Wilson: Cold-brew coffee a curse at 3 a.m.

Ever since the Keurig coffee makers first became a thing, with its one-cup-at-a-time convenience, I’ve wanted to make a Beerig that operated on the same philosophy. Push a button, fresh brewed tastiness ... but I lack the fermentation knowledge to even know if this is possible under Earth’s laws of physics.

Instead, I relegate myself to foods and drinks I can make in different ways. Bake cookies on a car dashboard? Sure, use parchment paper and give them three hours in your car.

Make a pitcher of tea? No problem, just find a jar, a shadeless space and five free hours.

In the last few weeks, I had a chance to move to another challenge. I was in an area restaurant that offered cold brew coffee. One taste and I knew this was a blessing and a curse.

The blessing is that the cold-brew process takes out so much of the bitterness, your coffee is as easy to drink as a glass of iced tea. The curse is that it’s so easy to drink you could shotgun highly-caffeinated beverages like it was water ... and then at 3 a.m., you’re scouring social media for people who’d come over to play Monopoly or Scrabble or badminton because who needs sleep?

Still, I decided to see how hard it would be for me to cold-brew. The University of Google provided me with a list of materials I’d need: Coffee grounds, coffee filter, wire strainer, measuring cups, 2-quart jar and another large cup.

It was quite simple. Mix 1 3/4 cups coffee grounds with 4 1/2 cups water in the pitcher. Cover the pitcher (lid or plastic wrap) and leave it alone for 12 to 24 hours. Pour the mixture into the other cup, clean out the pitcher and strain the mixture back into the pitcher through the coffee filter and wire strainer. Watch an episode of “Supergirl” while waiting for the filtering process (optional).

Once I discarded the grounds, which spills easier and stains more than powdered sugar, I had 2 1/2 cups of concentrated coffee solution that could stay in my fridge for about a week. I prefer a four-parts dilution, more often water than milk, and a little bit of vanilla syrup.

My problem is I can’t leave well enough alone. I decided since the first batch was so easy, I’d make batch No. 2 immediately with about twice the ingredients. So I went from no coffee on a Monday to a potential two gallons of coffee I have a week to drink. I feel like a kid whose father caught him smoking a cigarette, who is then forced to smoke the whole pack so he never smokes again.

A recipient of some concentrate complimented me on the brewing, surprised I got such flavor from what is a very standard brand of coffee. So I’ll consider that task mastered.

Maybe for my next task, I will find out if it’s possible to invent the Beerig. If I’m going to be awake, I might as well do some studying.

Kevin Wilson is managing editor of the Clovis News-Journal. He can be contacted at 575-763-3431, ext. 320, or by email:

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