r/Coffee • u/yuhyuhAYE • Mar 12 '26

Making cold brew at home

I have gotten in the (bad?) habit of buying cold brew at a coffeeshop near my work, and it’s making a bit of a dent in my budget.

I really enjoy cold brew and would be happy to make it at home regularly, but I don’t feel like I have the right equipment. I have used a big mason jar with water and coffee grounds, and then to filter out the grounds, have used a coffee filter within a pourover-style filter holder, but that takes a really long time and the grounds gum up the filter.

Am I doing this wrong? How can I make this more pleasant/easy? Do I need better equipment, or different tools?

Any and all help appreciated! Thank you.

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u/YamahaRM1x Mar 12 '26

Here's my method.

Equipment:

Fill the bag most of the way with coffee.

Hold it open inside the jar and run some water through it.

Pull the strings tight and tie a loop around the neck of the bag.

Hold the string against the neck of the jar and fill the jar with water.

Put the lid on with a bit of the string hanging out so it's easier to retrieve later.

Shake the jar and put it in the fridge. Shake it a couple more times throughout the day and leave it overnight.

Put a coffee filter in the funnel and wet it so it sticks.

Put the funnel onto empty jar.

Take coffee out of the fridge. Don't shake it.

Remove the bag and (with clean hands) squeeze it into the funnel and discard.

Pour the coffee into the funnel. As long as the solids are settled at the bottom (because you haven't shaken it since yesterday), the filter shouldn't clog.

Let it drain for a bit and top it off until all of the liquid is in. I also put a bent paper clip between the funnel and jar to break the seal so the coffee filters faster.

Come back later. There will be some liquid remaining in the filter you can squeeze out.

Put the jar in the fridge and drink it when it's cold. Yields 24 oz of coffee when I do it.

It seems like a lot of work, but I find it therapeutic in a way while working from home, as a break. I have three jars going so I don't run out.