Cold-Brew Coffee Is Way Easier to Make Than You Think

If you live in a major city, you've probably noticed the rise of hipster-minimal coffee shops the annoying consequences that come with them: the tables populated with laptops, $3 drip coffees, and—in some cases—the removal of comfortable chairs. You know the places we're talking about. But let's be honest, there are also more than a few benefits to these new cafes, and perhaps chief among them is the recent prevalence of cold-brew coffee. Hell, you can even find a bottled version of cold brew at a decent grocery store these days.

Let's get something straight: just because your coffee is chilled, that doesn't mean it's cold brew. The swill you buy at the diner or at the bodega (that's a corner store, if you don't live in New York) for a buck or two? That's just coffee that's refrigerated and becoming increasingly watered down as your ice melts. Cold brew is the heavenly stuff you keep paying close to $4 for a cup for despite your better judgement.

And you know why you pay so much? Because it's worth it. Well that, and because, as Dan Solomito, owner of S,T Coffee says, cold brew "takes careful preparation, attention to detail, and patience to make." That's also why you probably aren't making your own at home.

But here's secret: it's not nearly as difficult as it seems, especially if you get a Toddy cold-brewing system, an inexpensive device that filters your grounds after they've steeped. Don't have anything that fancy? You can also just use a French press.

So stop paying $4 for a cup of cold brew, and start making it yourself.