Coffee for days: How to make coffee for crowds look easy

Thursday, 15 May, 2014
So it's getting cold and gatherings of friends and family require oodles of coffee to keep everyone warm and good humoured.

We came across this recipe for a pre-made coffee concentrate that you simply add hot water to when you have guests over. Brilliant. We tested it out and it really does make an excellent full bodied and clean brew, you don't have to give up quality for quantity!

Have fun now :)

How To Make Coffee Concentrate to Serve Coffee to a Crowd

Makes about 1 litre of concentrate (about 3 litres brewed coffee)

What You Need

Ingredients
340g coffee, coarsely ground
6 cups water (plus more for serving)

Equipment
2 large bowls or pitchers
Kitchen towel or cheesecloth
Sieve
Large coffee filter
Covered container to store concentrate (such as consol jars)

Instructions

Steep the coffee overnight. Place the ground coffee in a large bowl or pitcher and cover with 6 cups cold or room temperature water. Stir to make sure all the grounds are wet. Cover with a tea towel and let sit on the counter for 24 hours.


Strain the coffee concentrate. Place the sieve in the other large bowl or pitcher. Wet the coffee filter and use it to line the sieve. (I use an unfolded Chemex filter paper in these photos. A large filter for urn-style coffee makers would also work.) Carefully pour the coffee and grounds into the sieve, stopping whenever it gets too full. Let sit undisturbed until there is no more liquid dripping through the sieve, which can take 30-45 minutes. You will have about one quart of liquid.


Transfer the concentrate to a covered container. Discard or compost the grounds. Pour the strained coffee concentrate into a covered container for storage.

Store the concentrate in the refrigerator for up to one week.

Dilute the concentrate with 2 parts boiling water. When you're ready to make coffee, bring the appropriate amount of water to a boil. I like the ratio of 1 part concentrate to 2 parts water, but you can experiment to see what tastes best to you. Pour the concentrate into a carafe or thermos. Slowly add the hot water and serve!


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