Hello! Last week, we shared our coffee concentrate revelation. And truly, we felt, um, revelated. But, if you'll recall, we had a few lingering questions about whether it was best to make our own coffee concentrate, or if there was a less expensive, less work-intensive option than making our own.
So we did what any sane couple would do: we conducted a blind taste test. First up, we decided the contenders.
Coffee Cold Brew Concentrate - A Showdown
1. Grady's Cold Brew. I first heard about coffee concentrate from a friend who had Grady's Cold Brew at a party. It's made in Brooklyn, and people rave about it. They are thrilled by its smoothness, its flavor, and the awesomeness of its bottle. And at about $12/bottle, it works out to about $1.50 per 8-ounce coffee beverage: 4 ounces of concentrate, plus 4 ounces of milk or water. That doesn't include shipping or the cost of any milk you use.
2. OFH's Cold Brew. We started brewing our own cold brew concentrate and we've been loving it. There's no contest between this and pouring hot over ice, of course, but we are also much happier with it than our normal cold brew, which uses normal coffee-to-water ratios rather than the intensive 7 cups of water per 12 ounces of coffee ratio concentrate requires. The cost of the brew we make depends entirely on the cost of beans. If you're cold brewing, you don't need crazy good beans, though we've been using pretty decent stuff for ours. On average, we pay $8 for 12 ounces of coffee beans. We've been getting about 8 coffees (not fluid cups, but actual beverages comprised of half concentrate, half milk or water) per cold brew process, so we're paying about $1 per coffee, plus the cost of coffee filters (let's say $.01) and cheese cloth. Let's say $.04 per cup, bringing us to $1.05.
3. Stumptown Cold Brew. We wanted to try these against another coffee concentrate, but in the end we weren't able to get Stumptown's concentrate (which we understand they sell to places that do coffee by the tap, like Hungry Ghost in Brooklyn). We got a 10.5 ounce bottle of the regular cold brew for $4 at our local Hungry Ghost. So for an 8 ounce cup of Stumptown's, you'd pay a whopping $3.04. (Note -- it may be cheaper to buy the Stumptown in larger quantities, but this is what we could find).
So there are the contenders. How did they stack up?
Taste Testing Coffee Cold Brew Concentrate
First, we set up the taste test by numbering bottles and glasses and then taking notes (I did the original numbering, so Bret just hid the numbers from me when it was my turn). Here are our notes:
Number 1: Yum yum yum yum yum yum.
Number 2: A tiny bit bitter and yum yum yum.
Number 3: Watered down mess. Doesn't compare. (This only has a splash of half & half rather than milk, but you can see how much lighter it is).
The coffee concentrate really is in a league of its own. It didn't even seem fair to have made a regular cold brew compete. But that was really useful information! (And to be thorough, we did go to Hungry Ghost later and get a cold coffee on tap, but we still didn't think it stacked up to either of our coffee concentrate options).
Sooooo - Grady's Cold Brew is the hands down winner, taste wise. Absolutely delicious. They don't deliver to my zip code in NYC (go figure) but I can find it pretty easily, and I will absolutely get grabbing it when I have company or need a special treat.
But it is $.45 more per cup than brewing our own with average-priced beans, and we both drink two cups, minimum, a day. So we're likely to keep brewing our own, experimenting with cheaper coffee and trying to minimize bitterness - which, to be fair, was only apparent when tasted right after tasting the Grady's. But even at the admittedly expensive $1.05 price point, we're sold on concentrate from here on out. It is so much better than regular cold brew, and we get a lot of enjoyment out of coffee. And it helps to preserve our marriage. So it's a worthy investment for us. Timing wise, you pretty much have to make the whole shebang the day before, if you need a cuppa as soon as you wake up in the morning. But we've gotten used to to doing that, so it's not a big deal anymore. (And if we were to somehow not get it done on time, we'd turn to Grady's. Obviously).
But don't take our word for it! Try it yourselves! If you have a brunch planned soon, do a coffee taste test. Grady's will ship nationally, and it's a seriously fun way to spend some time and compare your morning beverage options. As always, let us know your results in the comments if you go for it, and thanks for stopping by!