A delicious recipe inspired by our latest trip to Japan. Different to a classic cold brew, the coffee grounds here steep directly in the milk, achieving a richer, fruitier, and creamier drink.
— “Milk brew? What’s that?”
It’s what we thought while looking at the takeaway coffee menu at Leaves Coffee Roasters, in Tokyo, a few days after the SCAJ expo. The wait line for sitting inside was way too long, and it was our last day in the city, so walking the unexpectedly quiet backstreets towards the temples in Asakusa with a yum coffee seemed like a good compromise between specialty coffee nerding and classic tourist sightseeing.
— “It’s a sort of cold brew, but instead of water, the coffee grounds steep directly in the milk.”
Interesting. We’ve been working with coffee for years, and we’ve never tried it. Not even thought of it. It was a hot, muggy day at the end of their summer, so it felt like a good choice (plus an additional ‘proper’ cold brew for the full experience). And oh boy it was: rich, fruity, intense, creamy, refreshing.
If you enjoy milky coffees and it gets hot and sweaty in your city, you’ll enjoy this recipe—our own version of Leave’s milk brew, tailored to our roasting style and designed to evoke all those sensations. Domo arigato gozaimasu for your service and inspiration.
Recipe for 1L of milk brew
Gear
• Cold brewer (or 2 containers plus filtering gear)
• Grinderℹ︎
• Scales
• Stirring tool
• Mug(s)!
Goods
• 70g of single origin coffee beans
• 1kg of milk ♨︎
ℹ︎: If you don’t have a grinder, that’s OK! You can always use pre-ground coffee, though we recommend freshly ground because it does elevate the flavour of each brew.
♨︎: In our recipes, we measure liquids in grams because we use scales, and it’s easy to achieve precision this way. However, if you don’t have scales, the conversion is easy: 1g=1mL.
Method
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Get your gear and goods ready.
If you’re not using a dedicated cold brewer, you can use any sort of container or jar (we prefer glass) and a V60 or Chemex for the filtering step.
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Grind 70g of coffee (filter size) and put it in the brewing container.
For this recipe, we prefer a natural process single origin. We feel it brings a lot more fruitiness and fun, but of course, you can try with any other style and experience the nuances by yourself.
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Add 1kg (1L) of milk (we use Jersey cow full cream). Stirr gently.
You’re welcome to try it with a different type of animal or nut milk, but we haven’t tried it, so we can’t vouch for the same results! If you do, please write to tell us how you went.
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Leave it in the fridge for ~16h.
A shorter steeping period will produce a lighter brew, while a longer period will result in a more intense brew. We found that around ~16 hours was the sweet spot for our style of coffee roasting and milk choice.
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Filter out the grounds.
We use a dedicated cold brewer that comes with a paper and cloth filter surface. If you have a Chemex or Hario V60 filter, pour the liquid through it to filter out the grounds. Pour slowly, and replace the filter paper if it gets too full. Do it twice if you feel like getting cleaner results.
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Add a large ice cube and enjoy!
A large cocktail-style ice cube will melt more slowly, allowing the brew to stay rich and creamy for the large part of your drinking experience.
Tips & notes
Scale it up or down using a 1:14.3 ratio.
This recipe scales up and down easily, as long as you stick with the ratio of 1:14.3 (coffee to milk). No matter how much you’re brewing, we still recommend the same steep time: around 16 hours inside the fridge.
Keep it for 3-4 days inside the fridge.
Beyond this timeframe, it will probably start going sour and ferment-like. No bueno.
A natural process single origin brings a lot of fruitiness and nice complexity.
We’re quite known for loving our washed process coffees (which dominate our lineup!). But, interestingly, naturals make this drink a bit more elevated and interesting. Don’t make this stop you from trying other styles though: experiment and find your favourite version, always!
Go beyond.
This may be a good combination for some coffee-inspired cocktails or mocktails.
