Its hard to talk about sustainability without analyzing our single use item habits. Namely, our single use coffee cup habit. Approximately 6 billion disposable coffee cups are used each year! Yes... that's billion with a b, every 365 days.
While I have been trying to cut down on my single use plastics for awhile, I still didn't want to pry my death grip off the cold brew concentrate I was buy at the grocery store weekly. I'd leave trying to convince myself that cold brew was too time consuming to make at home and that I didn't have the expensive equipment necessary to brew it at home when the truth is, I just didn't want to be responsible for one more "task" during the week, and I couldn't be bothered to do the research behind what goes into getting me my morning caffeine fix.
It turns out, its simple, like really simple and the "equipment" needed is NOT expensive. And its actually quite a nice little addition to my morning rituals.
Here is the process:
Firstly, you'll need a cold brew maker, a coffee grinder and some whole bean coffee. (We bought this one) Basically, it consists of a large jar with an airtight lid and a fine mesh strainer to fill with coffee grounds.
Fully clean the jar and set aside.
Next, take your coffee beans and fill the top of the grinder, to measure, and then place back in the grinder to get ready to grind:
Next: Coarsely grind the beans ( you want to see some bigger pieces in there):
Repeat this step two to three times depending on how strong you like your cold brew. ( I used three).
Next: Place the coffee grinds into the fine mesh strainer of your cold brew maker.
Next: Slowly pour filtered water over the grinds until the carafe is full.
Next: One the carafe is filled, place airtight lid on top and let sit at room temperate for 24 hours.
Once 24 hours have passed you can store the cold brew in the fridge and pour over ice as desired.
That's it! Its so easy, it will save you money and, most importantly, you'll be making your morning coffee routine a little more sustainable.
Below are a few recipes for some of my favorite clean cold brew lattes:
Golden Milk Latte
1 Cup Unsweetened Vanilla Oat Milk
1/2 Tsp Turmeric
1/2 Tsp Ground Ginger
Pinch of Cinnamon
Pinch of Black Pepper
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Tbsp Honey
Mix and heat all ingredients together on a stove top, stirring frequently until the mixture is just about to boil. Set aside to cool and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Once ready to use pour about 1/8 cup over an 8 oz cup of freshly brewed cold brew and ice.
Cardamom Vanilla Latte
1 Cup Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
1/2 Tsp Cardamom Pods
1 Tsp Vanilla
1 Tbsp Honey
Pinch of Cinnamon
Mix and heat all ingredients together on a stove top, stirring frequently until the mixture is just about to boil. Pass through a strainer to remove the cardamom pods. Set aside to cool and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Once ready to use pour about 1/8 cup over an 8 oz cup of freshly brewed cold brew and ice.
Cocoa Hazelnut Latte
1 Cup Unsweetened Vanilla Coconut Milk
1 Tbsp Cocoa Powder
1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1/4 Tsp Hazelnut Extract
1 Tbsp Honey
Mix and heat all ingredients together on a stove top, stirring frequently until the mixture is just about to boil. Set aside to cool and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Once ready to use pour about 1/8 cup over an 8 oz cup of freshly brewed cold brew and ice.
Enjoy xo