Cold Brew Coffee easy and cheap

You don't need a fancy coffee shop or a barista to enjoy cold-brewed coffee anytime you want. You really don't even need any special equipment. Just a container to hold the grounds and water, a bottle to hold your coffee concentrate, a way to strain, and some time.

I love coffee. Hot coffee, iced coffee, coffee-flavored anything. I love them all!

Imagine my dismay a couple of years ago when I figured out that my constant stomach-aches were caused by the acid in coffee. I sniffed yearningly every time I passed a coffee shop. I stuck my nose in my family's morning cups and breathed deeply. For months and months it was as close as I could get to the real thing.

Then, tired of doing without, I started investigating low-acid coffee. I found a couple of brands, but the reviews on flavor were mixed. Then I saw a mention about "Cold-Brewed Coffee!"

Everyone's heard of Sun Tea - but I had no idea you could brew coffee, without electricity and without hot water! It takes longer, but the coffee concentrate you wind up with is perfect!

Perfect for a hot cup in the morning, a delicious iced coffee on a hot summer day, ready when you need it for flavoring, baking, even cocktails!

And the best part of all? Low acid, no pain. Lower caffeine, no jitters - even if I indulge all day!

Ridiculously easy! It does take time, so plan ahead - if you want Cold-brewed coffee tomorrow morning, start today! The brewer just takes a few moments to set up: insert the plug in the bottom of the tank, put in the filter, measure in the coffee, measure and add water. That's all there is to it!

I suppose you don't even need an official "Cold Brewer System" - you could certainly just measure grounds into any container and add water, straining the coffee concentrate after the brewing time is over.

We love the flavor of coffee and we've discovered that having the coffee concentrate on hand has made it easy to enjoy our favorite flavor whenever we like. We can have iced coffee whenever we like - no planning required! The concentrate keeps well in the refrigerator for six weeks - although we always seem to use it up in about two weeks.

We also use the concentrate in baking - some of the best chocolate cake recipes use coffee flavoring!

And cocktail hour is a joy. We developed our very own Mocha Martini recipe - not too sweet, not too bitter - absolutely perfect!

It took months, experimentation and diligent attention to frequent tasting to get this recipe exactly right. It's not too sweet, not too bitter, just right!

We chose the Filtron coffee brewer and are very happy with it.