Can You Reuse Coffee Grounds For Cold Brew?

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Yes, yes! If you enjoy a lot of milk or syrup flavors applied to a cold brew drink you can certainly reuse coffee grounds for your cold brew without any effect on the consistency of your coffee. And of course, you can’t expect the depth of taste as a freshly ground batch but you still get a less acidic smoother taste for your stomach.

Can I Use Cold Brew Coffee Grounds Twice? What Happens?

Can You Reuse Coffee Grounds For Cold Brew?

If you are a coffee snob and like to drink less acidic coffee, then you are not possibly limiting yourself to a single cup in a day. In fact, you are regularly consuming several cups a day which means you have been throwing a great amount of coffee after brewing.

If the above question comes to mind, it is quite normal because you are not alone who is asking for the reuse of coffee grounds for cold brew to save a little money and to save the environment as well.

Since cold brew is made with a higher coffee-to-water ratio, you get a good amount of used coffee grounds and you can use the grounds in your next brewing. If you reuse the coffee grounds with a good coffee-to-water ratio then you can expect better flavor coffee and that will satisfy you easily but you can not expect as strong as fresh flavor coffee. 

If you order cold brew in Starbucks, you most probably will get cold brew coffee with added additional water. Because, with fresh coffee grounds, you get more concentrated cold brew coffee and many coffee lovers do not like drinking strong coffee. That is why Starbucks adds water to cold brew to make coffee smoother, sweeter, and less acidic.

There is nothing wrong if you run coffee through twice or reuse coffee grounds the next day. But, keep in mind that you do not need to add additional water to smooth the coffee when you reuse coffee grounds for making cold brews.

Can you use ground coffee twice?

How Many Times Can You Reuse Coffee Grounds For Cold Brew?

There is nothing to wonder that cold brew is less acidic but the ratio of coffee to water is higher than regular coffee which means cold brew uses a higher amount of coffee grounds compared to regular brewed coffee.

When it comes to reusing coffee grounds for cold brew, you get better results if the previous brew time was short because oil extraction has a direct relation with the coffee brewing time. If the brew time is so long then most of the coffee flavor is already extracted from coffee grounds so you have little flavor left in the grounds and your second brew will become watery.

In fact, you will get a great favor of cold brew coffee if you reuse the grounds for the cold brew but you should better not reuse coffee grounds more than two times.

On the other hand, you could easily mix some reused grounds with fresh grounds for your cold brewing to make your coffee more flavorful and strong.

After all, if you either like to save money or save the environment you can reuse coffee grounds without any concerns but you must not want to make it a habit to reuse the same coffee grounds more than twice. 

Related Questions:

What Happens If You Steep Cold Brew Too Long?

Coffee experts and baristas recommend cold brew steeping time should be 8 to 12 hours while coffee slowly infuses into the water, creating a strong, concentrated brew. 

But, if coffee is steeped for too long, your cold brew will taste bitter and you need to add water or cream to dilute it.

How Many Times Can I Reuse Coffee Grounds?

With a proper coffee-to-water ratio, you can easily reuse coffee grounds twice for cold brewing and you still get a great-tasting coffee but you will get weak flavor if you use the same coffee grounds more than twice. So, stay away from reusing coffee more than twice.

Are You Supposed To Dilute Cold Brew Coffee?

Cold brew coffee is much stronger and more concentrated coffee than regular coffee so even Starbucks adds water or cream to the cold brew to make the coffee smoother and less acidic to make the customer happy. But, when you reuse coffee grounds, it is better not to dilute your coffee with water or something because it is less concentrated than the previous brew.

Warping Up

If you love smooth, sweeter, and less acidic coffee in the morning then there is nothing here to stop you from reusing coffee grounds for your cold brew. By reusing grounds, you not only make some money but also contribute to saving the environment.