What to look for in the roast, the origin and the grind, and the ratio to start from. The figures are the National Coffee Association's, the acidity answer is from a published study, and the three bags are ones their roasters built or recommend for cold brew.
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● Rewritten from published sources September 28, 2026Prices and models move — tell us if something here is stale
What this is: the National Coffee Association's published cold brew, roast and coffee-region guidance (read September 28, 2026), one peer-reviewed study on cold brew acidity, and the roasters' own words for the bags we carry.
What this is not: a taste test. We have not brewed these coffees side by side, and nothing here is a health claim. We sell the three bags below, so read that section as a shelf, not a ranking.
Correction, September 28, 2026: until today this page said cold brew is "low-acid" because cold water "leaves behind" acidic compounds, gave a 1:8 ready-to-drink ratio and 12 to 24 hour steep times with no source, said concentrate "keeps about two weeks," and said "we roast to order." We do not roast coffee; the roasters do, and only some of them roast to order. Those lines are gone and the figures below are sourced.
Start with what the National Coffee Association says about the method: "You can use any type of coffee beans you prefer with this brewing method." There is no wrong bean. There is a conventional one, though, and it is a medium or dark roast.
The NCA's roast guide explains the trade. On light roasts: "The lighter the roast, the more acidic your brewed coffee will be," and "lighter roasts will preserve more of the unique qualities of a coffee compared to a darker roast." On dark roasts: "a pronounced bitterness," and "your brewed coffee will be even less acidic than lighter roasts." Of cold brewing itself, the NCA says it gives "a smoother, more mellow cup" with "a less bitter, smoother taste" than coffee brewed hot and chilled.
Put those together and the usual advice makes sense: a darker roast brings body and less acidity, and the method takes some of the edge off its bitterness. A light roast keeps more of the bean's own character, so if you like bright, fruity coffee hot, it is worth a batch. That last part is conventional advice, not our test result.
Start with a medium or dark roast, which is what roasters themselves sell for cold brew. Try a lighter roast once you know what you like.
Not by pH. A 2018 study in Scientific Reports (Rao and Fuller, "Acidity and Antioxidant Activity of Cold Brew Coffee") brewed six light roasts both ways and found "the pH values of the cold and hot brew samples were found to be comparable, ranging from 4.85 to 5.13," while the hot brews had "higher concentrations of total titratable acids." So cold brew measured about as acidic on the pH scale and carried less total acid.
The study used light roasts only, so it does not tell you what happens with a dark one. When a roaster calls a cold brew blend "low-acid," that is the roaster describing its coffee, and we quote it as theirs. We make no claim about how any coffee sits with your stomach.
Origin fine-tunes the flavor. These are the NCA's descriptions from its coffee regions guide, not our tasting notes:
If you like fruit-forward coffee, the NCA describes Kenya as "full-bodied coffee with a sharp, fruity acidity" and says Ethiopian coffees "can also have high, supple acidity." More on single origins in our single-origin guide.
Use a coarse grind. The NCA's rule: "the longer the coffee is in contact with water during the brewing process, the coarser the grind should be," which is why "cold brew, which can take hours to prepare, typically requires a coarse grind." If the batch tastes bitter or sour, the NCA's advice is a coarser grind; if it tastes flat or watery, a finer one.
The NCA recommends a burr grinder, which does "a better job of creating a consistent grind," over a blade grinder, where "you can't ensure a consistent grind, which impacts taste." Our picks are in the grinder guide.
On freshness, the NCA says "you can buy and use ground coffee," and that "buying whole coffee beans and grinding them immediately before brewing guarantees maximum freshness." How long a bag stays good, and how to read the date on it, is in our freshness guide.
The NCA's numbers for cold brew:
How long it keeps: we have no tested figure of our own. Toddy says the concentrate from its brewer keeps "up to 2 weeks in your refrigerator"; that is the maker's claim for its own system. Which brewer makes this easy is covered in our cold brew makers guide.
These are on our store and shipped by the roaster that made them. Prices were read from the store on September 28, 2026, and all three were in stock. The descriptions are the roasters' words.
Buying elsewhere: look for a medium or dark roast with a roast date on the bag. A grocery-store bag labeled for cold brew works too; check the date. The rest of our beans are on the coffee shelf.
There is no single right bean; the National Coffee Association says you can use any type of coffee beans you prefer for cold brew. The conventional starting point is a medium or dark roast, and that is what roasters sell for it: the three bags on our shelf that their roasters built or recommend for cold brew are a medium roast (Stone Street Cold Brew Breakfast Blend), a darker-roasted Brazil and Colombia blend (Quills Southern Gothic) and the lightest of Zoka's dark roasts (Fitzroy). We sell those bags and have not run a side-by-side tasting.
Medium or dark is the conventional choice. The National Coffee Association says the lighter the roast, the more acidic the brewed coffee, and that darker roasts are less acidic and carry a pronounced bitterness, while lighter roasts preserve more of a coffee's unique qualities. It also says cold brew has a less bitter, smoother taste than coffee brewed hot. So pick a darker roast for a heavier, less acidic cup and a lighter roast to keep more of the bean's own character.
Not by pH. A 2018 study in Scientific Reports (Rao and Fuller) brewed six light roasts hot and cold and found the pH values comparable, from 4.85 to 5.13, while the hot brews had higher concentrations of total titratable acids. So cold brew measured about as acidic on the pH scale and carried less total acid. Roast matters too: the National Coffee Association says darker roasts brew less acidic coffee than lighter ones. We make no health claim about any of this.
Coarse. The National Coffee Association lists a coarse grind for cold brew and gives the general rule that the longer coffee is in contact with water, the coarser the grind should be. It recommends a burr grinder because it produces a more consistent grind than a blade grinder. If the result tastes bitter or sour, the NCA's advice is to grind coarser; if it tastes flat or watery, grind finer.
The National Coffee Association's figures are 1 gram of coffee to 4 to 5 grams of water, steeped in the refrigerator or at room temperature for about 12 hours or overnight. That makes a concentrate designed to be diluted with water or poured over ice. Toddy's own recipe for its brewer, 12 oz of coffee to 56 fl oz of water, lands in the same range.
Yes. The National Coffee Association says you can buy and use ground coffee, and that grinding whole beans immediately before brewing guarantees maximum freshness. Two of the bags on our shelf are sold in a cold brew grind by the roaster: Stone Street's Cold Brew Breakfast Blend (Cold Brew Coarse) and Quills Southern Gothic (French Press / Cold Brew).