If you’re a person who can’t be seen until they’ve had their morning coffee, you know just how important having a daily cup of joe is. However, having the same exact drip coffee day in and out can get boring as time goes on. Additionally, it can feel wasteful when you have to make a whole pot of coffee and just want a cup or two to jumpstart your day. So if you’re looking for new ways to upgrade your usual coffee routine, it’s a great idea to try concentrated coffee.
Concentrated coffee is a form of coffee that’s made by steeping coffee grounds in cold water for a prolonged period of time in order to create a coffee concentrate. With coffee concentrate, you can make a variety of different coffee beverages by just adding water or milk and your desired sweetener. If you’re looking to learn more about the different ways that coffee concentrate can help to shake up your morning routine for the better, we’re here to help with a guide on everything you need to know about this fun form of java that’s taking the coffee industry by storm.
What is Coffee Concentrate?
As mentioned above, coffee concentrate is a form of coffee that’s made by steeping ground coffee beans in cold water. The coffee grounds must steep for over 24 hours in order to achieve max caffeine strength and perfect taste. Once the steeping is done, the coffee concentrate is ready to use. It’s important to note that you won’t want to use coffee concentrate on its own: given that coffee concentrate is made with a 1:1 coffee-to-water ratio, it’s incredibly strong and can be overwhelming.
As such, it’s essential to mix your coffee concentrate with six to eight ounces of water or milk, depending on the coffee beverage that you’re planning on making. For most coffee drinks, you’ll only need to use one to two tablespoons of coffee concentrate.
Coffee concentrate also comes in a variety of different flavors. Some of the most popular flavors of coffee concentrate include vanilla, mocha, and caramel. These flavored coffee concentrates are great for when you want to make a delicious iced latte or ice-blended coffee drink. Some coffee concentrates even come in a decaf form, so you can enjoy a decaffeinated coffee drink with the same great flavor of coffee concentrate. For every coffee mood that you’re in, there’s a coffee concentrate that’s perfect for it.
How is Coffee Concentrate Different from Iced Coffee and Cold Brew?
While you might initially consider coffee concentrate to be the same as iced coffee or cold brew, there are actually a number of slight differences that separate these three forms of coffee.
Iced Coffee
Iced coffee is made by pouring coffee that’s been brewed with hot water over ice. While iced coffee is perfectly fine to consume, it tends to be more watered down and has a slightly more acidic taste than coffee concentrate or cold brew. Additionally, you’ll also have to brew a pot of coffee in order to make it, which might not be ideal when you’re only looking to have one cup of coffee.
Cold Brew
Cold brew and coffee concentrate are similar in that they both require steeping coffee grounds in cold water. However, cold brew uses a 1:4 coffee-to-water ratio, meaning it’s more diluted than coffee concentrate. Additionally, cold brew coffee typically steeps for a slightly shorter amount of time than coffee concentrate. You can actually make your own cold brew using coffee concentrate: simply mix one to two tablespoons of coffee concentrate with eight ounces of water to create a perfect cup of cold brew to enjoy.
If you don’t want to have to buy a large jug of cold brew to put in your freezer for the week, making your own cold brew with coffee concentrate is a fantastic alternative. You can also mix your favorite milk and sweeteners with your cold brew if you’re looking for a bit of a sugar rush.
Can You Use Coffee Concentrate to Make Hot Coffee Drinks?
We’ve mainly discussed using coffee concentrate to make cold coffee drinks, but you can make fantastic hot coffee drinks with it as well. In order to make a hot drink with coffee concentrate, simply add one to two teaspoons of coffee concentrate to a cup of hot water or steamed milk, and enjoy. Whatever the weather or mood, there’s a coffee concentrate drink for you.
In Conclusion
The coffee concentrate is a fantastic way to make your favorite coffee drinks at home. It’s a great alternative to iced coffee, cold brew, and hot brewed coffee that allows you to craft any kind of beverage that you’re feeling at the moment; what that kind of coffee drinks are you excited to make with coffee concentrate?
