I stopped drinking caffeine sometime in high school.
I had friends who were Mormon, and they didn’t drink caffeine for religious reasons. I wanted to see if I could do likewise.
Turns out, I could. I switched from Coke to Sprite, and that was basically the only change. I was never a big coffee or tea drinker anyway.
College presented something of a challenge, mostly because coffee shops were just then becoming trendy and meeting up for coffee was the “it” thing to do. (I know, I know… I’m showing my age.)
I had one baby, got divorced, got remarried and had a baby. Within a year, my family size went from two to five. Still, I didn’t feel the need to rely on coffee to get me through a day.
But then, when Pfeiffer was about two, I went back into the classroom. Suddenly, I didn’t just want some coffee. I needed coffee like I needed air to breathe.
I started out by making my own cold brew. At first I used loose grounds and poured the finished product through a sieve to get rid of the grounds. That was messy and inefficient.
So I began putting the grounds into a reusable pouch made of fine mesh. It was designed for making things like almond milk. It was called a nut bag, which definitely ranks as one of the top five worst names for a kitchen gadget that I have ever heard.
Anyway, removing wet coffee grounds from the inside of said nut bag was just about as much fun as it sounds, and washing it after that was also kind of painful. At some point I abandoned cold brew altogether. I began drinking coffee hot, the way normal people do it.
I should have known that wouldn’t last. I hardly ever do things the way normal people do them. These days, I see cold brew in the dairy section of the grocery store all the time, but it never really occurred to me to try it.
(I’ve always had a hard time paying for something I know I can make quickly and easily. I’m not a snob, but I am a cheapskate.)
But a few weeks ago I finally relented and bought a jug of knockoff Starbucks cold brew from Aldi. Y’all. It was heavenly.
Cold brew is smooth in a way that hot coffee is just not, and as a result, I used far less sweetener and creamer than I would normally have done.
I immediately knew I needed a better plan than purchasing cold brew weekly. In addition to the expense, I didn’t want to add to the mountains of plastic we already discard.
So I found some nonwoven drawstring bags online. I bought a package of 100 and began experimenting with the amounts of grounds I’d need to make a pitcher of cold brew.
Then, of course, one thing led to another and I started making my own creamers, too. (You knew that was gonna happen, didn’t you? It’s OK. We all knew.)
So I’m sharing with you today what I’ve learned by making my own cold brew and creamers. Making one’s own creamer is definitely wacky, but I’m telling you, don’t sleep on making your own cold brew. It’s not a lot of work and literally a fraction of the cost of purchasing it.
COLD BREW
Ingredients
Small batch (enough for 3-4 servings):
3/4 cup coffee grounds (medium grind)
4 cups water
Equipment: 1 quart-sized jar or other container, 4×6 disposable coffee filter bag
Large batch (enough for 6-8 servings):
1 1/4 cup coffee grounds
8 cups (2 quarts or about 2 liters) water
Equipment: 1 2-liter pitcher or half-gallon jar; 6×10 disposable coffee filter bag
Directions
■ Pour coffee grounds into bag. Pull drawstring closed. Holding string outside the container, pour water to the top of the container. Allow to sit in refrigerator about 24 hours or on counter about 18 hours. (Take care to keep string hanging over the edge of the top.)
■ When cold brew is dark enough for your tastes, remove bag of grounds and discard. Add water to cold brew to reach top of container. Store in refrigerator.
SWEET CREAM CREAMER
Ingredients
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
2 1/2 cups half and half
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Optional: coffee syrup such as those made by Monin
Directions
■ In a quart jar or other container, pour entire contents of can of sweetened condensed milk. Add half and half (if you’re using a quart jar, this should come nearly to the top of the jar).
■ Add vanilla. Use a wooden spoon or other long stirring device to mix. (You can try shaking, but stirring works better.) Taste. This creamer is about as sweet as one of the “natural” type commercial creamers. If you want something sweeter, add a coffee syrup about a tablespoon at a time.
Amelia Plair is a mom and high school teacher in Starkville. Email reaches her at [email protected].
Amelia Plair is a Starkville resident who writes occasional food columns.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 36 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
