Cold brew is more than just iced coffee.  It goes through a different brewing process which changes the taste and brings extra health benefits, and it's becoming so popular it's getting harder to find in stores. 

Forget toilet paper and meat.  There's a cold brew shortage at my grocery store right now, and this is sending me into a bit of a panic.  Cold brew has been increasing in popularity for a couple of years, and right now it seems to be hitting a peak.

My granny got me hooked on coffee when I was fifteen because she had a constant pot brewing and it tasted good with our conversations at her farmhouse kitchen table.  Hot coffee also got me through college.  But now we've got cold brew, it has one-upped the coffee experience for me.

If you love it, you've probably done some reading up on it too, and you know that cold brew goes through a different brewing process than hot coffee, and the results leave it less acid, sweeter, and with a few extra health benefits.

Cold brew is made by steeping coffee grounds in cold or room temperature water for 12 to 24 hours and then filtering it.  It really is brewed in the cold.  Real Simple points out that "regular iced coffee, on the other hand, is just cooled-down hot coffee."

Cold brew can also boost metabolism by as much as 11% because of the caffeine, according to Real Simple.  And it may be easier to digest because it has a lower acidity level than regular coffee.  And cold brew could lower the risk of heart disease because it contains compounds including magnesium, antioxidants, and anti-inflammatories.

And it tastes good!  Most afternoons I pour a cup of cold brew into my favorite Joanna Gaines Magnolia coffee mug, add some ice and a squirt of sugar-free syrup, top it off with some sugar-free creamer, and it's a low-cal happy place.

The popularity of cold brew may be taking off too because it's so accessible.  We can pick it up off of a grocery store shelf and store it in the fridge so it's there whenever we get a craving.  No need to brew a pot, and no need to wait on a barista for the fix.  It can easily be an ingredient in recipes too, including other drinks.

And, maybe the most obvious reason cold brew is disappearing from shelves -- it's summer!  And cold drinks are more refreshing than hot ones.  Cheers.

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