Survival Sunday is a new weekly series I am starting! Before you read on, I need to apologize for the dramatic name. Probably NONE of what I post will *actually* be necessary for survival, but the alliteration was catchy so oh well! What you can expect to find here is a small piece of sometimes serious, sometimes silly, but always honest advice from our household to yours. However, I almost canned this idea altogether because it could possibly project that I have things figured out. You must know that for every “survival tip” I post, there are infinite ways we are “flying by the seat of our pants” at best and making a royal disaster of things at worst! That being said, I welcome you to share your experiences here as well. Let’s embrace chaos together!
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Hey everybody! This post is for coffee drinkers. (And maybe for those of you who wish you were.) If you live in the oven that is Eastern NC, and you are not drinking cold brew, you are doing it wrong.

Made-at-home cold brew is cheap, practical and the most delicious coffee I’ve ever made! You don’t need a coffee pot AND you can brew enough for 4-5 days at a time!! No more setting the coffee pot timer at night and no more early morning coffee pot mishaps. (I know I’m not the only one who has brewed coffee on the floor.)

When you are considering experimenting with cold brew, there are a few things to think about…

1. The coffee must be coarsely ground. So, if you don’t own a grinder, you will need to grind it at the store!
2. You need a way to filter your grounds. You can use a damp paper towel nestled inside a mesh strainer or inside a metal coffee filter. You could also buy a fine mesh bag. OR, you can go all in and buy a “cold brew system” for $25 on Amazon.

For our first few brews, I used the paper towel method, but since I needed a designated container for the cold brew, I broke down and purchased the mason jar, strainer, pouring system. In my opinion, you don’t need a scale for measuring grounds. Rough measurements have worked for us.

Here are a few links to the recipes I’ve experimented with — they are all wonderful.

Naptime Kitchen Cold Brew.

Cookie + Kate Cold Brew

Converting your summer coffee to cold brew does require a bit of foresight since it takes 12 – 24 hours to brew. BUT, it is well-worth it since it lasts all week long. Right now, I’m considering buying another mason jar to make decaf so that I can have it at night too. Eeek!

Happy cold brewing!