The barista who saved my batch with one question

Last Tuesday I was at a local shop in Portland waiting for my usual cold brew and the guy behind the counter asked if I ever let mine rest longer than 24 hours. I told him I always strain right at the 18 hour mark and he just shook his head, said I was pulling out the good stuff way too early. He wrote down his ratio on a napkin, 1 to 5 with a 30 hour steep, and I tried it that weekend. The difference was honestly huge, smoother and way less bitter, so now I'm wondering if anyone else found a sweet spot that's totally different from the common advice.

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the_mia22d ago

Honestly that napkin ratio thing is real. I used to do 16 hours like everyone said and always got that weird sharp bite. Tried 28 hours on a whim last month with a coarser grind and it came out almost sweet, like zero acid burn. Now I taste test at 24, 30, and 34 hours just to see how it shifts. The 30 mark is the chill spot for me too, but I found that if I stir the grounds once at the halfway point it gets even smoother. That one question changed my whole morning routine, tbh.