Toasted Coconut Cold Brew Coffee

Have you ever used a coffee Toddy to make cold brew coffee? If not, welcome to the ’90s, Mr. Banks! Cold brew coffee is perfect for the warmer months because it's always ready and always cold. It's not as acidic as making a brewed coffee and pouring it over ice... and it tastes about a hundred times better, too.

Toddy coffee systems aren't found in most stores, so you might have to find one online. They are usually about $35 (find them here). Two great things about the Toddy are that it doesn't use any electricity and that all of the parts (filter and plug) are reusable, so it's easy on the earth and easy on your wallet. :) Basically, you are soaking your coffee grounds in cold water and filtering it out, so all you will need is water and coffee, and in this batch, we're infusing it with toasted coconut. One batch of Toddy cold brew concentrate kept cool in the refrigerator will last you about a week, depending on how much you drink per day and how much you made in your original batch.

Cold Brew Coffee Concentrate, makes one batch.

16 oz* of coffee ground on coarse. This is very important! Ask your barista to grind it on coarse for you—don't use a grinder at home, because it won't grind the coffee evenly. Smaller grinds will clog your filter.
9 cups of water (cold or room temperature)
1 cup of sweetened shredded coconut

*Most of our favorite coffee beans only come in 12 oz bags, such as the one we are using today. If you buy a 12 oz bag of coffee, make sure and only use 6 3/4 cups of water instead of 9 cups.

Before you get started, toast your coconut and allow it to cool completely so you can crunch it up into smaller pieces. To toast it, put your coconut in a pan (you won't need oil), and stir it over medium heat until the coconut is browned. Perfect! And it smells heavenly.

If you've never used a Toddy before, rinse your filter out a little bit. Place your filter in the bottom of your Toddy, and insert the plug from the bottom of the Toddy (not inside). You'll need to be able to pull the plug when your Toddy is full of coffee. ;) Next, pour your coarse grounds into the Toddy, and add the toasted coconut shreds, giving it a good stir.

Add your water slowly. I usually add two cups at a time and then pause a minute. Make sure all of your grounds are wet and that you don't have any dry grounds on top.

The next step is super easy—just cover it with plastic wrap and let it sit at room temperature. The actual time you need to let it sit is variable—I've heard some coffee shops allow theirs to sit for 10 hours, and some up to 24 hours. We allowed our batch to sit for 15 hours, and it turned out great.

Once you come back to your batch, hold your Toddy over your glass jar and pull the plug! Place the Toddy over your glass container and let it drain. It'll take between 10-30 minutes. If it looks like it's having trouble draining, you might need to grab a spoon and stir the grounds around the filter area.

And you're done! You now have a full batch of cold brew concentrate. Treat this concentrate like espresso—you can drink it as is, but take it easy, or you'll get the jitters. Here are a few other ways you can use your cold brew concentrate!

To make your iced coffee, just pour 1 part cold brew concentrate to 2 parts filtered water in a glass, and add ice. Easy and so good.

Are you a latte gal like me? Great, because cold brew lattes are super delicious. Pour 1 part concentrate to 2 parts milk or almond milk, and add ice! The toasted coconut makes the concentrate mildly sweet, so it's kind of perfect just on its own, but you can always add a simple syrup or agave nectar if you'd like to sweeten it up.

And your cold brew coffee doesn't have to be iced. If you're more of a hot beverage person, but you like the taste of cold brew, you can mix 1 part cold brew concentrate to 2 parts boiling water, and you'll have a nice little Americano situation.

Have you tried any other infusions with your cold brew coffee? You could try lavender, cinnamon sticks, or vanilla bean too! I love experimenting with our Toddy at home, and I'd love new ideas, so let me know what you try. xo. Sarah

Credits / / Author: Sarah Rhodes. Photography: Elsie Larson and Sarah Rhodes. Photos edited with Sunday from the Folk Collection.