The Cold Brew Cookbook, Part 1: 9 Classic Recipes Worth Knowing By Heart
The Cold Brew Cookbook, Part 1
9 classic recipes worth knowing by heart
Cold brew should taste like a chocolate-covered cherry. Most homemade cold brew tastes like wet cardboard. The difference is the recipe, not the beans.
This is Part 1 of the Buddha Beans cold brew cookbook. Nine recipes worth saving, ranked from foundational to nearly fancy. Start with the slow-steep concentrate, because every other recipe in this cookbook builds from it. Then work your way through eight upgrades that turn a single jar into a week of distinctly different drinks.
Every recipe is built on our Cold Brew House Blend, micro-roasted in small batches with 300mg of organic hemp per 12-ounce bag. Save the page. Pick one. Make it tonight.
What's inside
1. Slow-Steep Concentrate
The foundation. Every recipe in this cookbook starts here.
You'll need
- 1 cup (85g) coarse-ground Cold Brew House Blend
- 4 cups filtered cold water
- Pinch of fine sea salt (rounds out bitterness)
- Optional: ½ vanilla bean and a strip of orange peel
How to build it
- Combine everything in a wide-mouth jar. Stir until the grounds are fully saturated.
- Steep at room temperature for 16 hours, then move to the fridge for another 4 hours.
- Double-strain through cheesecloth or a fine-mesh sieve into a clean jar.
- Cut 1:1 with cold water or milk to serve. Keeps two weeks in the fridge.
The salt is not optional. A pinch tames the harsh edge and lets the chocolate notes come forward. The vanilla bean and orange peel are optional but transform the concentrate into something you'll drink straight over ice.
2. Vietnamese Cold Brew with Cocoa Nibs
Sweet, layered, restaurant-level. Three ingredients, fifteen seconds of assembly.
You'll need
- 4 oz cold brew concentrate
- 2 Tbsp sweetened condensed milk
- 1 oz half-and-half
- Pinch of raw cocoa nibs
- Ice
How to build it
- Spoon condensed milk into the bottom of a tall glass.
- Fill the glass with ice.
- Pour cold brew concentrate slowly over the back of a spoon to keep the layers separate.
- Top with half-and-half and scatter cocoa nibs across the foam.
The cocoa nibs are the upgrade. They add a faint crunch and a roasted cacao note that pulls the whole drink toward chocolate. Stir at the table for the wow factor.
3. Salted Honey + Brown-Butter Cream
Honey, butter, salt. Done.
You'll need
- 6 oz cold brew
- 2 tsp raw wildflower honey
- 2 oz brown-butter whipped cream (recipe below)
- Flaky Maldon salt
- Ice
Brown-butter cream: Melt 1 Tbsp unsalted butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until it turns amber and smells nutty (about 4 minutes). Whisk the warm butter into ½ cup cold heavy cream. Chill for 20 minutes, then whip to soft peaks.
How to build it
- Dissolve honey in a small splash of warm water (this prevents it from sinking).
- Stir the honey-water into cold brew over ice.
- Float a generous spoonful of brown-butter cream on top.
- Finish with a pinch of Maldon salt on the cream.
Make the brown-butter cream in batches. It keeps three days in the fridge and instantly upgrades any iced coffee.
4. Vanilla Sweet Cream
The one you make every morning. Dialed in.
You'll need
- 6 oz cold brew
- 3 oz house vanilla sweet cream (recipe below)
- Madagascar bourbon vanilla powder for dusting
- Ice
House vanilla sweet cream: Combine ½ cup heavy cream, 2 Tbsp whole milk, 1 Tbsp vanilla simple syrup, and ¼ tsp vanilla bean paste. Froth with a hand frother or shake hard in a sealed jar for 20 seconds.
How to build it
- Pour cold brew over ice in a tall glass.
- Float the frothed sweet cream on top. Do not stir.
- Dust the cream with a pinch of vanilla powder.
The vanilla bean paste matters. Extract is fine but flat. Paste delivers visible flecks of vanilla and a depth that extract cannot match.
5. Mexican Mocha
Cocoa, Ceylon cinnamon, and a whisper of chile.
You'll need
- 6 oz cold brew
- 2 Tbsp dark chocolate-cinnamon syrup (recipe below)
- 4 oz almond milk
- Tiny pinch cayenne
- Ice
Dark chocolate-cinnamon syrup: Simmer ¼ cup cocoa powder, ¼ cup brown sugar, ½ cup water, 1 Ceylon cinnamon stick, and 1 dried ancho chile pod for 8 minutes. Strain and cool. Keeps two weeks refrigerated.
How to build it
- Whisk syrup into almond milk in a small jar until fully combined.
- Pour the chocolate milk over ice.
- Top with cold brew, dust with cayenne.
Ceylon cinnamon, not cassia. The cassia you find in supermarkets is hotter and one-note. Ceylon is delicate and sweet, the way real Mexican hot chocolate tastes.
6. Coconut Cream
Tropical, dairy-optional, three ingredients on the actual count.
You'll need
- 6 oz cold brew
- 2 oz coconut cream (the thick top from a chilled can of full-fat coconut milk)
- 1 Tbsp palm sugar syrup
- Toasted coconut flakes
- Lime zest
- Ice
How to build it
- Whisk coconut cream and palm sugar syrup smooth in a small jar.
- Pour the coconut mixture over ice.
- Top with cold brew.
- Finish with toasted coconut flakes and a hit of lime zest.
Chill the coconut milk can overnight before you open it. The thick cream rises to the top. That's what you want. The watery part underneath is for smoothies.
7. Lavender Honey + Orange Bitters
Floral, gentle, finished sharp.
You'll need
- 6 oz cold brew
- 1 Tbsp lavender-honey syrup (recipe below)
- 2 oz oat milk
- 1 drop orange bitters
- Ice
Lavender-honey syrup: Combine 1 tsp culinary lavender, ⅓ cup honey, and ⅓ cup hot water. Steep 15 minutes. Strain. Keeps three weeks refrigerated.
How to build it
- Stir lavender-honey syrup into oat milk.
- Pour over ice.
- Top with cold brew.
- Finish with exactly one drop of orange bitters across the top.
One drop. Not three. The bitters are a tonal accent, not an ingredient.
8. Cardamom Rose
Pistachios, petals, perfume. The drink that tastes like a Middle Eastern dessert.
You'll need
- 6 oz cold brew (steeped with 6 cracked green cardamom pods, see below)
- 2 oz pistachio milk
- ½ tsp rosewater
- 1 tsp turbinado syrup
- Crushed dried rose petals and chopped pistachios for garnish
- Ice
Cardamom-steeped cold brew: When you make your slow-steep concentrate (Recipe 1), add 6 cracked green cardamom pods to the grounds before adding water. Strain as normal.
How to build it
- Stir turbinado syrup and rosewater into pistachio milk.
- Pour over ice.
- Top with cardamom-steeped cold brew.
- Garnish heavy with crushed rose petals and chopped pistachios.
Rosewater is a tightrope. ½ tsp is fragrant. 1 tsp tastes like soap. Measure carefully.
9. Affogato with Olive Oil Gelato
Hot meets cold meets weird. A dessert with espresso energy, made for guests.
You'll need
- 2 scoops olive oil gelato (or premium vanilla bean if you can't find it)
- 3 oz cold brew concentrate
- 1 Tbsp crushed amaretti cookies
- Flaky sea salt
How to build it
- Pack gelato into a chilled glass or coupe.
- Pour cold brew concentrate over the gelato at the table.
- Top with crushed amaretti and a pinch of flaky salt.
- Serve immediately with a small spoon.
Olive oil gelato sounds wrong and tastes incredible. The peppery, fruity oil layered against bitter coffee and sweet cream is the most elegant way to end a dinner party. Found at Italian markets and most high-end groceries.
Start with the right bag
Every recipe in this cookbook builds on our Cold Brew House Blend. Micro-roasted in small batches. Fair trade. 300mg of organic hemp per 12 oz bag.
