Would you believe that for 45 years I hated coffee?  Okay, being a baby doesn’t count so let’s go with 30 years and start with high school graduation.

It always smelled good, and I loved coffee flavored treats, especially mocha flavors, but I hated the taste of actual coffee.

The other thing I disliked was that it was a hot beverage. I love cold drinks, preferably with ice. By the time I was in my 30’s I figured there was no point even trying to like it.

I first heard about cold brew coffee from an acquaintance sometime in the late 1990’s. He made a concentrate and mixed it with hot water. He claimed it was less acidic that way. He was a doctor and coffee was still bad for you at the time so perhaps that was his way of justifying his habit.

Fast forward to 2015 and coffee was nearly a health food. Well, at least it was no longer terrible for you and had antioxidants. But that was not enough to get me to convert.

Plagued with middle aged weight gain I had read that caffeine could release fat into the bloodstream, which combined with exercise could reduce body fat. Whether that was true or not, it got me considering it at least.

More than that though, I was drinking way too much diet cola and decided I was going to make a concerted effort to like coffee. I wanted to drink much less cola (because we still haven’t discovered the health benefits of that unfortunately). I remembered the cold brew and starting researching.

I can’t say I loved it at first sip. But I tried it a few more times and it quickly became an addiction. Perhaps even an obsession?  I started playing around with finding the perfect cup of cold brew coffee, discovering the variables (one of my earliest posts) that made a difference.

What I also discovered was no one was really covering cold brew coffee with any depth or breadth. I started this site in 2016 to fill that void.

Now, some 3000 or so batches of cold brew coffee later I still love it.

If you love cold coffee, I hope you will enjoy my little experiments in my quest for the best.

Renae

multi-passionate, cold brew lover, introvert, author

Editorial Info

When I started this site in 2016, who knew robots would take over the world? In the interest of full transparency, here are my editorial standards and policies.

Use of the word “Review” on this site

• Any article labeled with “review” means that I have tested and used the product. I buy all products with my own funds.
• Any article about products or equipment that do not explicitly state review are buying guides. I am applying my 10 years of cold brew geekiness to give an educated and informed opinion to help you make decisions.

Use of AI in writing

• As a one woman operation, I value tools that can speed up my workflow. I do not, nor will not publish pure AI written content. It’s boring and often inaccurate. Plus, it’s never made a cup of cold brew in its life.
• Some articles may be AI assisted (e.g. brainstorming titles, idea generation) but is 100% human edited by me. This helps me write faster, while keeping the quality high. Let’s just say by the time I am done editing & writing, the robot’s mother wouldn’t recognize it.

Use of AI in images

• Generally I take pretty nice photos. There are two exceptions–product photos and food photography. Not convenient for this site. Whenever it is important, I post original photos taken by me–recipes, products I am reviewing, documenting experiments–even if they are ugly.
• When images only serve a decorative purpose I use either stock photography or at times, an AI generated image. I use Adobe Firefly to ensure commercially safe images and I leave all filenames and watermarks intact so that there is full transparency.