The cruelest joke of coffee is just how annoying it can be to brew it when you haven’t had your coffee yet.
I love coffee, but I am not a morning person, and although coffee is supposed to help with that, there are days when I just can’t muster up the energy to grind, measure, and brew.
That’s one of the big reasons why I’ve switched to cold brew. I keep a bottle in the fridge and just pour it over ice in the morning. It doesn’t get much easier than that—except it does.
The one problem I have with making my own cold brew is that it requires time. Most of that time is passive, but it takes at least 12 hours to make cold brew, and sometimes I forget to start a batch the night before I’m going to need it.
I figured that a cold brew subscription like Cold Brew Club would allow me to be my laziest, groggiest self in the morning while still enjoying a spectacular cup of coffee and without any forethought, so I just had to give it a shot. Read on for my Cold Brew Club review & unboxing.
Bottom Line Up Front
I loved Cold Brew Club, but I do wish they offered more products—at the very least, different-sized containers or different roasts.
I guess I do need to admire their commitment to making one product and making it well, and I must say, the 3L bib of cold brew concentrate was delicious and some of the most convenient coffee I’ve ever made.
Join the exclusive Cold Brew Club and experience a refreshing journey into the world of perfectly crafted, rich and smooth cold brews. Unlock the secret to enjoying the finest cold coffee creations, all while being part of a passionate community that shares your love for the ultimate chilled caffeination.
First Things First: Is Cold Brew the Same as Iced Coffee?
Cold brew and iced coffee are not the same thing, though both can be enjoyed over ice. The difference between the two lies in their brewing methods. Iced coffee is brewed with hot water, either directly over ice or to be poured over ice later.
Cold brew is made by steeping coarsely ground coffee in cold or room temperature water for several hours (usually 12 to 24).
The water slowly extracts the coffee’s flavor and caffeine, resulting in a very flavorful, potently caffeinated, but very smooth coffee. Cold brew tends to be bolder, sweeter, and more caffeinated, whereas iced coffee tends to be lighter and more acidic.
Cold brew is often brewed as a strong concentrate that is meant to be cut with water, milk, or both. For example, Cold Brew Club’s cold brew concentrate is meant to be served as one part concentrate mixed with two parts water—more on that later.
Do I Need to Drink My Cold Brew Cold?
Before we move one, there’s one more thing I’d like to address. You absolutely do not need to drink your cold brew cold. I like to think of each pour of cold brew concentrate as a shot of espresso.
Since I’m usually a black iced coffee drinker, I mix that shot with ice and cold water (the cold brew equivalent to an iced Americano).
If you want hot coffee, mix it with hot water, just like a hot Americano! I’ve poured steamed milk over cold brew concentrate to create a latte, drank a shot of straight concentrate over ice, and even microwaved my cold brew concentrate—all delicious!
About Cold Brew Club
Cold Brew Club is a cold brew coffee concentrate subscription service that ships anywhere in the United States. Here’s everything you need to know about them.
Cold Brew Club Key Features
- Only one type of coffee: single-origin Brazilian coffee brewed using the cold drip method.
- Only one size: 3L “bib in a box” cold brew concentrate fridge packs.
- A subscription is $50.15 (plus $5 shipping) vs. a one-time purchase, which is $59 (plus $5 shipping).
- Ships everywhere in the United States.
- Delivery every two, four, or eight weeks.
The Coffee
Cold Brew Club uses single-origin coffee beans from Fazenda Passeio (or Passeio Farm) in Sul de Minas, Brazil.
What is single-origin coffee, and why should you care? Single-origin coffee is coffee that comes from a single geographical location—in this case, Passeio Farm in Brazil.
Since coffee beans have distinct flavor profiles depending on the type of bean, where it was grown, and how it was processed, drinking single-origin coffee is the best way to experience the true expression of that particular bean.
It also makes it easier to trace the beans and make sure that workers who harvest them are paid a living wage!
Whether you prefer to drink single-origin coffee boils down to personal preference. Still, I think it’s pretty interesting how different coffees grown in different locations can taste from one another!
The Water
I guess when your product only has two ingredients, it makes sense that you would make sure you source the best that you can for both of them.
Cold Brew Club’s coffee is made with water filtered through sand dunes in the Netherlands. The sand acts as a natural filter, purifying the water without the need for chlorine or other chemicals.
The Cold Drip Method
Want to know something crazy? Cold Brew Club’s coffee isn’t brewed using the standard cold brew method—at least not the one most people are familiar with.
As I said above, generally, when you make cold brew, you steep ground coffee in cool or room-temperature water over a period of many hours before straining out the grounds.
Cold Brew Club’s coffee is made using a method known as the cold drip method, in which cold water is slowly dripped over coffee grounds and through a strainer.
It’s actually a technique that was developed centuries ago in Japan (it’s sometimes referred to as “Kyoto coffee”).
The slow dripping of the water means that the coffee has enough time to absorb the water before it travels through the grounds and is filtered into a container below.
It works similarly to your traditional drip coffee pot, except at a much slower rate and with cold water. Cold drip coffee can be brewed in just a few hours, unlike cold brew, which can take an entire day.
The end result of the cold drip method is a smooth, strong coffee concentrate that contains around twice the caffeine of a regular cup of coffee.
It’s mellow and slightly sweet but doesn’t have as much acidity or bitterness as hot brewed coffee.
The Subscription
Cold Brew Club currently only sells one product, and that’s their three-liter box of cold brew concentrate.
The concentrate is meant to be mixed with water (or other liquid of your choice) at a 1:2 ratio—so one part concentrate mixed with two parts water. One box makes about nine liters of cold brew, which equals approximately 38 cups of coffee.
You can have the coffee delivered anywhere in the United States and set your subscription for a delivery every two, four, or eight weeks. The subscription costs $50.15 per order (plus a $5 delivery fee).
You can also order a one-time purchase of Cold Brew Club concentrate for $59 plus delivery.
If you want to change your delivery schedule or cancel your subscription, you can do it right on their website.
Although they currently only offer the one product, their subscription service makes it seem like they might be planning to add more in the future.
Join the exclusive Cold Brew Club and experience a refreshing journey into the world of perfectly crafted, rich and smooth cold brews. Unlock the secret to enjoying the finest cold coffee creations, all while being part of a passionate community that shares your love for the ultimate chilled caffeination.
My Cold Brew Club Review & Unboxing
I decided to order a box of Cold Brew Club coffee concentrate to try it out for myself.
Website
The Cold Brew Club website is very easy to navigate—and the fact that they only offer one product means it would be pretty difficult to mess up your order.
They have information about their brew process and their coffee and a page where you can place your order.
There’s also a blog component of the site, which seems to be a bit out of date. A few of the posts linked to different coffee products that Cold Brew Club either no longer carries or doesn’t carry yet.
Unboxing
My Cold Brew Club order arrived in a plain, medium-sized cardboard box with no writing on it other than the shipping label. Inside was my box of cold brew concentrate, cushioned with some simple brown kraft paper.
I’m all for minimal packaging, so I kind of loved this—there wasn’t a ton of waste, and in a way, it made everything feel more personal and hand-packaged.
The cold brew concentrate came in a “bib in a box” setup. If you’ve ever had boxed wine, it was exactly like that.
There was a convenient perforated opening so that you could keep the pouch in the box and just stick the spout out, but I struggled a bit to position the spout so that I could poke it through the hole.
I ended up popping the whole box open and pulling out the pouch to reorient it before getting the spout through the opening, but all in all, this was the most challenging part of making this coffee, so I’ll consider that a win.
The Good Stuff: What Does Cold Brew Club Taste Like?
My Cold Brew Club coffee was probably the most convenient cup of coffee I’ve ever made.
I usually drink my coffee black and decided that would be the best way to really taste this one. I poured some of the concentrate over ice, added about twice as much cold, filtered water as concentrate, and gave it a quick stir.
The first thing that I noticed (other than how easy it was) was that the coffee had a very distinct chocolatey aroma.
I didn’t add any sweetener or anything to it, but it even smelled sweet! It was a rich brown color but was clear and free of any of the fogginess or little floaty bits I sometimes see in my iced coffee.
Right away, the coffee tasted like caramel and milk chocolate—the flavor kind of reminded me of a Rolo candy, though obviously not as sweet.
It had a distinctive “melt-in-your-mouth” chocolate quality to it that I wasn’t expecting, most likely brought on by a combination of how smooth it was and its slight sweetness.
I didn’t detect any burnt or bitter flavors, and there was minimal acidity. One thing I did notice, however, was that I did get a bit of a distinctly tart aftertaste after the very last sip of some of the glasses I drank, but not all of them.
I’m not sure if it was the way my palette was reacting on certain days or if it was the amount of water I added, but I did get a burst of acid that almost tasted sour a few times.
I almost always drink my coffee black, but I wanted to see how this held up with other things added to it. I went and got the most intensely-flavored coffee creamer I could find, a chai-spice oat milk creamer, to try it out.
I was very pleasantly surprised at how well the coffee worked with the creamer. I could still taste the caramel flavors of the coffee, even when paired with a heavily spiced and slightly sweet creamer.
One thing to note, though, if you do typically take your coffee with milk and sweetener, I would start off lighter than you’re used to. Since the coffee already tastes pretty smooth and sweet on its own, you might find that you don’t need to add as much to it.
Cold Brew Club Pros
- The coffee is delicious, with milk chocolate and caramel notes.
- It really doesn’t get more convenient than cold brew on tap in your fridge.
- If you’re like me and you drink multiple cups of coffee a day, a concentrate will save some money and fridge space over buying jugs of cold brew.
- Cold brew is ideal for anyone with acid reflux or stomach issues since it’s less acidic than traditional coffee.
- I’m already a black coffee drinker, but I thought that Cold Brew Club’s coffee was sweet and smooth enough on its own that you probably won’t need to add much (if any) sweetener or milk.
Cold Brew Club Cons
- It’s more expensive than making your own cold brew at home.
- Cold brew club only offers one product.
- I did detect a bit of a tart aftertaste some of the times I tried the coffee.
Alternatives to Cold Brew Club I’d Recommend
If you’re looking for more variety than Cold Brew Club offers or want to save a bit of money, consider one of these alternatives:
La Colombe
La Colombe is one of my favorite coffee shops and coffee roasters, and they also happen to offer one of the best cold brew subscriptions.
You can choose from various roasts of their “cold brew on tap” fridge packs (similar to Cold Brew Club’s bib in a box format), including one that’s a “little bit sweet” with a touch of added sugar.
They also have single-serve cans of cold brew and bottles of cold brew concentrate that can be delivered every one to four weeks.
In addition to their cold brew subscriptions, La Colombe sells subscriptions to whole or ground coffee beans and various canned draft lattes. You can also purchase all of these things and more at their online shop.
Wandering Bear
Wandering Bear specializes in flavored cold brew (though they also make the plain black stuff too!) All of their coffees are sugar and dairy free (even the flavored ones) and are 100% organic.
You can choose from more than half a dozen different flavors and subscribe to their cold brew on tap boxes, 32 oz cartons, or 11 oz single-serve cartons.
In addition to the savings associated with a subscription (which saves you around 10%), they offer bundle and save deals when you order multiple items.
My Bev Box
My Bev Box is the perfect subscription for anyone who wants to get cold brew delivered but isn’t brand loyal and would prefer to try some different things.
Each month, they’ll ship you five different single-serve canned coffees to try. Most of them are cold brews, but you’ll also find some canned lattes and may even find the occasional tea or juice product in the package.
It’s not a subscription to take the place of your everyday coffee since you’ll only get five cans a month, but it’s a great way to try new things and keep some coffee treats on hand in your fridge.
Make Your Own at Home!
If a cold brew subscription just isn’t in the budget for you right now, you can always make your own cold brew at home. All you need (other than a bit of time) is coffee, water, something to steep the cold brew in, and something to filter it through.
One nice thing about brewing your own cold brew (besides the fact that it will save you money) is that you can adjust the recipe to suit your taste. Like your coffee stronger?
Add less water. Want to try a different roast? Go for it! Here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Grind your coffee coarse around the consistency of kosher salt. If you’re buying pre-ground coffee, look for something ground for a French press.
- Start with around a 1:6 or 1:8 ratio of ground coffee to water, and adjust as need be. It’s usually a good idea to weigh everything out, but I know a lot of people who just do one pound of coffee per gallon of water (or half that recipe).
- Let the coffee steep on the counter or in the fridge for 12 to 24 hours, then strain, taste, and dilute it to your liking.
- I like to strain mine through a paper filter in my Chemex coffee maker, but you can pour yours through whatever type of coffee filter you have—pour-over systems with filters work great for smaller batches. If you want to invest in a cold brew maker, I love the Toddy system. I had one for years before I (tragically) lost it in a move.
FAQs
Question: Is cold brew stronger than coffee?
Answer: Every cup of coffee is going to be different, depending on how long it was brewed, how much water was added, and the coffee beans themselves.
However, cold brewing generally results in bolder-tasting and more caffeinated coffee than other traditional brew methods.
Question: Why is cold brew more expensive?
Answer: You may have noticed that coffee shops charge more for a cold brew than for other brew methods.
This is because cold brew takes a lot of time to make—usually between 12 and 24 hours. Maybe people also brew their cold brew as a concentrate and end up using more coffee than they might for other brew methods.
Question: Should I add milk or cream to cold brew?
Answer: You can add whatever you want to your cold brew! (Seriously—I like to add lemonade to mine!)
However, since cold brew is already sweet and smooth on its own, you might find that you don’t need to add anything to it or that you prefer it with less milk or sweetener than you’re used to using.
Final Thoughts
I loved the coffee that I got from Cold Brew Club. It was super smooth and slightly sweet tasting with an incredible flavor—my fiance, who used to work in coffee, also loved it. It was so convenient to essentially have cold brew waiting for us on tap in our fridge.
I do wish that they offered a few more products, like single-serve cold brew, different roasts, or even some flavored coffees for people who want to mix it up a bit.
That being said, I’m a straight black iced coffee drinker, so Cold Brew Club was perfect for me.
Join the exclusive Cold Brew Club and experience a refreshing journey into the world of perfectly crafted, rich and smooth cold brews. Unlock the secret to enjoying the finest cold coffee creations, all while being part of a passionate community that shares your love for the ultimate chilled caffeination.
Lauren is also a bona fide mixologist, bringing her professional bartending skills to the table as one of our resident drink testers. In Lauren's world, life is a celebration, and her home is the party hub.
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