When you make coffee in bulk, you need the best ways to store cold brew coffee so it does not lose its taste. With this blog, you’ll know what to do and exactly how to do it to store your coffee perfectly.
Cold brew coffee is a beverage that's been around for a few years now. It's easy to make, but you need to know how to store it properly so it doesn't go bad. So let's go into details.
6 Best Ways To Store Cold Brew Coffee
Here are six ways you can store your cold brew coffee without it going bad. Let’s go.
1. Keep Cold Brew Coffee Refrigerated
You should not keep brewed coffee at room temperature. If you do so, your coffee will go bad faster. So consider storing your cold brew coffee at room temperature as short as possible.
2. Serve Cold Brew with Additives
It is recommended to mix other ingredients like cream, milk, etc. at the time of serving rather than mixing it while storing it in the refrigerator because these ingredients can be spoiled much faster.
3. Make Cold Brew Ice Cubes
Make cold brew ice cubes by filling an ice cube tray with cold-brewed coffee. Simply put this tray in the refrigerator and wait until it's frozen to enjoy the cold brew iced coffee.
You can later use these cold brew cubes for making different things. These cubes can be used in hot coffee, iced coffee, or cold-brewed coffee to make its flavor more strong.
4. Pour Cold Brew Coffee into Glass Containers
A glass container is the best way to store cold brew coffee. It's simple, it keeps your cold brew coffee fresh and it also looks great! If you are planning to drink it soon, you can leave it in a carafe with a sealed top, but if you plan on dipping into your brew each day, I recommend portioning it out into smaller sealed glass bottles.
Whatever you do, make sure you don't use plastic or metal when you're storing your finished cold brew.
Plastic leaches chemicals into the beverage which will change its taste over time (and eventually cause health problems).
Metal can also affect how your drink tastes over time—especially if placed in direct sunlight or next to heat sources like a stove top burner.
5. Seal the Container and Refrigerate for Up to Two Weeks
Once you've made your cold brew, put the container in a sealed container and refrigerate it to consume for up to two weeks. The more you open the container and expose it to air, the more stale it will become.
That is why small sealable glass bottles work best for multiple pours over time.
Are these instruction different if you brewed a concentrate?
6. Create a Nitro Cold Brew
Perhaps you'd prefer to turn your cold brew into a nitro cold brew. In that case, storing it in a keg, under nitrogen pressure in a refrigerated environment will extend the lifespan of your cold brew for up to 3 months.
You should be able to serve and dispense it from a kegerator without issue during this length of time. Still, it is always best practice to consume your cold coffee beverage within a couple weeks.
How To Store Cold Brew Concentrate
If you've brewed a cold brew concentrate and are considering diluting it before storing it for longer than a few weeks, try heat pasteurization to make it shelf stable.
I personally have not had the greatest of luck pasteurizing a concentrate, but diluted formulas work great in my opinion. Just remember that once you open the pasteurized bottle, it is no longer shelf-stable and should be refrigerated immediately.
You can read more about all of the nuances of how long cold brew will last here in this comprehensive guide.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Making cold brew coffee is a great way to have a tasty perk up, but it can be challenging to keep it fresh for long periods. We hope our guide on the 6 best ways to store cold brew coffee has helped you understand the best storage methods and tips for keeping your cold brew tasting fresh for as long as possible.