Cowgirl Cold Brew

Cowboy Summer

Angelenos need not attend the Stagecoach festival this year to be surrounded by chic cowboys and cowgirls sipping on cold brew all summer. Western flair is trending in fashion and music – so why not coffee?

“Cowboy coffee” (a.k.a. “campfire coffee”) may not be trendy anymore, but it’s been around for centuries as one of the simplest ways to brew a reasonably palatable cup with just a campfire, water, and coffee grounds. Since the days of the Wild West, cowboy coffee has been made by combining boiled water with coffee grounds, letting the grounds steep and sink to the bottom, and then sipping off the somewhat clarified coffee from the top. 

Despite the rustic allure of cowboy coffee, I opted to refine this method into a more elegant and palatable recipe. “Cowgirl Cold Brew” is made in a similar style to cowboy coffee but requires no campfire. Instead, you’ll need a coffee filter (if you don’t want to decant the coffee) and a cowboy classic: bourbon whisky.

Bourbon barrel-aged brews are booming

Barrel-aged coffee has been on the rise in recent years because resting unroasted coffee beans in barrels that once stored liquor (often bourbon) infuses the beans with loads of boozy flavor but none of the alcohol. While it’s not reasonable for everyone to barrel age at home, we can still add a splash of bourbon for flavor – but hold your horses, this recipe yields about ⅓ shot per serving, so it’s not meant for getting rowdy. 

The science behind Cowgirl Cold Brew extraction 

If you haven’t already fine-tuned your favorite cold brew recipe, I suggest a grounds-to-water ratio of 1:10 by weight and a brewing time of 12 - 20 hours. Because we’re adding alcohol into the mix, I looked to other coffee nerds who suggested extracting coffee at a 1:10 ratio in a low-ABV solution for about 12 hours. 

Water – the “solvent” that extracts the coffee compounds during the brewing process – is one of the best food-safe solvents. However, not all components of plant materials can be extracted with only water, so “dual-extraction” sometimes works better. In this case, water efficiently extracts polar molecules while alcohol helps extract the less-polar compounds that contribute flavor and health benefits, like polyphenols.

Alcohol helps prevent spoilage, so it’s safer to store the steeping grounds in cool overnight temperatures without a refrigerator. Plus, alcohol helps extract the coffee faster so that you can produce a well-extracted cold brew quickly if you need to giddy up! 

Ingredients (makes ~3 servings) 

• 45 g coffee (I prefer a fruity light roast for cold brews) 
• 405 g cold water
• ~45 g (1 shot) bourbon whiskey 
• Maple syrup, to taste
• Milk of choice, to taste
• Ice 

Equipment 

• Cocktail shaker or milk frother
• A sealable food-safe container, preferably a glass jar 
• Food scale (or just eyeball the proportions – yeehaw!) 

Directions 

• Grind the coffee medium-coarse. 
• Add grounds to the jar, followed by 1 shot of bourbon. Stir, and let it sit for a few minutes.
• Add water, stir, and tightly close the jar. 
• Let it steep in a refrigerator or cool place for at least 8 hours, checking for taste periodically for up to 20 hours (I stopped mine at 12). The grounds will sink to the bottom after a few hours, at which point you can give it one last stir. 
• Decant or filter the coffee from the grounds. 
• Dilute the cold brew with water to taste.
• Add milk and maple syrup to taste, then froth or shake it until a foam layer forms. 
• Add ice and saddle up for a ride to Flavortown!