Everyone is all about cold brew coffee these days. Well, I’ve stepped up my cold brew game by adding some chocolatey flavor and warming spices to the mix. My spiced cacao cold brew coffee concentrate is rich and smooth with subtle notes of chocolate, nutmeg and cinnamon. Not on the cold brew bandwagon yet? That’s okay. Cold brew is exactly what it sounds like – coffee brewed in cold filtered water instead of hot. This method is great for those of us who love iced coffee. It provides a smooth flavor that also happens to be less acidic.
I added cacao nibs to my coffee grounds to give my cold brew a mocha-like flavor. The nibs, which are dried crushed cacao beans, add a unique bitterness and chocolatey flavor to the coffee. FYI, cacao nibs are not sweet at all – they’re basically what chocolate actually tastes like before adding sugar. So if you prefer a sweet cup of joe, you’ll need to add sweetener. To spice things up a bit, I added a big pinch of freshly grated nutmeg and a cinnamon stick. I didn’t have any vanilla bean on hand, otherwise I would have added that too. I think next time I might experiment with adding a little cayenne. I feel like the flavor possibilities are endless.
I usually prefer masala chai or buttered chai to coffee but lately, this iced coffee has been my morning caffeine of choice. That said, because I’m not much of a coffee drinker, my cold brew may be a little on the weaker end of the caffeine spectrum. You can always add more ground coffee to your concentrate if you prefer a stronger brew. This makes about 1 ¼ cups of concentrate, which lasts me about a week. If you’re a big coffee drinker, you’ll probably want to double the recipe. Store this in an air-tight container in the fridge and it should last a week or two. Like this recipe? Pin it to your favorite Pinterest board now so you will remember to make it later!
