I have a small obsession with Chameleon Cold Brew coffee.  Unfortunately, it’s not really a necessity for our family so we choose to not include it in our budget.  But…but…I still really want it!  So I’ve been hoping to recreate some of the mocha cold brew coffee at home.  It took some fenagaling! But I got it to a point I’m happy with.

As a full disclaimer, this won’t taste exactly like what you’re used to getting with Chameleon Cold Brew…mostly due to a higher level of acidity. (See note on acidity below.) And if given the opportunity, I’d take a Chameleon Cold Brew any day.  (I’m just being honest here.)  But if you’re on a tight budget like me, this seems to be a pretty good alternative.

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Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup finely ground coffee (preferably organic…I’ve gotten better–aka: decreased acidity–results with a “mild” roast)
• 6 tablespoons ground raw cocoa nibs (I used my coffee grinder to get it ground up finely)
• 3 cups cold water
• optional: 1-2 tablespoons organic sugar or honey to sweeten

What Else You’ll Need:

• cheesecloth
• rubberband
• 2 glass jars, one should have a wider mouth than the other (I reuse pretty much all glass bottles from products I buy.)

Steps:

1. Place your ground coffee and cocoa nibs into the jar with the smaller opening.

2. Add in your 3 cups of water and mix it all together. (If you’re using a sweetener, add it here.)

3. Take your cheesecloth and fold it in 4…place over the opening of the bottle.  (Note: depending on the weave of your cheesecloth and how finely you’ve ground the coffee and cocoa nibs, you might only need to fold the cheesecloth twice, or maybe not at all. You can change this at any time so it doesn’t really matter at first.)

4. Rubberband the cheesecloth in place.

5. Invert the bottle into the second bottle with a larger mouth.

6. Leave and let drip for 24-48 hours.  The acidity level decreases the longer you leave it.  If it hasn’t all flowed through by the time you’re ready to drink, you can just strain the remaining contents with the cheesecloth.

I keep mine in the fridge and dilute it about 1:1 or 1:2 with water or coconut milk.  (My husband prefers grass fed whole milk or cream.)

Note on acidity: most of the left over acidity in this recipe is actually from the cocoa nibs.  When I dropped the cocoa nibs and just brewed regular coffee this way, I didn’t have the same level of acidity.  It also does help to add the sweetener as far as taste goes but it’s important to realize that it doesn’t actually alter the acidity level.