Sous Vide Coffee Recipe

When you write about an unusual topic like sous vide you find you can get ideas from anywhere. While in Jamaica at a friend's wedding my wife and I got to talking to some of the people at our table and of course sous vide came up. One of them mentioned they had listened to something about doing sous vide coffee. I had never heard of it but I love to experiment so as soon as I got home I made some different sous vide coffees to see what worked.

I think I should preface this with despite drinking it almost every day I'm not a coffee snob, don't know much about coffee, and am probably the last person to accurately judge what makes good coffee. I'm usually just as content with Duncan Donuts or gas station coffee as with a fancy blend from somewhere.

Because of that, I'll try to share more of the differences I found between the times and temperatures. Try to use them as a guide and tweak the times, amount of coffee, type of coffee, etc. to create sous vide coffee that you will enjoy.

The idea for sous vide coffee was originally talked about (as far as I can tell) in a Cooking Issues podcast from the French Culinary Institute. They also had a post in their forum which is where I got most of my information when I got started experimenting.

For the sous vide coffee I took the temperatures mentioned in the post 149°F (65°C) and 185°F (85°C) since they seemed to represent a good spread of high and low. I also brewed the coffee for 30 minutes, 60 minutes, and 120 minutes to see how the times would affect the flavor.

For each batch I used 2 cups of water mixed with 2 heaping tablespoons of coffee. Because I got the idea in Jamaica I used ground Jamaican Blue coffee, which is pretty bold, so keep that in mind with the results.

Here's a summary of the results I got, followed by directions so you can try sous vide coffee for yourself. And just to reiterate, this is just what my horribly untrained palate thought and might not be entirely in line with the results you get.

If you have any experience with sous vide coffee or thoughts about it please share them in our sous vide coffee forum post.

30 Minutes at 149°F (65°C)

As expected, this sous vide coffee was very weak but it did have good flavor and really no bitterness.

60 Minutes at 149°F (65°C)

This sous vide coffee had a richer flavor than the 30 minute one but wasn't markedly different. There was still very little bitterness.

120 Minutes at 149°F / 65°C

This was one of my favorite sous vide coffees. The flavor seemed to develop a lot more than the shorter brewed ones and the bitterness was still very mild.

30 Minutes at 185°F (85°C)

I was surprised that this coffee wasn't stronger, it was about the same strength as the 60 minute coffee cooked at the lower temperature. However, it did have a little bitterness which was lacking in the other sous vide coffees.

60 Minutes at 185°F (85°C)

You could really tell the difference between this sous vide coffee and the ones cooked at lower temperatures. It seemed to have a lot more flavor and even though it had some bitterness it wasn't overwhelming. It was the best sous vide coffee in my opinion.

120 Minutes at 185°F (85°C)

This was definitely the richest sous vide coffee with a nice, bold flavor. It also had the most bitterness which I thought was a little too strong and overwhelmed the flavor some.

All in all I thought the best sous vide coffee was 60 minutes at 185°F (85°C) but I also really liked the 120 minutes at 149°F (65°C) coffee as well. In the future I'd be interested in trying a slightly higher temperature around 158°F (70°C) to see if that extracts some more flavor without adding the bitterness.

Modernist Tools, Ingredients, and Techniques Used

If you would like more information about the modernist techniques, ingredients, and equipment used in the Sous Vide Coffee you can check out the following.

Sous Vide Coffee

  • Published: May 18, 2011
  • By Jason Logsdon
  • Prep Time: 30 Minutes
  • Total Time: 1.5 Hours
  • Cooks: 185°F (85°C) for 1 hour
  • Serves: 2

Ingredients for Sous Vide Coffee

  • For the Sous Vide Coffee

  • 2 cups water
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons Jamaican Blue coffee grounds or your favorite coffee

Enjoying sous vide cooking? My free Sous Vide Quick Start course will help you get the most out of sous vide. You can start consistently creating amazing food with sous vide today!

Enjoying sous vide cooking? My sous vide ruler will help you determine how long to cook various pieces of meat. It's free if you sign up for my newsletter and will make your cooking go much more smoothly!

Cooking Instructions for Sous Vide Coffee

For the Sous Vide Coffee

At least 1.5 hours before serving

Preheat the water bath to 185°F (85°C).

Pour the water into a ziploc bag or pint jar. Spoon in the coffee grounds and mix well. Seal the pouch or jar and place in the water bath and cook for 1 hour.

For Finishing the Sous Vide Coffee

Remove the sous vide coffee from the water bath and strain through a paper towel or coffee filter to remove the grounds.

The sous vide coffee is then ready to serve.

Want Great Sous Vide Recipes?

Sous vide book cover large

Healthy Sous Vide is the latest cookbook from Jason Logsdon, the best selling author of 10 sous vide and modernist cookbooks, and it shares many of his favorite recipes developed over the years so you can eat nutritious, flavor-packed meals that taste amazing. If you are a looking for a way to boost the flavor of your healthy meals, this book will help you create amazing food that your friends and family will love!

Like this?
Have questions or comments about it?
Let me know in the article comments below or on Facebook!
Help me improve my content, let me know what you thought of this recipe! Just click on a star below to rate it.
Average Recipe Rating (click star to rate)
Thanks, your rating has been saved! Please let me know any additional thoughts in the comments!

Related Amazing Food Made Easy Articles

All tags for this article: Drink, Recipe, Sous Vide, Sous Vide Drink , Sous Vide Recipes


Jason logsdon headshot This article is by me, Jason Logsdon. I'm an adventurous home cook and professional blogger who loves to try new things, especially when it comes to cooking. I've explored everything from sous vide and whipping siphons to pressure cookers and blow torches; created foams, gels and spheres; made barrel aged cocktails and brewed beer. I have also written 10 cookbooks on modernist cooking and sous vide and I run the AmazingFoodMadeEasy.com website.
Affiliate Disclaimer: Some links on this site might be affiliate links that if used to purchased products I might receive money. I like money but I will not endorse something I don't believe in. Please feel free to directly go to any products I link to and bypass the referral link if you feel uncomfortable with me receiving funds.
placeholder image

Cookie Consent

This website uses cookies or similar technologies, to enhance your browsing experience and provide personalized recommendations. By continuing to use our website, you agree to our Privacy Policy