Iced Coffee Season Is Here: 4 Cold Brew Recipes Using Sweetwater Beans

At Sweetwater Organic Coffee, every bag we sell is fair trade certified, USDA Organic, and shade-grown by small-scale farmer cooperatives we have been buying from for years. That sourcing matters to us, and it matters in the cup. The clean, layered flavors that come from healthy soil and careful processing are exactly what cold brewing is designed to highlight.

Below are four cold brew and iced coffee recipes built around specific coffees we know hold up beautifully when the water turns cold. Whether you are setting up your first jar of cold brew concentrate or pouring sweetened condensed milk over ice for a Vietnamese-style café sữa đá, there is something here to get you through summer.

Why Cold Brew Tastes Different (and Why Bean Choice Matters Even More)

Cold brew is not just iced hot coffee. The two methods produce noticeably different drinks, even when you use the same beans.

Hot brewing extracts coffee compounds quickly using heat, which pulls out brightness, acidity, and aromatic oils — but also some of the bitter notes. Cold brewing uses time instead of temperature, steeping coarsely ground coffee in cold water for twelve to twenty-four hours. The result is a smoother, sweeter, lower-acid brew that tends to amplify chocolate, caramel, and nut flavors while softening the sharper edges.

That is why bean selection matters so much for cold brew. Coffees with naturally sweet, syrupy bodies and chocolate-leaning notes tend to shine. Brighter, more delicate single origins can also work beautifully when you want a tea-like, fruit-forward iced coffee. The four recipes below cover both ends of that spectrum.

The Cold Brew Basics: Equipment and Ratios

Before we get to the recipes, here is the foundation — useful background if you are brewing from whole bean. (If you would rather skip the equipment and ratios entirely, jump to Recipe #1: our Guatemala Cold Brew Filter Packs handle all of this for you.) You can make cold brew with almost anything — a Mason jar, a French press, a dedicated cold brew maker, or even a clean pitcher with a fine-mesh strainer.

The standard cold brew concentrate ratio is 1:4 by weight: One part coffee to four parts water. For a one-quart batch, that works out to roughly one cup of coarsely ground coffee to four cups of filtered water. You will dilute the concentrate 1:1 with water or milk when serving, which gives you about two quarts of finished cold brew per batch.

Grind matters: Cold brew calls for a coarse grind — roughly the texture of raw sugar. A finer grind will over-extract and turn muddy or bitter. If you are buying whole bean (which we recommend for any brewing method), ask your local roaster or grinder for a French press grind setting.

Steep time: twelve hours at room temperature, or sixteen to twenty-four hours in the refrigerator. Longer steeps yield stronger, more intense concentrate.

Filter twice, once through the basket or cheesecloth to catch the grounds, then once more through a paper filter to clarify. The second pass makes a real difference in mouthfeel.

1. The Easiest Cold Brew You Will Ever Make: Guatemala Cold Brew Filter Packs

If you only make one cold brew this summer, make it this one — and skip the grinding, the cheesecloth, and the cleanup entirely. Our Cold Brew Guatemala Filter Packs are purpose-built for exactly this moment in the year. Each one-pound bag contains five pre-portioned 3.2-ounce filter packs of coarsely ground, fair trade, organic Guatemalan coffee. Drop one in cold water, walk away, come back later to iced coffee. That is the entire process.

The coffee inside is grown in the Highlands of Guatemala by small-scale farmers of either the Chajul or APECAFORM cooperatives. When cold-brewed, it shows deep notes of dark chocolate with sweet, orange-like undertones — and significantly lower acidity than the same coffee brewed hot. It is the flavor profile cold brew was built to showcase, and the filter pack format means you get those flavors with zero fuss and zero mess.

You will need:

• 1 Sweetwater Cold Brew Guatemala Filter Pack (3.2 oz)
• 24–36 oz cold, filtered water (less water = stronger brew)
• A pitcher, large Mason jar, or any sealed container

Method:

1. Drop one filter pack into your pitcher and pour in 24 to 36 ounces of cold, filtered water. Make sure the pack is fully submerged.
2. Cover and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours. Longer steeps yield bolder, deeper flavor.
3. Remove the filter pack and toss it in the compost — the pack is the only thing you have to clean up.
4. Pour over a tall glass of ice and serve. Add a splash of milk, oat milk, or simple syrup if you like, but you may not need to.

Your finished cold brew will keep in the refrigerator for up to seven days, though it tastes best within the first three.

Want to make a concentrate instead? Drop the filter pack in just 16 ounces of water and steep for 12 to 24 hours. Dilute 1:1 with water (or milk) over ice when you serve. Concentrate keeps for up to a week in the fridge — perfect for short notice and small kitchens.

Throwing a party? Use all five filter packs from one bag with 90 ounces of water and steep at least 12 hours. After removing the packs, add 64 ounces of fresh filtered water to the concentrate and you will have roughly one gallon of cold brew — about 16 to 20 servings. It is the easiest way we know to keep a porch full of guests caffeinated through a Saturday afternoon.

2. Bright and Fruity Iced Pour-Over with Ethiopia Sidama Light Roast

Not every cold coffee needs to be dark and chocolatey. For a bright, tea-like iced coffee that tastes like a stone-fruit smoothie, our Ethiopia Sidama Light Roast is unbeatable. Sourced from the Sidama Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union (SCFCU) in southern Ethiopia, this single-origin features sweet chocolate, lemondrop candy, and floral notes — and those delicate flavors come through best with the Japanese-style flash chill method, not slow steeping.

You will need:

• 30g coarsely ground Ethiopia Sidama Light Roast (about 4 tablespoons)
• 250g filtered water, just off the boil (about 200°F)
• 250g ice (yes, weigh it — it matters)
• A pour-over dripper (V60, Kalita, or Chemex) and filter
• A heatproof carafe or server

Method:

1. Place the ice directly in your carafe or server, beneath the dripper.
2. Set the filter, rinse it with hot water, and add the grounds.
3. Pour 60g of hot water over the grounds, let them bloom for 30 seconds, then slowly pour the remaining 190g of water in steady circles.
4. The hot coffee drips directly onto the ice, flash-chilling as it brews. Once dripping stops, swirl gently and serve immediately over fresh ice in a glass.

The flash chill locks in the volatile aromatic compounds that make Ethiopian coffees so distinctive — the floral, citrus, and berry notes that would otherwise fade during a long cold steep.

3. Vietnamese-Style Iced Coffee (Cà Phê Sữa Đá) with Cafe Cubano French Roast

One of the most beloved iced coffee drinks in the world is also one of the simplest: strong, dark coffee poured over sweetened condensed milk and ice. Traditionally made with a Vietnamese phin filter, the drink works just as well with any concentrated brewing method — and the bold, syrupy character of our Cafe Cubano French Roast is a perfect match.

You will need:

• 2 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk (adjust to taste)
• 2 ounces (about 60ml) of strong brewed Cafe Cubano French Roast — use a Moka pot, AeroPress, or double-strength drip
• A tall glass filled with ice
• Optional: a pinch of cinnamon or a splash of vanilla extract

Method:

1. Spoon the sweetened condensed milk into the bottom of your glass.
2. Brew the coffee strong and hot, then pour it directly over the condensed milk. Stir well until fully combined — this is the most important step.
3. Fill the glass to the top with ice, give it one more stir, and serve.

The dark chocolate and roasted-nut character of the Cafe Cubano cuts through the sweetness of the condensed milk in exactly the way the drink is supposed to work. It is a small ritual that turns a hot afternoon around.

4. Maya Vinic Cold Brew with Orange Zest and Honey

This last recipe is a small celebration of one of our most quietly extraordinary coffees. Our Mexico Full City Roast from the Maya Vinic cooperative in Chiapas carries notes of orange blossom, honey, and toasted nuts — and that profile lends itself to a cold brew that needs almost nothing added. We add a curl of orange peel during the steep and a small drizzle of local honey at the finish, and the result is a drink that tastes like a Mexican sobremesa in a glass.

You will need:

• 1 cup (about 85g) coarsely ground Mexico Maya Vinic Full City Roast
• 4 cups filtered water
• A 3-inch strip of orange peel (use a vegetable peeler, avoid the bitter white pith)
• 1–2 teaspoons honey, to taste
• Whole milk or oat milk (optional, to serve)

Method:

1. Combine the grounds, water, and orange peel in a large jar. Stir to saturate.
2. Cover and refrigerate for 16 to 18 hours.
3. Remove the orange peel, then strain through cheesecloth and a paper filter as in Recipe #1.
4. To serve: fill a glass with ice, pour two parts concentrate to one part water (or milk), and stir in honey to taste.

The orange and honey do not overpower the coffee — they amplify the flavors that are already there, the way a squeeze of lemon brightens a good piece of fish.

A Few More Tips for Better Cold Brew at Home

• Buy whole bean and grind right before brewing. Pre-ground coffee loses its volatile aromatic compounds within minutes of grinding. The flavor difference is dramatic.
• Filter your water. Cold brew is mostly water, and tap water with chlorine or off-flavors will come through clearly in the finished drink.
• Do not over-steep. Past 24 hours, cold brew can develop a slightly woody, bitter edge. Strain on time.
• Try a flavored ice cube. Freeze leftover concentrate in an ice cube tray and use those cubes in your next glass — your iced coffee will not get watered down as it sits.
• Keep an eye on our seasonal offerings. Our limited Starry Night Summer Seasonal Blend — built with COMSA Honduras and ANEI Colombia coffees — is purpose-built for warm-weather brewing and makes an exceptional cold brew on its own.

Cold Coffee, Warm Values

Whichever recipe you start with, the through-line is the same: every bean in your glass came from a small-scale farmer cooperative we know by name, grown under shade trees that protect biodiversity, and processed with the kind of care that shows up in the cup. Cold brewing rewards that quality. The cleaner the coffee, the cleaner the glass.

If you are looking to stock up for the season, our Subscribe & Save program lets you set a regular delivery of any of the coffees featured above, so you never run out of cold brew material at the height of summer.

Cheers, and here is to a long, slow, well-brewed summer.