hours. The result is a concentrate that's lower in acidity, naturally sweeter, and far less bitter than traditional brewing methods. It's also incredibly forgiving once you've got the basics down.

The Essential Equipment

1. A Good Grinder

This is the most important piece of kit. Cold brew requires a coarse grind, think sea salt texture. A quality burr grinder gives you consistent particle size, which means even extraction and a cleaner flavour. Blade grinders produce uneven grounds that can make your cold brew muddy and bitter.

Our pick: The Timemore C5 Pro or any Eureka Mignon grinder set to a coarse setting.

2. A Cold Brew Vessel or Jar

You don't need anything fancy,  a large mason jar or jug works perfectly. However, dedicated cold brew makers with built-in filters (like the Hario Mizudashi) make straining much easier and produce a cleaner result.

3. A Filter

If you're using a jar, you'll need to strain your brew. Options include:

• A fine mesh sieve lined with a paper filter
• A dedicated cold brew filter bag
• A Hario V60 with a paper filter for a cleaner, brighter result

4. A Scale

Consistency is key. A simple kitchen scale lets you nail your coffee-to-water ratio every time. A good starting point is 1:8 (e.g. 100g coffee to 800ml water) for a concentrate, or 1:15 for a ready-to-drink brew.

Step-by-Step: How to Make Cold Brew

1. Grind your coffee coarsely, aim for a sea salt texture
2. Add grounds to your vessel and pour over cold or room-temperature filtered water
3. Stir gently to make sure all grounds are saturated
4. Cover and steep in the fridge for 12–24 hours (longer = stronger)
5. Strain through your filter into a clean jug or bottle
6. Store in the fridge — it keeps well for up to 2 weeks

Tips for the Best Cold Brew

• Use quality, freshly roasted beans. Cold brew highlights the natural sweetness and origin character of good coffee — it's worth using beans you enjoy.
• Go coarser than you think. Too fine a grind leads to over-extraction and bitterness.
• Use filtered water. Tap water with heavy chlorine can affect the flavour noticeably.
• Don't rush the steep. 18–20 hours in the fridge is the sweet spot for most coffees.
• Dilute your concentrate. If you brewed at 1:8, dilute 1:1 with water or milk before drinking.

Serving Ideas

• Over ice with a splash of oat milk
• Mixed with tonic water for a refreshing cold brew tonic
• Blended with ice and a little vanilla for a homemade frappé
• Used as a base for coffee cocktails

Ready to Get Started?

Browse our range of grinders, cold brew vessels, and filters, everything you need to make café-quality cold brew at home.