Cold brewed coffee tastes smooth and delicious, and brewing your own is super easy.

With summer creeping in a little hotter with each passing day, iced coffee sounds a lot better than hot coffee when it comes to getting your caffeine fix. If you are going to drink it cold, why not brew it cold?

All you need is a mason jar, a refrigerator and about 8 to 12 hours to produce the simplest, best-tasting coffee you’ve ever had. You will also build “valuable” hipster cred, which your fedora is frankly NOT helping with.

How To Cold Brew Coffee In A Mason Jar

Use a wide-mouth quart-size mason jar, and keep the lid handy.

One other item that will make this process much simpler is a reusable mason jar coffee filter which are inexpensive and easy to find. I highly recommend getting and using one. But you can still cold-brew without it, so I’ll include instructions for both cold brew methods below.

How To Cold Brew Coffee WITH a Filter (with pictures)

1. Grind Your Beans

I use about half a cup of whole beans for a quart mason jar, same as I use in my French press. Normally I just wing it, but I used a measuring cup for this post.

2. Put The Filter In The Mason Jar

You need a wide-mouth mason jar to match your reusable filter, and just to make things easier.

3. Pour The Beans Into The Filter

I use a mason jar funnel to make this step virtually spill-proof. Even a wide mouth jar seems kind of narrow when the grounds pour out.

4. Fill The Mason Jar With Water

Not too fast, you don’t want to spill it.

5. Close The Jar And Leave It In The Refrigerator Overnight (About 8-12 Hours)

Yes, you need to plan ahead. It’s not that hard.

6. Remove The Filter (With Grounds Inside) From The Jar

Coffee grounds make great compost material. You can even use them directly on the soil without composting. I usually toss them outside under a shrub. Putting them in the garbage seems wasteful.

7. Fill The Mason Jar The Rest Of The Way With Cold Water

I guess you could skip this step and just have stronger coffee, but I always make it an even quart and it turns out great.

How To Cold Brew Coffee WITHOUT a Filter

1. Grind Your Beans

I use about half a cup of whole beans. Normally I just wing it, but I measured for this post.

2. Pour The Ground Beans Directly Into The Mason Jar

I use a mason jar funnel to make this step virtually spill-proof.

3. Fill The Jar With Water

Not too fast, you don’t want to spill it.

4. Leave The Jar In The Refrigerator Overnight (About 8-12 Hours)

Yes, you need to plan ahead a little.

5. Put A Paper Towel In A Sieve

This will be your filter.

6. Remove The Grounds

Pour the contents of the jar through the paper towel filter into another jar. The grounds will be in the paper towel. Put the paper towel full of grounds in the compost or the trash.

7. Fill The Mason Jar The Rest Of The Way With Cold Water

You could skip this, but it tastes better if you top it off.

Enjoy The Perfect Cup Of Coffee For Summer

Cold brew coffee is much less bitter than regular hot coffee turned cold. Cold brew is smooth and delicious. I normally use heavy cream and sugar in my hot coffee. But with cold brew, that's totally unnecessary. It tastes just great with no modification at all.

For some reason, I like to add milk any time I add ice. This produces a perfect iced latte, smooth and delicious.

Cold brew coffee is simple and inexpensive to make at home. It tastes great and is easier on your stomach, too.

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