Are you worried about coffee bean usage for cold brew? Especially when you have regular coffee beans or whole coffee beans, you may be confused about using them for cold brew. Many people face this situation. And often, we face the question, can you use regular coffee beans for cold brew?
Yes, you can use regular coffee beans available in the market. But, for better taste, we recommend medium-roasted or dark-roasted beans with coarse ground size. These beans can give you the exact taste without bitterness.
Although there is no absolute rule for special coffee beans, medium or dark roast beans are the most popular and work best with cold brew. Let’s learn more about regular coffee beans in a few minutes.
The ideal beans for a cold brew and some other relevant facts
Before knowing the regular coffee bean usage and its result, you must know the standard bean usage. Only after then you can realize the difference between regular and special bean usage.
Cold brew coffee
Since the grounds are thick, cold brew takes an extended duration. After the completion of a huge extraction time, all aromas, oils, and flavors come out. Thus cold brew taste creates.
One more thing to mention here, in cold brew extraction, the bean grinds leave an extended amount of caffeine.
This extra caffeine is superbly refreshing and enough for a tired person.
Dark roast or semi-dark roast beans
Without any doubt or question, dark roast or semi-dark roast beans are at the top of the list of suitable beans for cold brew. These beans can give cold brew lovers good results.
After collecting the beans from trees, they need to be dry in the sun. The beans are dried at various levels and their color turns blackish based on the dry levels. Which beans change a little and get light blackish color; people call them light roasted beans.
Following the above process, beans that get a medium blackish color are called medium roasted beans. And those beans get almost a dark color, known as dark roasted beans.
The coarseness of beans
When you have selected the superb beans for cold brew, your next job is to grind these with a coarser or extra coarse size (1.5 mm in actual size measurement).
When you can ensure these things, your cold coffee is in your hand. You need some time and effort to make it easily.
Can you use regular coffee beans for cold brew: final decision making
You can undoubtedly make cold brew with regular coffee beans. Here, you will lose some level of taste in this term. Because regular coffee beans come in the market in different forms. Which one of the beans are you using in cold brew making will keep an impact on the result.
There is no absolute rule by which one can say you can not make a cold brew with regular beans. It’s just okay with some additional work or sacrifice for taste. We suggest you focus on the standard or most accepted methods.
If you use regular coffee beans, what may happen?
You will get a light taste if you make a cold brew with lightly roasted beans. Besides, the darker roasted beans will surely bring a stronger flavor. So, regular coffee beans can bring some different aromas and tastes. Since they are available in a few conditions.
Some beans are greenish, some are light dark, and some are dark. Based on roasting, some beans are lightly roasted, some are moderately roasted, and some are dark roasted.
Necessary steps to follow for regular coffee beans for making cold brew
When there is no way to get dark and more roasted beans in your hand, use regular beans with our recommendations.
- Grind the beans on your own
- Get all bean particles into coarse or extra-coarse sizes
- Extend the extraction duration to get better results
- Trying several beans several times to get the best result
If you want to make a cold brew with whatever beans you have, don’t forget to implement the above things.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Can I use regular coffee grinds for cold brew?
Technically, there is no barrier to use regular coffee grinds (fine grounds) for cold brew. But after making the cold brew, you will find some thick slush on the bottom surface of the jar. From our experience, we suggest you use coarse grinds.
While coarse grounds give you the perfect taste, fine grounds make cold brew more bitter than the typical taste.
What is the difference between cold brew beans and regular beans?
Dark-roasted or medium-roasted beans are suitable for a cold brew. With these two, all other beans are known as regular beans. These regular beans are ideal for all sorts of coffee.
What beans are best for cold brew?
Dark and medium roasted beans are ideal for cold brew. Between these two, dark roasted can give a stronger cold brew and medium roasted can provide a less strong cold brew. Since both are highly qualified for cold brew, you may try both at different times or one.
Do you use whole beans or ground for cold brew?
No doubt, you can use whole beans for cold brews, literally. But, here, you need an extended duration than regular. Since the beans are not smaller and room temperature will steep into them, the extraction duration will be longer.
If you want to use coffee bean grounds, use the bean particles with the proper size. Coarse or extra coarse grounds are fit for this purpose.
What happens if I make cold brew with fine ground coffee?
If you make a cold brew with fine grounds, you will get a worse taste with bitterness. We suggest you avoid using fine grounds for cold all time. Otherwise, all your effort will go in vain.
Conclusion
We have provided a very straightforward answer to the question: can you use regular coffee beans for cold brew? Any cold brew lover with the question has got the most solid solution. We’ve provided authentic and experience-based information; you can easily rely on it.
Our strong recommendation is to use dark roasted beans for cold brew. If you haven’t, you may try any other beans. For other beans usage, we suggest you allow more time than regular for steeping.
Thus, you compromise less with the taste while making a cold brew with regular beans.