Bottling cold brew coffee can be interesting, time-saving and beneficial in many ways. However, many of you can make cold brew but need to know how to bottle your own cold brew coffee effectively. Even some of you want to know how to bottle cold brew coffee for sale. This article is beneficial for all coffee lovers, especially for those who want to bottle cold brew.
Before bottling cold brew, you have to make it correctly first. After completing this step, collect the bottling elements. Sanitize all the elements except cold brew. Then pour them into the bottles. Keep them in the refrigerator or an open space. Here, if you can afford pasteurization, you can go for it.
Here we are revealing some secrets of making and bottling cold brew coffee. To know and apply the secrets in the cold brew bottling process, continue your reading to the end.
How to make cold-brew coffee at home?
Before storing cold brew in the bottles, you have to learn the best process of making cold brew. The best cold brew lasts longer than others. Here is our full arrangement for making the best cold brew step by step.
Gathering the elements
It is pretty boring to take elements one by one. To avoid this disturbance, you have to get all elements at once in one place. Now you can use them when needed. Be careful that your elements should not be so close that a clash may happen. Especially the glass jars or pitchers should have a safe distance from others.
Sorting the best coffee bean
When it comes to the question of bean choice, you have plenty of options. But not all the options are good for you. Because only the best coffee beans produce the best cold-brew coffee.
Getting coffee ground from beans
Choose a good grinder and set it for the best bean outputs for cold brew coffee. Here you need both the grinder and beans for the best coffee grounds.
Selecting the proper cold brew ratio
Ratio is one of the essential facts that defines your cold brew coffee’s taste. Plenty of ratios are available by which you can enjoy cold brew. You have to find the best ratio by testing some of them.
Pouring coffee grounds into a pitcher
Now it’s time to get all the elements mixed after putting them into a pitcher. To do so, we need to get coffee grounds in the pitcher.
Adding water to the pitcher
Now time to add room-temperature water to the pitcher. Measuring the water according to the ratio before pouring is better because you may pour more or less.
Stiring with a stick
Stir the water and ground combination with a spoon or stick for a few minutes to mix the ingredients. Be careful using a glass pitcher or jar and a steel spoon. Unconscious stirring may break your jar or pitcher.
Covering the pitcher
When your cold brew mixture is ready in the pitcher, you should cover it with a lid. It will protect your cold brew from being infected with germs and dust. Thus the health value of cold brew will be ensured.
Keeping the pitcher idle to complete the extraction
Now you should keep the cold brew pot for at least 12 hours and a maximum of 24 hours. Among this time, cold brew becomes mature enough to drink. Water needs this duration to extract flavor, oil, color, etc., from the beans.
You must be careful that this extraction period must be moderate to prevent the over extraction. It can lead you to a bitter taste.
Adding water to the cold brew concentrate
After the extraction period, you can drink your cold brew. This state of cold brew is called concentrate. While drinking this concentrate, you will find it robust. Some may not like this robust taste.
To reduce this robustness, add water to the cold brew concentrate. There is also a ratio for weakening cold brew by adding water – 2:1. You may take here any other ratio.
How to bottle your own cold brew coffee easily?
Bottling cold brew coffee will be so easy with our simple and easy steps. Let’s check these step by step.
Collecting bottles and other elements
Bottling cold brew generally takes a few elements. Gathering elements one after another may bother you. Also, you may make a mistake in mounting coffee grounds or water. If you select the wrong ratio because of this separation of gathering, it may affect your valuable coffee.
Choosing the best bottles
There are a few types of bottles for storing cold brew – simple plastic bottles, good quality plastic bottles and glass bottles.
Simple plastic bottles:
Who wants to reserve cold brew for a shorter duration, like one week or somewhat more or less, ordinary plastic bottles will be enough for cold brew storage. These types of bottles may affect your cold brew by chemical reaction. This reaction influences taste and longevity.
Good quality plastic bottles:
There are some plastic bottles that are made with better quality for preserving food. These types of plastic bottles will ensure more safety and extend the storage duration. These bottles are less reactive and ensure more longevity and keep the taste more original.
Glass bottles
Those consumers of cold brew coffee who want to store cold brew for the longest duration, need glass bottles. This sort of preservation does not react with elements and pots; as a result, cold brew remains so good and tasteful for the longest duration.
What types of bottles to choose?
Now, you might have fallen into a dilemma about which types of cold brew you should use. There is a simple and easy answer – for a few days, you may choose general plastic bottles, upgraded plastic bottles for 2 or 3 months and glass bottles for longer durations.
If you need a small amount of cold brew and have a weekend to make cold brew, typical plastic bottles are fine. This option is also ideal for a smaller family. The second type is fine for medium families with little time to make cold brew often.
The third type – the glass bottles are for those who want to reduce cold brew making very often but enjoy it regularly. Also, big families will find their comfort in it surely.
Disinfect bottle and cork
Now it’s time to disinfect the bottles and cork. You can use any type of disinfecting liquid or sanitizer what does not hinder food safety. Using boiled water may do your job perfectly.
Using a funnel to pour a cold brew into the pitcher
After disinfecting funnels, lids or corks and cold brew containers, take a funnel to pour cold brew. Now, place the funnel on the bottle and pour cold brew into it.
Lock the bottle
When pouring is finished, lock the bottles with the cork or lid. Set the corks so tight that air can’t access the bottles. Remember, this step is important. Air entrance can notably reduce the cold brew lifetime by allowing more bacterial growth.
Keeping bottles fridge or not
Keepingy cold brew containers in the fridge is always better. But you can keep your cold brew out of fridge too. Refrigeration will lengthen the storage duration where as normal preservation provides a shorter duration.
Serving cold brew in the best way
After completing all the above steps, you will get cold brew at your hand and drinkable at any time. Bring out your cold brew and shake for several times. Now pour it into the glass or mug. Without shaking cold brew, you might miss the cold brew’s best taste.
Duration of cold brew storage
Generally, you can store cold brew for almost one week. Refrigerated cold brew can last for nearly two weeks. Whereas regular plastic bottled cold brew will last for 1 – 1.5 months, better plastic bottled cold brew will last for 2-3 months and glass bottled cold brew will last for several 5 – 6 months.
All the durations are not 100% proven. Some facts affect cold brew coffee’s duration. The facts are –
- Coffee beans quality
- Roasting level of beans
- Ratio of cold brew
- Water mixing ratio to cold brew concentrate
- Hygiene of bottles and corks
All the above affairs plays very much important role in cold brew’s duration.
How to increase the cold brew shelf line?
You will be amazed to know that there are ways to increase your cold brew shelf line significantly. Basically, in three (3) ways, you can increase the shelf line and they are –
- Using the freshest beans
- Keeping cold brew undiluted
- Ensuring the complete airtightness of the pot
Cold brew is made with fresh beans, brings the best test and last for the most prolonged duration. The fresher the beans, the better the taste. Also, the fresher conditions of coffee grounds increase the durability of cold brew.
After passing the extraction duration we call cold brew, concentrate. This concentrate state is the best for storing cold brew. If we dilute it with water, it decreases the storage duration. If you feel your cold brew concentrate is so much strong, you may add little amount of water. The more water you will add, the more it will reduce cold brew’s shelf line.
Your bottles or jars should be fully air preventive. If your bottles allow air inside, this will make cold brew less durable. Air favors the bacteria to grow faster.
Does bottled cold brew retain a better health value?
Many cold brew lovers want to preserve cold brew for the future due to their daily business. They keep it in bottles and drink it as they wish. But, they consider whether it remains as healthy as before or how much health value can bottled cold brew retain.
Yes, bottled cold brew resembles the original cold brew’s primary phase. When it passes more times, it starts deteriorating. Suppose you have stored cold brew in glass bottles with an airtight lid. This cold brew will last for 4/5 months in the refrigerator. The health value of cold brew in the first month mustn’t be as same as the 3rd or 4rth month.
How long the health values will remain good also depends on the quality of beans, freshness of coffee grounds, coffee-to-water ratio, dilution ratio, etc. So, now you know what to do to maintain the health facts of bottled cold brew coffee.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
Why does my homemade cold-brew coffee taste bad?
Sometimes your homemade cold brew coffee might taste somewhat strange or unusual or even bad. Many facts lead a cold brew to become so. Inexperience can be the most probable cause here.
Besides regular coffee beans, a long time passed coffee grounds, the imperfect ratio of cold brew and water amount in the dilution stage can make your cold brew terrible.
How long can homemade cold brew sit in the fridge?
Cold brew’s sitting time in a fridge is not fixed at all. It can vary a lot upon a few conditions. How are you placing cold brew in the fridge matters a lot. If your cold brew container has no lid, your cold brew can sit for a shorter time, like up to one week. Containers that have a lid can sit for several weeks and jar or bottles that have airtight containers can sit for several months.
Why is my homemade cold brew watery?
When your homemade cold brew goes watery, there may have several reasons behind it. Probable causes behind the watery cold brew are – wrong ratio selection, the addition of excessive water at the dilution stage, lack of healthy water and keeping cold brew longer at normal temperature.
Is it okay to keep bottled cold brew out of the fridge?
Cold brew at room temperature (out of the fridge) allowing bacterial development in the liquid. On the other hand, the low temperature of the fridge helps cold brew to get lower bacterial development. If you keep your bottled cold brew in the fridge, it will be fine for more time and cold brew out of the fridge will be less durable.
Final thought
We have provided the ultimate guide to preserving cold brew for all types of its makers and consumers. We are happy to teach you how to bottle your own cold brew coffee. Through this article, we have covered some closely relative matters so that the storage duration might not reduce even unintentionally. We were also conscious of the health benefits of cold brew to keep it maximum in all stages.
If you follow our steps carefully and apply them, you will get the maximum benefit from cold brew preservation. Those who are careful of cold brew health benefits will be able to ensure the maximum of them.