White dwarfs with metal lines in their spectra act as signposts for post-main-sequence planetary systems. Searching the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 12, we have identified 231 cool (<9000K) DZ white dwarfs with strong metal absorption, extending the DZ cooling sequence to both higher metal abundances and lower temperatures, and hence longer cooling ages. Of these 231 systems, 104 are previously unknown white dwarfs. Compared with previous work, our spectral fitting uses improved model atmospheres with updated line profiles and line-lists, which we use to derive effective temperatures and abundances for up to eight elements. We also determine spectroscopic distances to our sample, identifying two halo members with tangential space velocities >300km/s. The implications of our results on remnant planetary systems are to be discussed in a separate paper.