Brewing · Cold brew
Coarse coffee, cold water, a filter and time. Here is how to make it, with the ratios and steep times from the people who make a lot of it, and what it takes to put nitro on it.
Updated October 21, 2026 · Photo: Cumulus Coffee · Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you buy through them we may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you.
The basics
Cold brew is coffee made without heat: coarse grounds steep in room-temperature or cold water for 12 to 24 hours, then get filtered out. The result is usually a concentrate you dilute with water or milk.[5]
Iced coffee is normally brewed hot, then chilled or poured over ice, and it is often brewed stronger to make up for the melting ice.[6] Cold brew skips the heat entirely, so it tastes different. It is often called low-acid, but that is only partly true: one study found hot and cold brew had similar pH (4.85 to 5.13), while the hot brew had more total titratable acids.[4]
Step by step
You do not need special gear. A big jar or a French press works.[1] If you would like a dedicated pitcher with a built-in filter, the Takeya Deluxe Cold Brew Maker (Amazon, opens in a new tab) is a popular one. A scale helps, and fresh, coarse grounds help most.
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01
Start with about 12 oz (340 g) of coffee to 64 oz (about 1.9 L) of filtered water for a concentrate. Stumptown uses that ratio; Toddy’s recipe uses the same 12 oz of coffee with 7 cups (56 fl oz, 1.65 L) of water for a slightly stronger concentrate.[1],[2]
02
Use a coarse grind, about what you would use for a French press. Coarse grounds are easier to filter and less likely to over-extract; fine grounds can clog a cloth or felt filter.[1],[3]
03
Add the grounds to a jar, pitcher or French press, pour the water over, and make sure every bit is wet. Cover and steep 12 to 24 hours. Stumptown aims for about 16 hours (14 to 18 is fine) and warns that going past 20 to 24 hours can taste bitter and woody. You can steep at room temperature or in the fridge.[1],[2],[5]
04
Strain out the grounds. A French press plunger, a fine sieve, felt or a paper coffee filter all work; for the cleanest cup, pour through a paper filter at the end to catch the fine particles.[1],[5]
05
What you have is a concentrate. Mix it with water or milk to taste: Stumptown suggests 1:1, Toddy suggests starting at 1 part concentrate to 3 parts liquid. Serve over ice, or stir it into hot water for a hot cup.[1],[2]
| Ratio (concentrate) | 12 oz coffee : 64 oz water (Stumptown) or 12 oz : 56 fl oz (Toddy) |
|---|---|
| Grind | Coarse, like French press |
| Steep | 12–24 hours; Stumptown aims for ~16 (14–18) |
| Filter | Sieve, felt or paper; finish with paper for a clean cup |
| Dilute | 1:1 (Stumptown) to 1:3 (Toddy), concentrate to water or milk |
Any coffee you like will work. If you want one roasted with cold brew in mind, and a grinder that handles coarse settings, these are two we link to. Grinding coarse matters more than the brand.
Cold brew beans
A Brazil and Ethiopia blend roasted for cold brew, with tasting notes of dark chocolate, berry and brown sugar.
Shop at Coffee Bros ↗ (opens the brand’s site in a new tab)
Grinder
A 64mm flat-burr grinder with 31 settings, built for pour-over, French press and cold brew. For filter-coffee drinkers ready to grind fresh.
Shop at Coffee Bros ↗ (opens the brand’s site in a new tab)Affiliate links: we may earn a commission. Disclosure
Serving
The recipes above make a concentrate: strong enough that you dilute it before drinking. Stumptown’s ratio is meant to be cut 1:1 with water or milk. Toddy suggests starting at 1 part concentrate to 3 parts liquid and adjusting to taste.[1],[2] To make it ready to drink, you can dilute the whole batch before you store it, or add more water at the start. Either way, Stumptown’s advice is to dilute less, not steep longer, if you want it stronger.[1] Concentrate also makes a quick hot cup when stirred into hot water.[2]
Keeping it
Strain out the grounds, then keep it covered in the fridge. Stumptown says homemade cold brew lasts 7 to 10 days before the flavor fades. Toddy says its concentrate stays fresh for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator.[1],[2] If you are not sure, go by the shorter window and taste it.
Nitro
Nitro cold brew is cold brew infused with nitrogen gas, traditionally poured from a keg through a beer-style tap. The nitrogen gives it a creamy texture and a foamy head, like a stout. It is usually served chilled without ice, which would knock down the foam. Cafes started serving it in the early 2010s.[5]
At home
These look like whipped-cream dispensers but are made for nitrogen. With the iSi Nitro Whip (Amazon, opens in a new tab), for example (N2 chargers are sold separately), you fill it with a cold drink up to the max line, add an original iSi Nitro charger, shake hard, and dispense upside down. A full liter takes two chargers.[7]
This is the closest to the cafe setup: cold brew in a small pressurized keg, served through a tap with nitrogen.[5] Home versions vary a lot in which gas cartridges or tanks they take, so follow the maker’s manual for gas type and pressure.
Cumulus makes a countertop machine that, according to Cumulus, makes cold brew, nitro cold brew and cold espresso in under 60 seconds, (“No ice. No waiting. No cartridges.” in Cumulus’s words).[14]
Cold brew
A countertop machine built just for cold coffee: cold brew, nitro cold brew and cold espresso in under a minute, no ice. For iced-coffee lovers who hate waiting overnight.
Shop at Cumulus ↗ (opens the brand’s site in a new tab)
Glassware
A glass tumbler with a soft silicone sleeve that fits under the Cumulus machine. For taking cold coffee on the go.
Shop at Cumulus ↗ (opens the brand’s site in a new tab)Affiliate links: we may earn a commission. Disclosure
Going all in
A real nitro tap at home uses the same hardware bars use for nitro stout. The numbers below come from draft-beer references, because no one publishes separate standards for coffee taps. Treat them as starting points and follow your kit’s manual.
Starter
A nitro whipper (see above) or a mini keg system with its own small gas cartridges and built-in tap, like the Royal Brew 64 oz nitro home keg (Amazon, opens in a new tab). Little to install and fits in a regular fridge, but you get fewer pours per charge and the hardware varies by brand. Use only the gas the maker specifies.
Full setup
A corny keg in a kegerator, an N2 or beer-gas cylinder, a nitrogen regulator, lines and disconnects, and a stout faucet. More cost and space, but the closest you can get to a cafe pour.
Keg
Holds the cold brew under pressure. Options range from a mini keg to a ball-lock “Cornelius” (corny) keg. We like this TMCRAFT 5-gallon ball-lock keg (Amazon, opens in a new tab).
Kegerator or fridge
Keeps the keg cold. Cold brew should stay refrigerated anyway. Short on space? A self-contained mini nitro keg (see Starter above) skips the kegerator.
Gas cylinder: N2 or beer gas
Pure nitrogen, or “beer gas,” a premix of 75% N2 and 25% CO2 made for nitro pours. Beer gas still contains some CO2.[11],[12] For example, a 20 cu ft steel CGA-580 cylinder (Amazon, opens in a new tab), filled by a local gas supplier.
Nitrogen regulator
Steps tank pressure down to serving pressure. It must be a nitrogen or mixed-gas regulator: nitrogen regulators are built for higher pressures and use a different cylinder fitting (CGA-580 for nitrogen vs. CGA-320 for CO2), so a CO2 regulator will not fit a standard nitrogen tank and is not built for nitrogen’s higher pressures.[11],[13],[12] The Taprite dual-gauge CGA-580 regulator (Amazon, opens in a new tab) is one option.
Gas line and disconnects
Gas line runs from the regulator to the keg’s gas-in post; a liquid line runs from the keg’s out post to the faucet. Corny kegs use ball-lock or pin-lock disconnects. Gas line must be rated for the pressure it carries.[11] A ready-made FERRODAY ball-lock gas line (Amazon, opens in a new tab) covers the gas side.
Stout (nitro) faucet with restrictor plate
A tall, narrow faucet with a small disc of tiny holes (usually five). Forcing the coffee through it makes the gas break out, which gives the cascade and creamy head.[11],[12] We like the MRbrew stainless stout faucet (Amazon, opens in a new tab).
Nitro pours need much higher pressure than regular draft because of the restrictor plate. Brew Your Own reports that Guinness recommends, and most bars use, about 30 psi of beer gas. The Brewers Association notes that pressure in the mid-30s psi is typical for nitro beers. Start near there and adjust for a smooth pour.[12],[11]
The Brewers Association’s standard is to clean draft lines at least every two weeks (14 days), and to take faucets fully apart to clean them, including nitro faucets. Stout faucets also hold a little liquid behind the restrictor plate after each pour, so unscrew and rinse the nozzle periodically.[11],[13]
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If you would rather skip the hardware, the Cumulus machine above makes nitro cold brew without a tank.[14]
FAQ
No. Iced coffee is usually brewed hot and then chilled or poured over ice. Cold brew is steeped in room-temperature or cold water for 12 to 24 hours and never heated.
A common starting point is 12 oz (340 g) of coarse coffee to 64 oz of water (Stumptown), then dilute the concentrate about 1:1. Toddy uses 12 oz of coffee to 56 fl oz of water and suggests diluting 1 part concentrate to 3 parts water or milk.
Most recipes say 12 to 24 hours. Stumptown recommends about 16 hours and warns that steeping past 20 to 24 hours can bring out bitter, woody flavors. For a stronger drink, dilute less instead of steeping longer.
Keep it covered in the fridge. Stumptown says homemade cold brew lasts 7 to 10 days; Toddy says its concentrate stays fresh for up to 2 weeks.
Partly. A 2018 study in Scientific Reports found hot and cold brew had similar pH (4.85 to 5.13), but hot brew had more total titratable acids.
Standard whipped-cream chargers hold nitrous oxide (N2O), not nitrogen (N2), so the result is not true nitro coffee. Nitro cold brew uses nitrogen. Use only the charger type your dispenser’s maker specifies.
Carbon dioxide dissolves in liquid and forms carbonic acid. That is what makes soda fizzy and sharp. Nitro coffee is charged with nitrogen instead, for a creamy head without the fizz.
Sources
Checked October 21, 2026. Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you buy through them we may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. Affiliate disclosure.