Homemade Cold Press Coffee

Warmer temps are here.This means it's the time of year when I guzzle down Cold Press Coffee in mass quantities! With the help of my grinder and my handy dandy french press (which currently only collects dust), I decided it was high time I tried to make my own.

I measured out 8 scoops of coarsely ground beans. I used my Perennial Blend beans from Caribou for this.

After putting the grinds in the press, I filled it with cold filtered water from my refrigerator. I covered it with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator overnight (approximately 16 hrs total).

This morning, I took it out of the refrigerator. Skimmed the grounds off the top with a spoon. I then put the strainer for the french press on and strained it.

Poured over ice and Voila! Cold Press Coffee at home.

Verdict: I think it turned out fabulous! I only wish I were set up to make this in jugs because my french press only will hold about 2 cups. Although, it's probably a good thing that I can't make it in a jug! I would definitely consider buying a strainer so that I could make this in a jug if I'm ever having a summer party.

Cutting down on sugar

I consume WAY too much sugar through pop and other means. I've undertaken a 90 day challenge and decided cutting down on sugar intake is one of my sub-goals. This whole cutting down on sugar thing is difficult, but hopefully it'll encourage me to find better breakfasts and be more conscious of what's going into my body.

I'm starting by not adding sugar to my daily coffee. I've already started drinking black coffee at work because I don't have time to grab sugar and I need to be able to explain coffee unaltered by cream and sugar. It's actually not a very difficult switch for me because I already like things like plain espresso and more "bitter" drinks. So if its already not necessary AND I get good quality coffee from work, this is an easy switch that can stand to save me about 1-1.5 tablespoons of sugar per day! My only caveat is that if I go somewhere with bad coffee and I absolutely need coffee, I can add whatever it takes to make that swill drinkable. :-D


The rest of this goal should be helped by cutting down on my soda consumption. There is a lot of sugar in Sprite (my go-to beverage).So between the 1 T I'll save not adding sugar to my coffee, I should save another 3.5T of sugar per day not drinking pop.

Coffee Obsession

Since starting to work in a coffee shop, my obsession with coffee has grown. Right now it's full blown obsession. I'm obviously partial to my store's coffee as that's what I get to drink and that's what I get to bring home with me. I do not have nearly as in depth tasting of other coffee shop coffee so this post is in no way meant to disparage any other coffee shop. It is not meant to declare superiority of one brand vs another. This post is also NOT intended to be an advertisement for my coffee shop. I'm not paid to blog. This is meant as a means for me to look back at the evolution of my coffee obsession and talk about some of my favorite coffees, specifically the ones I've encountered that give back to the local community.

I've gone through many phases with coffee, once I started actually drinking drip coffee.

I started out just drinking Maxwell House's master blend. At one point, I tried the Organic Coffee Company's zen blend and gorilla decaf and was in love. Then I got sick of paying $9.00/lb of coffee and returned to the days of Maxwell House.

Once again, I became sick of cheaping out on my coffee. So I found a local blend called CityKid Java, specifically the Sumatra Mandheling. My Cub foods didn't carry many varieties so that's kind of what I was stuck with anyway. I was in love with this coffee and still am. If you're willing to pay $8.99/lb per coffee and live in the Twin Cities metro, I'd recommend trying this brand out. I really like that they give their proceeds back to the community through the Urban Ventures Leadership Foundation.

Now, of course I'm a die hard Caribou Coffee fan. I love supporting a MN company and working there, I get my coffee for free. My top 3 are: Mocha Java, LaMinita, and Acacia. The Acacia blend is also organic so there isn't the pesticide exposure involved. After I go through my stockpile of Reindeer blend and Mocha Java beans, I will be getting some Acacia if we have it. Always being a fan of products that also give back to the community, I'm really starting to like their Pass the Goodness Blend. For each pound purchased, they donate 1 lb to food shelves (1/2 to a local one, 1/2 to a national one).

As I close this entry, I want to reiterate: This is not meant to be an advertisement. I am not a professional blogger. I was not paid to write about coffee or write this entry as a means to promote where I work. I just really like coffee.


Coffee is the top traded commodity in the world behind oil. Yet alot of it is grown in some of the poorest regions in the world.  For an eye opening look at the coffee trade check out the movie Black Gold. This movie is what prompted my renewed desire to spend more for coffee that either gives back to my local community, is from a company that values responsibly raised product (either Rainforest Alliance or Organic), or is Fair Trade.

As I always say, Life is too short to drink bad coffee.