This delicious coffee drink combines homemade cold brew coffee and homemade sweet cream cold foam, with a sprinkle of sea salt! Absolute pour-fection!
Homemade Cold Brew Coffee + Homemade Cold Foam + Sea Salt = the only drink you’ll need!
How do you make this delicious coffee?
- Make the cold brew coffee (find out how below!)
- Combine equal parts cold brew coffee + cold water in a glass filled with ice.
- Top with slightly sweet homemade cold foam.
- Sprinkle with sea salt!
Curtailing public appearances means less trips to the coffee shop. That's a big difference from these last two weeks - traveling for me equates to constantly imbibing coffee. From Cuban coffees in Miami cafes (omg, so good) to cortados at the Village Grind to cold brew with salted cold foam from Starbucks drive-thrus, it’s been all coffee all the time. As it should be.
During my travels, I picked up some beans from Cuban Coffee Queen in the Florida Keys along with a cup of their cold brew. After the first sip, I knew I had to try my own hand at creating homemade cold brew coffee upon my return to Wisconsin.
What is Cold Brew Coffee?
If you didn’t know, cold brew coffee is coffee that is brewed with, you guessed it, cold water! It’s a slightly time intensive, but very simple process that leads to a smoother, less acidic, slightly sweet brew that’s perfect over ice. It’s also much more concentrated than regular coffee and should be mixed with water before serving, just fyi.
To make the cold brew coffee concentrate at home:
- Coarsely grind some coffee beans. (This step isn’t totally necessary, but I think it makes a big difference! Obviously, you can use coffee that’s already been ground from the store. But, by grinding it at home you’re not only controlling how coarse the beans are, but you’re also ensuring the coffee is as fresh as possible.)
- Mix with water. Obeying the 1:1 ratio. That means, for every 1 ounce of coffee grounds, use 1 cup of water. I find that 6 ounces of freshly ground coffee and 6 cups of cold water create the perfect amount of cold brew to last the week (about 5 cups after brewing).
- Let steep. For at least 12 hours, up to 20. It just sits in the fridge getting all perfect and you don’t have to do a thing.
- Strain the coffee. Place a fine mesh strainer over a large 8-cup measure. Slowly pour the coffee into the strainer and allow the grounds to be filtered out. Discard the grounds. Rinse out the jar that the coffee was brewed in. Then, pour the cold brew back into the clean jar. You can either leave the cold brew like this or…
- Strain the coffee a second time. Place a piece of cheesecloth inside of the strainer, setting it over the measuring cup again. Pour the filtered cold brew back into the strainer a second time. This ensures a very smooth coffee that is free of even tiny coffee grounds.
- Store the cold brew. In a jar in the fridge for up to one month.
Coarsely grind the coffee beans. Pour the coffee and water into a large container. Stir and let steep for at least 12 hours. Strain cold brew coffee.
What is Cold Foam?
Cold foam is the bonkers option at Starbucks that is essentially whipped cream going on top of iced coffee. Like the frothed milk of a latte but, y’know, cold. I adapted my version of cold foam from this recipe for Starbucks’s sweet cream and simply whipped the bajeezus out of it with my NutriBullet blender. If you don’t want to go through the process of whipping it up, you totally don’t have to! It can just as easily be mixed into the cold brew like regular coffee creamer. I’m not going to tell you how to live your life.
How many cups is six ounces of coffee beans?
There are approximately 3 ounces in 1 dry cup of whole coffee beans! So, if you're following my recipe exactly and don't have a kitchen scale, use 2 cups of whole bean coffee to equal 6 ounces.
Other Homemade Cold Foam Recipes
- Pumpkin Cream Cold Foam Cold Brew
- Salted Caramel Cream Cold Foam
- Irish Cream Cold Foam
- Peppermint Mocha Cold Foam
Cold Brew Coffee with Homemade Cold Foam
Ingredients
For the cold brew coffee:
- 6 ounces coffee beans coarsely ground
- 6 cups cold water
For the sweet cream cold foam:
- ½ cup sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
For the Irish Coffee:
- Flaky sea salt for serving
Instructions
For the cold brew:
- In a large jar, combine the ground coffee and water, stirring well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 12 hours, up to 20. After chilling, place a fine mesh sieve over a large measuring cup or bowl and pour coffee through sieve. Return to the jar (that's been rinsed!). If desired, strain the coffee a second time. This time, line the mesh sieve with a damp coffee filter. Pour coffee through sieve in batches, tossing and replacing coffee filter if necessary. Return to the jar once more and store filtered cold brew in fridge until ready to use.
For the cold foam:
- Whisk together the condensed milk, heavy cream, and vanilla extract until smooth. Keep in fridge until ready to use. When ready to serve place 1/4 cup in a blender and whip for about 10 seconds, or until thick and creamy.
To make the Cold Brew Coffee with Salted Cold Foam:
- Fill a large glass halfway with ice cubes. Add ¼ cup cold water and ¾ - 1 cup cold brew coffee, depending on how strong you like it. Stir to combine. Top with cold foam and sprinkle with sea salt before serving.
Notes
- Cold Brew Method adapted from The Kitchn.
- Vanilla Sweet Cream recipe adapted from The Kitchn as well!
- If desired, add a shot of whiskey to this beverage for a fun Brunch cocktail!
I have made this exact recipe a few times and it never really creates a top layer like cold foam should. So I just came up with an idea of using a mixer and whipping it up until it dot or doubles in size and is thick enough to lay on to but has some flow so it disperses all over the top and not in one big clump like whipped cream.
Using a mixer is a great idea Cydney! Especially if you don't have a Nutri-bullet or Ninja Blender type device. Even if using one of those, I know some are more powerful than others and that could lead to some heavily whipped cream instead of that soft, fluffy top of cold foam. I hope you keep enjoying the cold brew recipe!
Thanks for the recipe! How long can you store the cold foam in your fridge? Will it keep the same consistency if you don't use it immediately?
Hi Hailey! I have stored the sweet cream in the fridge for a week, without whipping it. Then, when I make a cup of coffee, I whip a small portion of the sweet cream (about 1/4 cup), and leave the rest in the fridge. Hope that helped and so happy you love the recipe!
How much coffee in cups would the 6oz be equal to? For those of us who don’t have a kitchen scale....
2 cups! Or about half a bag of 12 ounce coffee beans if you just want to eyeball it. Hope this helps Danielle! (Also, I have an Escali scale that was super affordable that I've had for years, if you ever decide to get a kitchen scale and are looking for one!)
Thank you! I’m excited to try this!
I tried the cold foam recipe exactly how you made it and I loved it! I want to make it again but I ran out of heavy cream. What can I substitute it with?
You can certainly try half and half or whole milk, but it won't whip up as thick and luxurious as it would with heavy cream. It'll still be delish though! I'm so happy you loved the recipe 🙂
The cold foam recipe absolutely didn’t work. I have a milk frother as part of my coffee machine and that did nothing to help whip up a foam. I then threw the mixture in a blender first on low, then medium, then high only to get the same consistency of mixed cream, but now with bubbles. Now I’m sitting here with a bowl full of this condensed milk heavy creamer that won’t foam up. Saw another recipe and it suggests using actual milk instead of condensed milk.
Hi Dre, I'm sorry to hear that the cold foam didn't work. I will offer a few possible reasons as to why: 1) if your milk frother uses heat, then the foam will absolutely not whip. Heavy cream needs to be cold when it is whipped, otherwise it doesn't hold air and get that gorgeous cold foam texture (or even just for a regular whipped cream recipe). 2) if you went from using a milk frother that made the cream hot and then put it in a blender, it still wouldn't work because again, warm heavy cream doesn't whip. 3) I have never tested the recipe with a milk frother (one that works hot or cold) and can only offer the directions for using a blender from the get-go with a cold sweet cream.
For the leftovers, if you cannot get it to whip when it is cold and by only using a blender (again, this is how the recipe was formulated to work and this is how it should work, not using a milk frother), I would suggest using it as regular sweet cream coffee creamer - it's still very delicious that way! And, if you're going to forgo using the sweetened condensed milk and use whole milk in its place you'll have to add a simple syrup to the mixture. The sweetness in this recipe comes from the sweetened condensed milk. To remove that from the recipe and replace it with plain, whole milk, will result in an unsweet mixture. Hope this could offer some insight!
Love this, so easy to keep me more interested in making my coffee at home when I'm feeling in a rut of the same coffee every day.
So happy to hear you enjoy making this coffee at home, Meredith! <3
I personally love coffee. I can't go a day without having coffee. This is so perfect! Thank you so much for sharing this! 🙂
Always happy to help out a fellow coffee lover! Glad you enjoyed the recipe 🙂