Honduras Finca El Puente
$17.99
Buying guide
Coarse ground coffee for cold brew
Beans chosen specifically for a 12-24 hour steep — chocolate-forward, full body, smooth — with the grind, ratio, and timing to get it right.
Cold brew asks something different of a coffee than any hot method does. There's no heat to force extraction quickly, so a 12 to 24 hour steep in room-temperature or cold water pulls flavor slowly and selectively — it's very good at extracting sugars and body, and comparatively bad at pulling out the sharp, volatile acids that make a hot cup taste bright. That's the whole appeal: a cold brew concentrate is naturally smoother and less acidic than the same beans brewed hot, before you've changed anything else about the coffee. But it also means the method rewards a specific kind of bean and punishes another kind, and most "just use any coffee" advice online skips that part.
The beans that shine in cold brew are the ones whose flavor doesn't depend on bright acidity to read as interesting — chocolate, caramel, toffee, roasted nut, brown sugar. Those notes survive a long cold steep intact, because they aren't the volatile aromatics that heat helps release and cold water mutes. A coffee whose whole personality is citrus or jasmine, by contrast, tends to go flat and muddy in cold brew — you paid for a light, floral lot and what you'll actually taste is mostly body with the interesting part washed out. That's why we didn't pull our lightest-roast, brightest single origins onto this page. Every coffee we pick for it is sweet and rounded with a medium-to-full body, judged by its own tasting notes rather than by a label that says "cold brew."
Processing changes the picture less than people expect. A natural-processed coffee, dried with the fruit still on the bean, usually brings extra sweetness and body that hold up well once the concentrate is cut with water or milk; a washed coffee tends to taste cleaner and a little more structured. Either works in cold brew, as long as the cup leads with chocolate, caramel, or nut rather than citrus or florals. Roast matters more than process: a medium roast keeps the sweetness cold brew shows off, while a very dark roast can push toward ash that a long steep amplifies. Blends earn a place too: a well-built blend is designed to taste the same bag after bag, which matters more than usual when you brew a large batch every week and want each one to match the last.
Grind matters as much as bean choice. Cold brew wants a coarse grind — think kosher salt, not table salt or sand — because a long steep gives fine particles far more time to over-extract than a quick hot brew does, and the result is a muddy, bitter, silty cup that no amount of bean quality can fix. Every coffee on this page ships as whole beans with a Grind Level selector at checkout; pick "French Press" as your starting point and go slightly coarser from there if your cold brew tastes bitter, or slightly finer if it tastes weak and thin. Roasted-to-order beans also matter more here than for hot brewing: a long cold extraction pulls out whatever CO2 and staling has already happened to the bean, so fresher roast dates translate directly into a cleaner cup.
Our cold brew picks
Chosen for sweet, round, full-bodied cups that hold up to a 12-24 hour steep — not pulled automatically from a collection.
Why these picks
The reasoning behind each pick
Honduras Finca El Puente has rich chocolate and nutty flavors with hints of caramel, medium to full body, and a sweet, elegant finish. Nothing about the cup depends on brightness, so a long cold steep only smooths it further.
Brazil by DABOV is grown at high altitude in Sul de Minas from 100% Arabica Yellow Bourbon, naturally processed, and lands on cocoa liqueur, hazelnut, and cane sugar with a sweet aftertaste — the natural process tends to build extra body and sweetness, both of which read especially well once diluted for serving.
Rwanda Mahembe is a fully washed Red Bourbon with dark chocolate, toffee, and red orange in the cup. Washed coffees usually run cleaner and slightly brighter than naturals; this one still leads with chocolate and toffee, so it adds a touch of structure to a cold brew batch without tipping into sourness.
House Blend UNITY is DABOV's medium-roast house blend, built around chocolate, caramel, berry, and cookie notes. Chocolate and caramel lead, which is the profile a long cold steep rewards, and the blend is made for a consistent, crowd-pleasing cup that works equally well black or with milk — useful when the concentrate goes into iced lattes as often as over plain ice.
Impressions House Blend is a medium-dark house blend with a bittersweet edge, made to be rich, satisfying, and approachable black or with milk. The medium-dark roast gives a heavier concentrate while stopping short of the very dark roasts whose ash a long steep amplifies.
Cold brew FAQ
Coarse ground coffee for cold brew — common questions
What grind size counts as "coarse" for cold brew?
Aim for a texture close to kosher salt or raw sugar — noticeably chunkier than what you'd use for drip or pour-over. If you're ordering from us, pick the French Press grind option as your starting point; that's the coarsest preset we offer and it's very close to ideal for cold brew.
Why does cold brew need a coarser grind than hot brewing?
A cold steep runs 12-24 hours instead of 2-4 minutes. Fine grounds have far more surface area, so over that much time they over-extract — pulling out bitter, astringent compounds along with the good flavor. Coarse grounds extract more slowly and evenly across a long steep, which is exactly what you want.
Can I use pre-ground coffee, or do I need to grind it myself?
Whole beans, ground right before brewing, will always taste fresher — cold brew's long extraction window makes it especially sensitive to staling. Our coffees ship as whole beans with a grind-level option at checkout, so you can order them pre-ground coarse if you don't have a grinder, or as whole beans if you do.
What's the best coffee-to-water ratio for cold brew concentrate?
A common starting ratio is 1:4 to 1:5 (coffee to water, by weight) for a concentrate you'll dilute later, or 1:8 if you want something closer to ready-to-drink strength straight out of the steep. Start at 1:4 and dilute to taste — it's easier to thin a strong concentrate than to fix a weak one.
How long should I steep cold brew?
12 to 24 hours at room temperature or in the fridge. Shorter steeps (12-14 hours) tend to taste brighter and lighter; longer steeps (18-24 hours) pull more body and sweetness. Beyond about 24 hours you start risking over-extraction and bitterness, the same way an over-long hot brew does.
Why do chocolate-forward coffees work better for cold brew?
Cold extraction is comparatively good at pulling sugars and body out of a coffee, and comparatively weak at pulling the bright, volatile acids that make a hot cup taste citrusy or floral. A coffee whose appeal depends on that brightness tends to taste flat in cold brew; one that's already built around chocolate, caramel, and nut notes only gets smoother.
Should I choose a washed or natural-processed coffee for cold brew?
Either can work — it's more about the resulting flavor profile than the process itself. Naturals often bring extra sweetness and body that read well diluted; washed coffees tend to be a little cleaner and more structured. What actually matters is that the cup leads with chocolate, caramel, or nut notes, whichever process got it there.
Is a blend or a single origin better for cold brew?
Both work — it depends what you want. A single origin gives you a distinct, traceable flavor character. A well-built blend is designed to taste the same bag after bag, which is useful if you're brewing a big batch weekly and want consistency more than variation.
Do I need special equipment to make cold brew at home?
No — a large jar or pitcher and a fine mesh strainer (or a paper filter for a cleaner result) is enough to get started. Dedicated cold brew makers with a built-in filter are convenient but not required; the grind, ratio, and steep time matter far more than the vessel.
Does cold brew coffee have more caffeine than hot coffee?
A cold brew concentrate usually has more caffeine per ounce than a cup of hot-brewed coffee, simply because it's more concentrated before dilution. Diluted to drinking strength, the caffeine content ends up closer to a normal cup — it depends heavily on your ratio and how much you dilute.
How long does cold brew concentrate keep in the fridge?
About 1-2 weeks refrigerated in a sealed container. It doesn't spoil dramatically the way dairy does, but the flavor flattens and dulls past that window — the same staling logic that applies to the beans applies to the brewed concentrate too.
Can I make cold brew with a dark roast?
You can, but we generally point people toward medium roasts for cold brew rather than very dark ones. A medium roast keeps the chocolate/caramel sweetness that cold brew shows off well; a very dark roast can push toward ash and bitterness that a long cold steep tends to amplify rather than soften.
What's the difference between cold brew and iced coffee?
Cold brew is brewed cold from the start — coarse grounds steeped in cold water for hours, never heated. Iced coffee is regular hot-brewed coffee that's then cooled and poured over ice. They taste noticeably different: cold brew is smoother and less acidic; iced coffee keeps more of hot brewing's brightness, just served cold.
Ready to steep a batch?
Every coffee above is roasted to order — order whole beans or have us grind coarse for you at checkout.