I'm somewhat of a coffee snob, and have had quite a few _very_ expensive cups of cold brew from both the best locally known shops as well as some of the more "famous" shops in California.

At best, I can't tell the difference between cold brew bought from a shop using "high end" beans and what I make at home with a bag of 12 O'clock Coffee from the grocery store. The end of the article makes it seem like the beans are important in cold brew, but from my experience, that's just not the case - given you aren't using preground coffee, rubusto, or some other truly "bad" coffee. It's the opposite of espresso, where the bean, it's freshness, the grind, and the time all need to be within a fairly tight range to produce something worth drinking.