Smooth 18-Hour Cold Brew Concentrate

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

A café-quality cold brew concentrate you steep on the counter overnight and keep in the fridge for two weeks. A 1:5 coffee-to-water ratio and a slow 18-hour extraction pull out chocolate and caramel sweetness while leaving the sour, bitter notes behind, and a two-stage filter (mesh, then paper) gives you a clean, sediment-free base that's strong enough to cut with water, milk, or a splash of vanilla syrup.

Ingredients

• 12 oz whole coffee beans, medium or medium-dark roast (about 340 g)
• 7 cups cool filtered water (about 1.65 L), divided

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 pinch fine sea salt

• Ice cubes
• Cold water, whole milk, or oat milk
• Orange peel or flaky salt, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

1. Grind the 12 oz of beans coarse — the texture of raw sugar or coarse sea salt, noticeably chunkier than drip grind. If your grinder produces a lot of dust, sift out the fines with a coarse mesh strainer and discard them; they are the main source of bitterness and cloudiness. Grinding right before brewing makes a real difference here.
2. Put the grounds in a 2-quart or larger nonreactive container (a big mason jar, glass pitcher, or food-safe plastic tub with a lid). Pour in about 1 cup of the cool water and stir with a long spoon or silicone spatula for 30 seconds, until every ground is wet and the mixture looks like thick mud. This pre-wet step prevents dry pockets that under-extract.
3. Add the remaining 6 cups of water, stir gently for another 15 seconds, and scrape down any grounds clinging to the sides. Cover the container and let it steep at cool room temperature (65–72°F) for 18 hours. Do not stir again; the grounds will form a crust on top and that's exactly what you want.
4. At 18 hours, skim off and discard the floating crust with a spoon. Set a fine-mesh sieve over a large bowl and pour the brew through it, letting it drain on its own — do not press or squeeze the grounds, which pushes bitter solids through.
5. Line the rinsed sieve (or a pour-over cone) with a paper coffee filter or a double layer of cheesecloth, set it over a clean bowl or pitcher, and slowly pour the strained coffee through in batches. This second pass takes 10–15 minutes total and is what gives the concentrate its glassy, sediment-free clarity. Replace the paper filter if it clogs.
6. Funnel the finished concentrate into a clean bottle or jar — you should have about 4 cups (a little over 1 quart). Seal and refrigerate. It tastes best after resting at least 2 hours cold and keeps well for up to 14 days.
7. For the optional vanilla syrup, combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir just until the sugar dissolves and the syrup is clear, 2 to 3 minutes; do not boil hard. Off the heat, stir in the vanilla and salt, cool completely, and refrigerate in a jar for up to 1 month.
8. To serve iced: fill a 12-oz glass with ice, add 1/2 cup concentrate, then top with 3/4 to 1 cup cold water or milk (a 1:2 ratio is the sweet spot). Add 1 to 2 teaspoons of the vanilla syrup if you like it sweet, stir 10 seconds, and finish with a twist of orange peel or a tiny pinch of flaky salt to round out the roast.
9. To serve hot: combine 1/3 cup concentrate with 2/3 cup hot water in a mug, or heat the mixture gently in a saucepan to 160°F. Never boil the concentrate — it turns flat and papery.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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