Best Coffee for Cold Brew in 2023: An Expert Barista’s Guide

Cold brew coffee just might be the thing you like the most and want to get from the best brand out there.

There are a number of different brands that offer cold brew coffee beans, so it’s important to find one that offers the best value for your money. Each brand has its own unique flavor profile and method of packaging that make their coffee perfect for making cold brew coffee.

Here in this post, we have listed down some of the best ones based on taste, richness and that AHA feeling, so read till the end. 

Quick Look at our top picks

 Atlas coffee club Colombia Coffee Beans
Atlas coffee club subscription
  • Freshly roasted coffees
  • You can customize the roast level and grind type
  • Monthly coffee delivery from different countries.
  • single-origin coffees
Check Price →
Lifeboost Medium Roast Coffee
Lifeboost Medium Roast Coffee

  • Made from organic coffee beans
  • Single-origin
  • Very easily gets digested, No upset stomach
Check Price →
 Cafe Du Monde Coffee
Cafe Du Monde Coffee
  • Coffee with the chicory in it
  • Comparatively Low acidic
  • Bold flavor makes it a coffee for anxiety
Check Price →
 Koffee Kult Colombia Coffee Beans
Koffee Kult Colombia Coffee Beans
  • Medium Roast
  • 100% Arabica Beans
  • Best choice of gourmet coffee.
Check Price →

Cold brew coffee is known to be a lot smoother and richer in taste when compared to traditional iced coffee. Cold-brewing coffee is also a lot less acidic, which means it will be easier on the stomach, and you won’t be having any of those nasty coffee burps. For those looking for a number, cold-brewed coffee is almost 70% less acidic than hot coffee.

Rich clean-tasting cold brew coffee, which I enjoyed on ice with a little cream.
  • On the other hand, cold brewing coffee is made by steeping coarsely ground coffee beans in room temperature water for several hours.
  •  Its duration may range from anywhere six to twelve hours. 
  • The result of this is a coffee concentrate that can be mixed with water or milk according to one’s preference. 

Even though these benefits will inevitably make you want to try the coffee beans for cold brew coffee, only a select few coffee shops serve cold-brewed coffee, and even those shops charge a lot higher for the cold brew versions of these drinks since it is labour-intensive to make these drinks. To counter these places’ expensive nature, many aficionados have started making cold brew coffee at home.

Fun Fact: While traditional iced coffee is made by brewing coffee hot, cooling it, and serving it cold, this is done by either refrigerating it for a few hours before serving or by serving it with ice. Both these methods, however, are not ideal. Serving coffee with ice reduces the concentration of coffee in it, whereas refrigerating it compromises its freshness. you can read the more detailed difference between cold brew and iced coffee here.

Which type of roast is best for cold brew

The best coffee roast for cold brew is medium-roasted beans. Medium roasts are the perfect choice for cold brew because it has a good balance between acidity and caffeine content.

You can also try dark roasted beans but Light roasts are not recommended because they will be too acidic, which will make it difficult to drink.

8 Best Coffee Beans For Cold Brew to Look For

I have taken various factors into account while making a list so that you don’t have to go through the trouble of making comparisons and selecting the best coffee beans for cold brew. 

1. Atlas coffee club – Best overall

When it comes to coffee subscriptions, Atlas Coffee Club gives you a coffee journey throughout the world. This club is the best way to sample coffee from more than 50 countries. Each country produces its own ethnic type of coffee. And Atlas Coffee Club makes it possible to take them to your doorstep.

Atlas Coffee Club assures top-notch quality with each batch. The four 1.8-ounce bags of coffee in the sample coffee box, cover 4 distinct countries. They select the top 1% of the world’s best coffee which comes from the most well-known coffee-growing regions.

  • Get every nation’s coffee history on a beautiful postcard.
  • Provides a tasting card that highlights flavors of every coffee.
  • Atlas Coffee Club delivers freshly roasted coffees.

In Austin, Texas, they roast every round of coffee skillfully to bring out the regional tastes and deliver them fresh. You will get a fruity undertone of grapes and raisins. Furthermore, the mild acidity and the savory flavor of chocolate and oat milk give the coffee a rich taste. The goal of Atlas Coffee Club is to provide customers with access to the finest coffee in the world.

They’ll send you a new type of coffee from around the world every month. Based on your coffee consumption, you can select to receive these every two weeks or once a month. They also personalize your package by including a postcard from each nation, a detail of the coffee, and instructions to make the best cold brew.

2. Lifeboost Medium Roast Coffee

What made this coffee top our list is that along with the numerous benefits, this pre-ground coffee also takes the cake when it comes to health benefits; being organic, this coffee is free from the chemicals that are involved in the manufacturing of regular coffee, this makes it so healthy that a number of doctors recommend it, their testimonials can be read on the company website. 

Of course, a coffee that is only healthy and not so great taste-wise is not so desirable. But in life boost coffee is one of the finest coffees that I’ve ever tasted; it is relatively light in taste yet has deep undertones that make it extremely palatable, even a person who is not very used to drinking coffee is going to enjoy it thoroughly. 

I am over the moon in love with & surprised how delicious these beans are.
  • The fact that it is single-origin guarantees that every batch is going to taste the same. 
  • It is very easy on the stomach, which makes it even easier to recommend.

Related: Read my detailed Lifeboost medium roast coffee review.

3. Cafe Du Monde Coffee (With Chicory)

Even though lifeboost coffee is the first choice when it comes to cold brew, it might not be affordable for everyone. For those who are just getting started on their cold-brewed adventure, Cafe Du Monde Coffee is the ideal choice, and it is a blend of coffee with chicory, which gives it a very distinctive yet familiar taste; it is relatively inexpensive and readily available, which means you can get one whenever you want to. 

Because of the chicory, it is a low acid coffee that has very low bitterness and is very smooth( it almost glides down). It can be used both in hot coffees and cold coffees, which makes it very versatile.

It also goes particularly well with dairy. It is not perfect though, the distinctive chicory taste may or may not appeal to you. And the presence of chicory also means that it might not be very high in its caffeine quotient. This coffee is not for hardcore enthusiasts, and it rather aims to make cold brew coffee more accessible.

4. Koffee Kult Colombia Huila Coffee Beans

Koffee Kult Colombia Coffee Beans Huila Region Medium Roast is made from 100% Huila fresh roasted coffee. This ensures a heavenly aroma that is consistent in every stage of making the coffee. Hailing from the Huila mountain heights, these beans are organic and provide a very full-bodied experience.

 Terrific product, as soon as it arrived I brewed my cold brew coffee & it was amazing!

These beans are perfectly roasted and provide a very natural and chocolate-like taste. Since Koffee Kult is a company of small roasters, freshness is a guarantee as the product is bagged after roasting, and the aroma of the beans remains intact. It is strong in taste, yet it does not come across as acidic or bitter. While drinking the cold brew coffee made from these beans, one might feel as if they are transported to the beautiful mountain itself.

5. Tiny Footprint Coffee Organic Cold Press Elixir

As its name suggests, this company is laser-focused on making the experience of coffee as guilt-free as possible. Tiny Footprint Coffee Organic Cold Press comes from a roastery that is environmental- friendly, which means that you can enjoy your cup of coffee and be proud of it so that it does not damage the environment.

Coming to taste, it is a blend of high-altitude along with 100% Arabica coffee beans that can be bought ground or can be whole depending on your preference. It is a mix of dark roast and light roasts that is exclusively made for Cold brew coffees.

It has a smooth, whole taste with some fruity undertones and a cocoa-like body. Tiny footprint additionally counterbalances the carbon utilized in producing and distributing it through planting more trees in the Ecuadorian cloud for each pound of coffee they sell. Talk about responsible indulgence! We need to vote with our wallets to make sure that manufacturers keep on embracing sustainable practices.

6. Stone Street Coffee Cold Brew Reserve Colombian Supremo Coffee – Best dark roast beans

Stone Street Coffee Colombian Supremo brings single-origin beans that are sourced from one of the world’s top growing regions in terms of quality. Their bold flavor is especially enhanced after cold brewing, and the notes of fruit caramel and chocolate shine gloriously under the chocolate undertones.

The dark roasted bean produces a well-balanced taste, which is well accentuated by the coffee’s bold flavor. Although it is a bit on the more expensive side, the extra premium paid for these single-origin beans is completely worth it, in our opinion. The strong taste may surprise people who are drawn toward cold brew because of its subtle flavor profiles.

7. Hugo Roasters Coffee Cold Brew

Hugo Roasters is a company that, along with exceptional coffee experience, brings the joy of helping to you; every pound of Hugo roasters coffee helps a shelter dog in need.

The beans are ethically sourced from Utah and have notes of chocolate, nuts, and spice, with undertones of vanilla coming to the coffee. 

8. Whiskey & Rum Barrel-Aged Cold Brew Coffee

The single-origin whole beans of this company are aged in the barrels of whiskeys and rum, which allows for the rich flavor of the beverages to be incorporated into the beans, which inevitably results in an exceptionally rich taste with the undertones of liquor and provides a strong taste.

But because of the liquor flavour novelty, it can also come off as somewhat bitter compared to a cold brew of other brands. This coffee comes in three primary flavors. Them being rum barrel-aged, stout whiskey, and rye whisky. Traditionally, liquor and coffee are not known to go well together. But ageing coffee in barrels just might be the perfect solution to incorporate these flavors in one cup.

9. Cold Buzz Coffee Hazelnut

Cold Buzz Coffee Hazelnut is the most convenient of the bunch as it comes in pre-bagged ground; this allows people who are relatively inexperienced with the whole cold brew experience to enter it with less of a learning curve as compared to other brands.

They source 100% Arabica coffee beans from South America and Central along with Europe. They know that cold brew coffee beans are costly as they require a lot bigger area than hot brewing beans, so they majorly work with many roasters as well as wholesalers to minimize expenses.

The downsides to it include limited flexibility to different brewing methods and the fact that these beans are only available pre-ground coffee beans, which might be detrimental to its freshness.

Buying guide for selecting the best coffee beans for cold brew

At the end of the day, the type of coffee you like is highly subjective. What might be the elixir of life someone might taste horrible to others. I’d recommend you try out different flavors and different varieties of cold brewing methods and beans by ordering smaller packets of the coffees that arouse your interest and decide what suits you best.

Various links for buying the above-mentioned coffees are already mentioned. One should also keep his/her budget in mind when selecting their preferred brand. Also, since cold brewed coffee is quite recently popularized, one should always be on the lookout for new and upcoming brands.

The bean type

Coffee Beans (or espresso beans) for cold brew taste best when it comes to drinking it with Arabica beans. The subtle mort notes of cold brew are better highlighted in the dark roast of coffee.

Flavor

Cold brew coffee beans come in various flavor notes that can be selected based on the individual’s preference cocoa, vanilla and hazelnut typically go well along with cold-brewed iced coffee.

Origin of the bean

Is the bean a single-origin bean, or does it a blend of different beans? Generally speaking, single-origin beans are preferred as they provide a more consistent and smooth taste.

Organic

A good cold brew is good for your health too, be sure to check if the coffee you are purchasing is organic or not.

Few Cold Brew recipes:

Frequently asked questions

All that information might be a bit too daunting, and you might have some questions in your mind. I have attempted to answer some of the most frequent ones below.

How Does Temperature Affect The Flavor Of Coffee?

The hot coffee brew is extracted at 91 to 96 degrees Celsius which is 195F – 205 F, on the other hand, cold brew coffee is done between 2 to 21 degrees Celsius which is 35F – 70 F.

Cold brew coffee gets its unique texture and pricey characteristics because it requires double grounds with long hours of brewing as compared to the hot brewing method.

Does Cold Brew have more caffeine than regular coffee?

It is said that more caffeine is extracted when we brew coffee with hot water; however, Cold brewed coffee is usually made with a higher ratio of coffee to water, which might make it a bit more strong.

The best Cold brew coffee is made by mixing the concentrate with water or milk, diluting it, and bringing the caffeine content down. One should note that caffeine content might vary from variety to variety, and more often than not, variety plays a big role in caffeine potency. 

How long does Cold-Brew concentrate last in the refrigerator?

Homemade cold brew concentrate is known to remain fresh for 24-48 hours. I would recommend you check the labels of the packets as they usually contain the methodology for that specific variant.

I'm a coffee lover, foodie, and blogger - passionate about coffee and all the things that go with it. I write about coffee, and news, learn about new coffees from across the world, do some home roasting, and share my thoughts on various other topics.

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