Guest Author - Former Editor

Recipe and content on this page was written by a former editor of the Cajun-Creole Column.

I love freshly brewed coffee.

In fact, I love it so much, I never use a coffee pot. In my opinion, after 20 minutes, coffee in a pot is stale. I brew my coffee by the cup, using one of those single-cup baskets.

It’s not a very fast way to make coffee, but I was willing to sacrifice the time for the freshness.

I don’t have to do that any more.

No, I don’t have a chef. I have the New Orleans Coffee Company, and their product, Cool Brew. No, I don’t own the company (I wish! I’d probably be rich in short order), but they’re as close as my fingertips, since I can order Cool Brew online.

Cool Brew is a concentrated gourmet coffee essence, made with the company’s special cool-brewing process.

It’s not instant coffee, but you can make it in seconds.

And it’s delicious…almost indistinguishable from brewed coffee.

The flavors – and there are many – do not have that slightly chemical taste that most flavored coffees have, and there’s not even a hint of bitterness in the brew. A friend of mine who used to own a gourmet coffee shop told me that brewing coffee using a cold-brew method guarantees that there won’t be bitterness and that the true flavor of the coffee shines thru much better than it does with traditional brewing methods. After trying Cool Brew, I agree.

Cool Brew has good body…not perfect, but darn close.

I’d explain how it’s made, but the New Orleans coffee company has a website that explains everything quite nicely. They even have recipes for our favorite coffee drinks, like Café au Lait and Cajun Coffee.

And, as a huge bonus, lovers of iced coffee no longer have to worry about brewing coffee early enough to chill it down, or to dilute it with lots of ice. Cool Brew is perfect for iced coffee…pour some in a glass, add cold water and a couple of ice cubes, and it’s done…and done very, very well.

Cool Brew comes in Regular, Decaf, French Roast, all the usual flavors and my favorite, Mocha. Be careful, the Mocha is really addictive!

You can order Cool Brew in 16 oz. or half-gallon sizes (remember, it’s a concentrate…you only need one-half to one ounce per cup, depending on how strong you like your coffee). The Cool Brew I got had a refrigerator shelf life of more than one year unopened…once you open it, it’s good for at least a month (if you can keep from using it up faster than that).

So, next time you want a cool brew, make it Cool Brew from the New Orleans Coffee Company.