Cold brew steeped for 8 hours tastes flat, tried 18 and now I get it

Everyone online swears by that 12 to 18 hour window, but my first batch at 8 hours was weak and sour. Left a mason jar in the fridge for 18 hours with a 1:8 ratio, no fancy gear, and it came out smooth with zero bitterness. Anyone else find the longer steep fixes flavor or is it just my tap water in Denver?

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elliot_taylor12d ago

The grind size is the secret nobody talks about when they mention steep time. I used coarse grounds for my 8 hour batch and got that weak sour mess you described. Then I ran the same beans through a finer grind, almost like table salt, and let it go 16 hours. Completely different drink. The finer particles extract slower in cold water, so they need the extra time to actually give up their flavor. You basically have to match your steep time to your grind size or you're just guessing. Denver's altitude probably doesn't help either since water boils lower there, but cold brew is more about the grind and time working together.