I grew up in a house where iced coffee was made by pouring the hours-old leftovers from the coffee pot over a glass of ice. Maybe a little milk was added, or if you were feeling extra fancy, a splash of flavored creamer. Embarrassingly far into adulthood (before Keurig came along and cramped my style), that's how I made my "cold brew." For years, this was how I drank my warm-weather coffee. But oh, did I have it wrong.
But what is cold brew coffee? In case you're unaware, cold brew, real cold brew, is made using an entirely different method than hot coffee. While hot coffee is generally made by running hot water through finely ground coffee beans to make the tried-and-true drip coffee, cold brew is made more like our grandmothers made sun tea—set to steep for a while, becoming flavorful and delicious on its own with nothing added but love, water, and time.