The Bloom — cold brew

Some 450 million cups of coffee are consumed every day in the U.S, and it’s no mystery why—coffee is delicious and nutritious, and the mental and physical lift it delivers fuels active days and energized nights. That boost is born, of course, of caffeine, but when it comes to this magical molecule, not all coffees are created equal.  The caffeinated king of all coffees is cold brew. Brewed with time, not heat, cold brew coffee is made by steeping maximum amounts of coffee in minimum quantities of cool water for as much as 24 hours. The result is a dense...

Is there any more essential tool for the itinerant coffee lover than a good travel mug? We don’t think so. It’s the one thing that can make or break the coffee-on-the-go experience, and all success rides on its superpowers or horrifying lack thereof.  Unfortunately, most travel mugs are meh at best and a cruel practical joke at worst. They leak. They lose heat. They’re hard to clean or add off tastes or won’t fit in your cupholder. Some need two hands for a sip which is really more of a dribble. Others send your precious elixir of life flying by...

  From the recent news that coffee appears to lower the risk of liver cancer to evidence that it may protect the heart, lower inflammation, and even prevent diabetes, the drink of drinks is becoming a bona fide health food, one that’s beneficial to our bodies in all kinds of ways that matter. That’s great news for us coffee fanatics—frankly, we’d have been happy just to find out that all those beans we’ve been brewing don’t come with any serious side effects. But discovering that coffee is actually good for us? That’s icing on the coffee cake. And it’s a...

On the face of it, cold brewing your coffee sounds pretty easy. Grind some beans. Add some water. Wait. Strain. Drink. Simple, right? Not quite. In practice, the creation of a delicious carafe of cold brew takes more than a little finesse, and those who take the plunge often end up with a pick-me-up that only brings them down. But your own cold brew doesn’t have to end up trading taste for trouble. You’ve got our five Kohana Golden Rules on your side: Rule 1: No skimping. Cold brew coffee comes without coffee’s usual complement of acids and oils, which...