tldr: Cold brews are commonly enjoyed black and as much as I can sip it without milk or sweetness, my preference is both with milk and sweet. Does that make me a heathen? I looked into online forums for validation and ideas on how people like to enjoy their cold brew and the results were interesting. I decided to lay out some of those ideas and concluded my age old saying “Drink your coffee, your way.”
I often feel insecure in the coffee space. Chiefly due to the fact that I don’t opt to drink coffee in a ‘pure’ way (i.e. black and without sweeteners). It’s common knowledge in the world of coffee that the addition of ingredients to your coffee alters the flavour of the brewed bean, potentially masking the beans innate flavour.
That’s not to say I cannot drink coffee black without any sweetness. I sometimes make myself a V60 pour over coffee and sip it on a slow weekend morning or most recently, I have dabbled in making my own cold brew. As much as those brew methods are enjoyable and are part of my tasting experience (especially if I have a new bag of coffee), when it comes to my day-to-day ritual of coffee making, I love a latte. I foam up some oat, almond or soya milk and sweeten it with my homemade vanilla syrup or vanilla sugar. I enjoy the moments that I spend preparing my drink and the moments that I sip it after.
But, I still feel insecure about the fact that I don’t always drink my coffee black. I recently felt this insecurity creep up when I made my first cold brew batch (Jaen Peru) and tasted it black but didn’t really enjoy it. Like most 21st century folks, I went to the internet because I needed validation of my preference to throw milk and sweeteners into my coffee. I needed to know that having your cold brew black with wasn’t the only option.
So I went to the place that captures human experience and thoughts across the world most aptly – Reddit. I found threads about cold brew and honed in on those that asked the same question on my mind;
How do you drink your cold brew?
And I was pleasantly surprised by the variety and frankly, creativity that people use when drinking their cold brews. I’ve lifted and shifted some of those standout recipes. I hope these inspire you to try something different with your cold brew, or if you’re already doing this – a gentle reminder that you’re not alone in enjoying your cold brew in different way.
- Black: warm or cold water, angostura bitters, ginger ale, soda or tonic water.
- Milky: almond, coconut, chocolate milk, foam (e.g. flavoured cinammon), or ice cream.
- Sweetened: caramel sauce, dark brown sugar, honey, maple syrup, coffee syrup or simple syrup.
- Salted: a pinch of salt to improve flavour and bring out more flavour notes.
- Blended: into smoothies (imagine banana, peanut butter and cocao nibs).
- Hard: irish cream, rum or whisky.
Do you like drinking cold brew and if so how do you like to take it?
Until our next brew,
Coffee Log 
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