The world of coffee is always diversified with a wide variety of new trends to consider and enjoy. And if you are a coffee lover, you have undoubtedly heard of cold brew coffee which has gained popularity recently. Maybe you are wondering how to make it and How Long Does Cold Brew Last If Kept in the Refrigerator?. This article is going to give you a clear answer for your question about the lifetime of cold brew. Keep reading to find out cold brew shelf life!
Why should you choose cold brew?
In the past, if you went to a coffee shop, they only offered hot coffee varieties on their menu, and coffee poured over ice to create a watered-down, more refreshing beverage. In this situation, the ice diluted its flavour quite a bit, since there was less coffee than ice or water.
A glass of cold brew coffee is always when thinking about having coffee poured over ice or cold brew coffee.
And one of the main problems with iced coffee (and one thing that makes the cold brew method more popular) centers around how cafes deal with cold coffee beverages. In the past, cafe’s store would store their fresh hot pots in an icebox but serve extremely bitter-tasting coffee to its patrons.
If you don’t want it to go bad, you have to refrigerate it quickly. Still, the refrigeration process promotes oxidation, which converts chilled hot coffee into something which contains more acidity than it would have been while hot. These days, cold brew methods keep much of this oxidation at bay by removing heat from process entirely.
Why is cold brew coffee always a better choice?
First of all, let’s talk about health benefits. Drinking a glass of cold brew coffee not only keep you awake, but also gives you some good benefits for healths, as follow:
- Lower acidity: cold brew is less in acidity level about 67%.
- Balance pH levels for your body
- Sweeter and smoother for people who don’t like bitter flavour. Thus, you can reduce added sugar and cut down on calories intake
Here are some other reasons that make cold brew coffee is always a better choice:
- Caffeine content: cold brew coffee is believed to have double in caffeine content than traditional iced coffee as it is brewed cold up to 24 hours to create a coffee concentration.
- Consistent flavour: for hot coffee, its taste is violated since it may change its flavour due to different temperatures. In contrast, cold brew remains unchanged in its flavour, it is stable and suitable for pre-packing and ready-to-drink products. And of course, that is where savvy companies get in on taking action because they easily package these products and sell them.
You have probably gone to your grocery store and noticed how the refrigerated section has rows upon rows of glass bottles with a wide variety of cold brew styles inside of them.
- Easy to make at home: you might buy packed cold brew in the grocery and enjoy the beverage in an easy way, but it gets pricey. Clearly, most single-serve ready-to-drink bottles cost about half the price of your favorite bag of coffee beans. So, you might consider buying coffee beans and making your own home-based cold brew coffee.
There are several recipes that help you to make cold brew at home with a simple process as long as you don’t mind steeping ground coffee beans in water for less than 24 hours.
And if you are thinking about drinking cold brew coffee through the year, consider looking into some recipes that you prefer, then get the right supplies and dive into the magic world of cold brew coffee.
- Market and economy improvement: manufactures love how cold brew coffee stays so popular, uniquely as innovators design the best tools to make it. According to the New York Times, the sales of coffee now is higher than in the past and it is looking to stay high all year long.
Barista used to have nothing to do in summer, except for die-hard fans who drank coffee or espresso every day. However, now they are busier due to the availability of cold brew and iced recipes.
How long is cold brew coffee good for?
For every kind of drink, you might wonder what are the benefits.
Cold brew is a new method of making coffee, but it is not the same as iced coffee. Basically, cold brew lasts longer than other regular hot coffees. The longer shelf life is one of the most exceptional qualities of this beverage. You know that you are able to enjoy it for days and with many health benefits.
For hot coffee, the flavour quality starts to degrade 30 minutes once the water touches the ground coffee beans. And this is also true for iced coffee since iced coffee is just hot coffee cooled down with ice. And cold brew keeps much longer. Absolutely, cold brew flavour stability is higher and some cold brew can last for more than 10 days.
How does cold brew last if kept in the fridge?
Still, the most important question is how long does cold brew last? What is the shelf life?
The answer is your cold brew coffee should remain unchanged for two-week time in the fridge. And of course, this is only an estimate and references using black coffee without any milk, sugar, creamers and flavours additives.
The shelf time is shorter if it was added anything else to your batch, so check it after a week to make sure it does not go bad.
The most prominent conundrum people face is that they make a concentrate resulting in many cups of coffee and find that it goes bad before they use it all.
Simply put, most recipes call for making big batches since coffee shops generally make large amounts.
Like iced coffee, cold brew does not have a very long shelf life. While coffee does not produce mold as quickly as iced tea, it can mold if it is not kept in the fridge after brewing. And it is always the best idea to keep cold brew concentrate refrigerated. The product does not have preservatives if it is made at home, unlike buying at store. So, you cannot expect it to last for months.
Does cold brew go bad and make you sick?
Every edible food and beverage is able to spoil, and cold brew is not an exception. According to Graham Boisvert, Canterbury Coffee, even if it is kept in the fridge, it will break down at the temperature and nothing stays fresh forever. Taste is going to change over time. Fresher is better.
Just like using coffee beans for brewing, fresher is always better. Although you can store your leftover cold brew coffee in the fridge, do not make it a habit. Here are some signals demonstrating that your cold brew coffee has expired:
- Little aroma
- Caffeine kick has disappeared
- Noticeably less flavour
- Extremely acidic taste
- Mold or rancid smell
Does cold brew make you sick? Coffee may come stale and lose its flavour and aroma overtime. However, you won’t get sick from it. The best thing is don’t drink home-made coffee that is over two-week ages, even when you keep refrigerated.
How to extend cold brew shelf life?
In order to extend your beloved cold brew freshness, you need to store it in a proper way. You can either use glass or plastic to store, but it is highly recommended to use glass.
Plastic is porous, so important flavours can become oxidized at a faster rate. Moreover, some of the chemicals contained in plastic affect the taste of the coffee. With glass, there will be no chemicals interacting with flavour profiles and glass containers can be sealed tighter. Finally, mason jars or coffee press beakers are both great options for fridge storage. There are other methods to make cold brew shelf life longer, as follow
Cold brew iced cubes
One fantastic fact of cold brew coffee is that the flavour remains stable whether you warm it up or freeze it. So, you can always dilute the concentrate with milk or water, add cream, or even sweeten it, once thawed.
Using smaller storage containers
If you are worried about cold brew coffee is going bad before you drink. So as you use the concentrate, you could downsize the container used for keeping the coffee so that there is less air that can oxidize the coffee and remove the flavour. Alternatively, you can store your concentrate in smaller bottles from the beginning and it will help extend the shelf life.
According to most experts, it is the best to consume the concentrate within the first week of brewing, regardless of whether you make it yourself or buy it from the store, but bottling in this way helps you portion and share with others.
Cold brew preservatives
It is not recommended for using preservatives, however, in the situation you do plan to use them, consider acid or salt for preserving your cold brew. If you can, sharing the coffee with your friend is a perfect way, instead of using preservation.
Cold brew is a coffee trend that is here to stay. The question of how long does cold brew last is already answered. In addition, you also learn some useful tips to extend cold brew shelf life. And the best way is to use it as quickly as possible because nothing can be fresh forever.
