What is the "dry milk option" cited in the caption?
The critical thought required for doing good science is under siege today and by publishing articles like this one the NYT just adds to the decline. The technique of this article is to summarize current studies badly and to altogether misunderstand well-verified results.
The author quotes a study which shows that pH of coffee — both cold and hot brewed — is all over the map, with no real difference. But the author ignores the comment in that article that the concentrations of total acid compounds in cold versus hot brewed coffee are substantially different, and that pH is perhaps a poor measure for the complex acid chemistry of coffee.
And then we have the suggestion in the article that, whether coffee’s acidity is 4.85 or 5.13, it doesn’t really matter since the pH of the stomach is 1.5-2.3. The stomach produces Hydrochloric Acid in extremely specialized cells, that are protected from the effects of this highly corrosive acid. The fact that some cells in the body can manage this, does not imply that all cells in the body can. It doesn’t imply that we could all just go ahead and drink HCL, since the stomach produces it anyway. Even the small intestine can’t handle the acids of the stomach. The digestive juices are dramatically neutralized before entering the intestines.
I don’t have a dog in the cold versus hot brew battle, but I expect the NYT editors to weed out articles that have the slight veneer of science, while glossing over complexities. It matters.
149
The spring 2007 NYT Style magazine published a recipe for New Orleans Cold Drip Coffee. I have been drinking it year round ever since, smoothest coffee ever.
30
We use a regular large French press for our cold brew. Add 2/3 cup of coffee & water. It sits on the counter overnight (or a little more if we are lazy), then we press the grounds down as you would for hot coffee and pour the cold brew into a mason jar for the fridge. Super simple. Delish. We do notice the longer it sits, the more caffeinated it feels. Twelve hours is the sweet spot, but life gets in the way sometimes and 12 turns to 24... If that’s the case we just prepared to be extra jazzed or dilute it with more water.
26
I mix it up in a 1-quart mason jar, leave it on the counter overnight, and pour it through my normal coffee filter next morning. super-easy, no extra gadgets needed.
16
I've been using the Toddy home-brewed system for years and love it. Use Starbucks Guatemala, coarsest possible grind, and let it brew for 24 hours. Get about a two-week supply when refrigerated.
6
The first time I tasted cold-brewed coffee I knew I had discovered something fine. I make mine at home using the Toddy Brewing system. Three cups of ground coffee to ~10 cups of water and I let it brew for 48 hours. It is so delicious!
5
Whether it's cold brew or hot brew, here's a good way to keep your coffee from being watered down. Make a pot of coffee, pour it into ice cube trays, freeze it, and use those ice cubes to cool down your coffee drink. Yum.
30
@lucky13 I started making cold-brew decaf because there wasn't—and still isn't—any decaf cold-brew coffee to be found in stores.
I've now gotten lazy and normally buy a quart or so of Grady's or Trader Joe's cold-brew concentrate, which I add directly to any plant-based milk I have on hand, bypassing the whole ice question. (I hate drinks on the rocks!)
Which brings me to another question: why aren't more coffee chains offering to pour your iced coffee over rocks made of coffee? I generally ask for "no ice" at coffee chains, and at one Think location recently, the barista showed me he would have to give me only a half-cup of coffee in my travel mug if he didn't give me ice.
So yeah, I''m going to start making my own cold-brew again; there's no excuse.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFvjckbpzdc
5
Cold brew is the ONLY way to have iced coffee. Otherwise its just too weak and watered down. I have ordered iced coffee and watched in horror as hot coffee was pored over ice! I am so delighted that it's now become a "thing" and I can get cold brew when I'm out of town.
13
Chemex filters!
I drink my iced coffee black.
The vast array of tasting notes found on packages of coffee are even more discernible when drinking it cold.
I use the drip method with a Chemex filter and their beaker. I grind the beans (medium) right before brewing. The coffee is never murky.
I let the coffee cool until room temp, put it in the fridge overnight, and drink it the next day.
The Chemex filter eliminates most of the acid. Cold coffee over ice, which adds a small amount of water as it melts, truly makes the flavor bloom.
12
I don't like the taste of cold brew. Just doesn't work for me.
4
I’ve been using the NYT recipe for cold brew coffee for years. Even though I just use Yuban dark roast ground coffee, it’s delicious - it tastes like chocolate. I can confirm its extra caffeine. I add whole milk and stevia, and there’s nothing better.
14
Cold brew coffee has a weird aftertaste. I'll stick to iced coffee, thanks, preferring to ask for a cup of ice to pour hot coffee over than to drink a "toddy".
7
I have my own cold brew/ice coffee "hack". I use a single cup French Press exclusively for normal coffee prep and have been faced with the annoying disposal problem of grounds and the few ounces of liquid that remains under the screen. I placed a one cup Melitta coffee filter over a wide tumbler stored in the refrigerator. After every batch of pressed coffee, the remainders are poured into the Melitta. At the end of the day or whenever, I have a cup of cold brew and a filter full of grounds for the compost pile.
10
@beaconps You genuius! I'm going to do that.
3
Yes I am a cold brew fan, even in the winter. The traditional drip machine sits in the corner gathering dust, only to emerge when we have guests.
I do follow the NYT method from some time back, and I do use a mason jar. I was using a pint, but found a quart works equally well. 1 part coffee, 2-3 parts water, secure a filter over the jar with a rubber band, and 12-18 hours later, perfect coffee. Would agree that a french press would be a good option, but the jar is perfect. How perfect, as I am writing this I am finishing the first glass of cold brewed with milk and heading back into the kitchen for a second.
7
If someone has GERD, they should drink Arabica coffee. When I remarked to a fellow Traveler on the plane that I could not tolerate Starbucks coffee GI wise but could tolerate Gevalia Kenya coffee, he explained the difference ( his family owned a coffee/tea company in Canada). There are 2 types of coffee beans- Robusta and Arabica. The Robusta is a mutant coffee bean- more acidic and caffeinated. The Gevalia is Arabica. Any coffee sold that is Arabica says so on the package. Unfortunately when they changed the packaging on the Gevalia they changed either the roasting method or where they obtained it. So their Kenya coffee is no longer the best coffee I ever had and it increased my reflux
So now I get my coffee, medium roast, shipped from Hawaii's Mountain Thunder plantation.. Its outstanding. Incidentally, Hawaii's coffee plants are descendants of plants brought from Ethiopia.
Thanks for the article. I didnt know what was this "cold brew " coffee.
31
@adonovzn
what we will go through for our coffee! Thanks for the hint. GERD also, and I was puzzled about the widely different reactions to coffees.
3
A dark roasted chicory blend coffee produces the cold brew my family has been drinking for 5 generations. The resulting syrup has either hot water or steamed milk added. We rarely drink it over ice, though it is delicious that way too.
5
I was cold brewing coffee for my then customers in the early 1990's. Cold brewed coffee is optimal when served with ice and made with a flavored coffee. becomes a low calorie, very satisfying coffee milkshake.
6
Here’s another cold coffee option—a Greek Frappe. A spoonful of instant coffee mixed with crushed ice and cold water, preferably in a blender. Add milk and sugar to taste. Don’t knock it till you try it.
20
@Brooklyn gal
Agreed. Got addicted to those in Crete.
4
Regarding caffeine control, I guess some people don't know about decaffeinated coffee.
If you want cold coffee, get a good espresso machine and brew a shot or two (regular or decaf) and pour over iced with an equal amount of milk.
Ask Morebucks to do that, and they charge you 50 cents for the ice.
9
I make a cold brew concentrate at home in the summer.
I part coarse to medium grind coffee to 2 parts water.
Leave in French press for at least 12 hours. Decant and put in the refrigerator.
For serving, do like the NYT says: fill glass with ice, put in cold concentrate about halfway, and fill rest with water or milk.
6
Using Starbucks coffee as any kind of measuring stick is kinda goofed, don’t you think? Better to sample the cold brew and cold brew methods at shops with higher brewing standards. Also, what about on-tap Nitro cold coffee?
10
I made a double strength French press when anyone ordered an ice coffee. I tempered it with ice quickly and poured it cold over ice into the glass or cup. Hot coffee poured over ice cubes is weak and lame.
5
Isn't coffee preference a matter of individual taste?
12
As a barista and former cafe manager, I completely agree. Coffee is a highly subjective thing, moreso than average food. We can hunch over our refractometers and brew scales all we want, but objectively ideal extractions are not what most people think is good coffee.
6
@Alice
Yes, but it's good to have some standard to orient yourself around.
Following the objective ideal will lead you to your subjective ideal.
3
I absolutely agree.
1
If my cold brew reads The Goldfinch once, let alone twice, then it very clearly has no taste.
22
Cold brew is amazing and way better than hot coffee. The dissenters here arent doin it right.
4
"Is Cold Brew Better Than Iced Coffee?"
Yes.
25
I'm an unabashed coffee snob and I do a dance of joy when the temperature finally reaches cold brew degrees. It's so much smoother and richer. And if made properly--with the right grinds to water ratio--stronger. You are suppose to use much more coffee than with regular coffee. About 4-to1. But most NYC places make it poorly and it's so, so weak and weirdly fruity flavored.
And Coast Roast in New Orleans has RUINED me forever from drinking cold brew outside of my own home. Ever. So, it's at home using a French Press (cold brew toddies can't touch them) or on my regular trips to New Orleans and my coffee punch in the face that is Coast Roast.
9
@Brooklyn Dog Geek
It's funny how the home-made, least expensive coffee (per cup) tastes better than ANYTHING you can get in a coffee shop.
And I have found it to be very reliable too.
I get as much or as little as I want of whole beans from Whole Foods, usually around $3 worth and I hand-grind the beans with a little Hario.
That gets dumped into a preheated Fire King 16 oz. measuring cup followed by off-the-boil water. Let it sit for 4 minutes, then stir it up and let it settle down for a few minutes more.
I pour this directly into the coffee cup until it's getting close to the grounds. I then dump all of the grounds and the remaining coffee into a filter and let the last of the coffee drain into the cup.
This way I get all of the oils and very little sediment and I can toss the grounds.
It does take me a while to do all of this but I enjoy it.
No muss, very little fuss and it tastes fantastic every time for approx. 33 cents for a 16 oz. cup.
1
I have a $35 bag of coffee sitting in the pantry... will try this.
1
Hi, those for whom chemistry is a distant memory: a pH variance from "4.85 to 5.13” is so negligible that your bottle of seltzer's pH varies a similar amount from the moment before you uncap it to afterwards. The perceived smoothness must be owed to something else or the placebo effect.
11
I think the article just makes it all murky.
"His doctor informed us both that he should try to cut down on spicy food, alcohol and coffee. The first category would be easy, he assured me. The second? Achievable. But the third? Utterly impossible."
I assume the "impossible" factor relates to the caffeine addiction and not so much just liking the flavor of coffee. Similar to how an alcoholic is not so much savoring an aged Bordeaux, but rather really just trying to get the alcohol. So any coffee switch in an effort to minimize caffeine just means they are going to be missing that caffeine and will likely find ways to get it...to get that buzz.
As to any acid advantage... come on, Mr. Finger, compared to to stomach acid that gets into the esophagus from a caffeine-loosened sphincter, coffee acid is negligible.
5
@Matthew
The article posed a question but didn't really answer it completely.
6
The people who prefer hot coffee poured over ice to cold brew probably also have no problem microwaving a cold cup of coffee. Enjoy your stale-tasting coffee, friends!
4
@Emily Monroe This makes no sense. Hot coffee poured over ice is not stale. It's fresh. Obviously it's diluted of one is pouring a standard measure. I've made coffee virtually every way it can be made, from a traditional Chemex (excellent but fussy), french press (great if you like to chew your coffee), electric drip (convenient), a cold brewer, as well as a Keurig (aficionados shudder but with the right grounds an excellent and convenient cup). With the exception of a french press, I've enjoyed coffee any which way including cold after sitting around all day as well as heated in a microwave. I find the coffee purists boring and affected. My local coffee shop makes a pour over invariably in a cold cup that takes ten minutes and by the time it gets to me it's luke warm and vapid. I'll take a mug of joe from the diner over the purists' blend anytime.
14
Hee's a tip for home cold-brewers. The way it's made in our kitchen, overnight in a French Press, there is much residue to be filtered out.
Get a stainless-steel conical filter. It works perfectly, getting rid of about 98% of the black junk before it gets poured into your cup.
7
@LarryAt27N Good idea. I hate chewing my coffee.
2
What about your thoughts on Japanese cold brew? Double the amount of grinds and make hot coffee that is immediately poured over ice.
I make filtered Japanese cold brew in my pour-over Melita using Starbucks espresso blend and double the amount of coffee as I don’t have a cold brew pot and don’t want to mess with the grounds. This makes a strong but mellowed brew that I drink over more ice. Proptions are half milk, half brewed coffee to a 16 ounce glass. Potful usually lasts me a whole week.
Great NYT recipe: 1/3 C ground coffee, 1 1/2 C water; stir, cover and let sit for 12 hours or more. Stain. (The recipe says to dilute, but I never do.) Easy peasy - delicious.
10
My personal philosophy: coffee is meant to be enjoyed, which comes down to a matter of personal taste. That's not to say there isn't a "best" way to prepare coffee (certain methods/roasts/beans are better suited to achieve certain results), but I do encourage experimentation and doing what tastes good for you. Some of the most enjoyable cups I've had were brewed cowboy style with old beans.
9
The writer's version of iced coffee---brewed coffee poured over ice---will result in a tasteless weak drink. I was taught always to double the amount of grounds if the intention was to pour the brew over ice.
6
@JudithL green I make two pots of regular coffee, pour one pot into ice cube trays, the other pot into a carafe that goes into the refrigerator. For iced coffee, dump a handful of coffee cubes in a glass and pour coffee over cubes. If you're worried about too much caffeine, use the same blend of decaf for the cubes as for the coffee in the fridge. Or make half decaf half regular for both. Most of the time I have iced coffee in the afternoon and a little less caffeine doesn't keep me up at night.
3
After sampling cold brew (iced) in Hawaii for the first time 5 years ago, we became converts.
10-12 ounces of freshly ground beans
6 cups of water
a 24 hour soak in the VERY simple (and easy to clean) OXO Cold Brew contraption which then
drains into a carafe we keep in the fridge for 5-6 days worth of coffee (1-2 cups a day)
The stopper on the carafe doubles as a measuring cup for the concentrated coffee.
For HOT coffee--I heat water first, then add cold brew and cream.
SO delicious.
In a John Henry/steam drill moment my husband challenged his Mr. Coffee to my cold brew. He ended up with more cups of coffee but I guarantee mine tasted better.
5
Good content, but my biggest applause go to Mr. Finger for his entertaining voice. I truly enjoyed the read.
...and we brew our own cold brew - with Stumptown's Hair Bender. Brewed for 18-20 hours, it is a concentrate meant to be diluted to taste.
3
Ice cold coffee can be made in a few ways:
Brew the coffee and pour it over ice cubes that are in fact frozen coffee.
Brew the coffee extra strong and pour it over ice or ice cream.
Brew the coffee, put it in a sealed glass jar/bottle and let it cool a little, and then put it in the refrigerator.
Whether your "normal" brewing uses hot water or cold water, the beans are going to make the big difference in taste. You can even use decaffeinated coffee beans -- just brew the coffee stronger.
As to what kind of coffee is going to be the most refreshing in the hot summer? The kind you can gulp down. So this rules out piping hot coffee if what you want is a cold drink.
4
I'm reminded that my mother saved whatever was left from breakfast coffee for a late afternoon iced coffee. Brewed from canned supermarket ground coffee, it wasn't bad, but compared to today's much stronger, much better-brewed coffees, it was pathetically weak. Nevertheless, she loved it, sipping as she completed the NYT crossword before she had to start preparing dinner.
31
Thank you for the information. I was previously unaware of the differences. The paragraph at the beginning about authors or books was not helpful.
Cold brew = more caffeine & less acidity. Perfect for me
4
Do yourself a favor and find Japanese-style iced pour-over coffee! It’s abundant in some other cities, but the best I’ve found is at Bibble & Sip in midtown. You’ll never want cold brew again.
1
cold brew or iced coffee...the way to keep the flavor strong is to make (and, of course, use) coffee ice cubes!!!
10
Absolutely! Otherwise, it just keeps on diluting the flavor just like nice whisky in a glass with many melting ice cubes.
I like ice coffee. The sweetener and milk take care of the bitterness. That said, Central California coast never really gets hot enough for ice coffee. Leftover breakfast brew is usually cool enough to swing it in the 62 to 72 degree weather.
3
@Joan In California
Exactly. Make it hot, go do something useful for twenty minutes and when you come back it will be cold enough.
1
There are two major problems with cafe-bought cold brews: Unpredictable taste and price.
All too often cold brews from fancy artisanal shops are way too strong and bitter--quite the opposite of what one would expect--and cost about $1-2 more than a comparably-sized iced coffee. I understand that in theory the extra time that goes into making cold brew merits the higher price, but suspect that in practice cold brew is just a big rip-off. I especially loathe it when coffee shops have eliminated choice altogether and serve nothing but $5 cold brews, and that's before you factor in the expected tip. However, in some places a reasonable alternative exists: You might be able to order an iced Americano for a dollar less.
8
I make cold brew a lot. I usually make it about 4 times as strong as normal. It stays fresh in the fridge for days.
There are lots of ways to use it. Dilute with water. Add cream. Or even microwave it if you want it hot. Pour a bit over vanilla ice cream for the best coffee ice cream flavor ever. Our this - mix it with 4 parts of Italian sparkling water that has lots of carbonation. Like a Coke, except coffee. Amazing.
21
I love iced coffee. I used to make hot coffee the night before, put it in the refrigerator, and use it for iced. But now I make the cold brew and it's delicious. You need to use the correct type of coffee for it though. I find that the cold brew enhances the fruity notes of coffee, so if you don't like that, you are better off getting a really dark brew like french roast or Italian roast. I use a French roast and it makes great iced. I use a French press. One cup of ground coffee to 4 cups of cold water, stir well and leave overnight. Then, just tweak it by adding more coffee if it's too weak. If it's too strong, that's easy, just dilute with some cold water.
7
No one seems to mention that the beans make a difference! I prefer African beans, usually Kenyan or Tanzanian in a medium roast for my cold coffee. I grew up in a home where cold percolated coffee was the standard summer drink, though I am sure it was Maxwell House. Now, I select the coffee bean I want, grind it fresh, brew it using half the water and pour it over ice. I fill a reall good thermal container and sip away!
10
This won't be popular or even needed in a column for coffee fans, but at age 60 I almost entirely cut caffeine in January 2019 to see if it affected blood pressure. It didn't. But I quickly had enormously less shoulder and neck pain and stiffness; it was almost miraculous. I've hardly touched a Tylenol or Ibuprofen in six months. I never would have made the connection between caffeine and musculoskeletal pain, but it was big for me. Now I use caffeine gingerly and selectively, a once a week special rather than 3 a day.
38
@Bruce Quinn
This is worth noting!
I also find relief in joint pain when I abstain from caffeine.
My beloved and missed lattes provided too much inflammation. As we age, it is important to be mindful of which substances affect how we feel and how we feel in response.
16
Bruce, say it ain't so! I guess I'll just have to be sore then, because I am like a junkie, I'm not quitting!
5
I just passed your anecdote on to my wife- she’s been having shoulder pain.
3
It's fascinating to look at the nutritional value of cold-brew coffee.
I drink it black, unsweetened, so my wife bought me a couple of cans of 'pure' cold-brew. Starbucks' tasted sugary to me, even though it didn't disclose sugar in the ingredients. Costco's tasted like coffee and didn't have sugar... but both flavors had 15 calories per 11- or 12-oz can, and 3 grams of carbohydrate!
For comparison, USDA's standard for normal brewed coffee is zero calories and zero carbohydrate... whether served hot or cold. Starbucks' website claims 0 calories and zero carbs for 12 oz of their unsweetened restaurant iced coffee.
Where does the cold-brewed carbohydrate come from? I'm not talking about some other brands of 'unsweetened' - which I haven't bought - that actually contain sugar.
8
I've been opting for iced pour over when I have time to enjoy my iced coffee at home on the weekends, as the flavors are more developed, but cold brew works great for the work week. I just steep in a french press over night, then decant through a V60 filter straight into my thermos, and have my coffee for the whole day.
3
@Mike C
In my experience, cold brews require much longer than just overnight (approx. 18-20 hours) to fully develop. My cold brews are much richer and have more body than my French press coffee. However, it's really an apples-to-oranges comparison as both yield markedly different results, even with beans from the same roast.
1
Great article!
Try Bio-Coffee
Alkaline and low acid. Great energy boost. Helps digestion.
1
Local coffee shops in New Orleans have been serving cold brew for more than 30 years. It is better, especially better than simply pouring hot brew over ice.
17
@Scott
And New Orleans coffee with chicory makes the best cold brew of all!
9
@Scott
Thanks for bringing this up, Scott!
I too had my first taste of Toddy-made cold brew in New Orleans in 1989. It is simple, and smells and tastes like heaven. Alas, it takes patience. Nowadays people want to buy CANS of cold brew coffee off a refrigerated shelf in Whole Foods for $6 - why? Because they "can."
5
Why not just chill hot brew without the ice so it’s not diluted. Hot brew still my favorite even in summer.
3
@NKM The flavors degrade pretty quickly, and in the time it takes to chill hot brew without ice you'd be losing a lot of the qualities you want out of your coffee, and end up with something stale. Just be sure to use more grounds and less water than you normally would, and brew directly over ice so you still have the extraction you want without overly diluting the final product.
2
I have tried making cold-brew at home several times, and been very disappointed. You cannot be serious! Dunno about caffeine or acid, but as for flavor, it's very crude. My favorite is Hario pour-over, but even Mr. Coffee is better.
1
@Artie
Did you used a dark roast or espresso beans? I found the flavor comes out much better for cold brew than mild or medium roasts.
3
Even dark roasted cold brew is inferior in flavor to a simple pour-over coffee. I use organic French roast beans and grind them fresh for each cup. I drink it black, if hot, and with a splash of milk, if cold. Either way, the cold brew tastes flat and insipid to me. The pour-over takes 2 minutes. If you need it stick it in the ice cube bin of the freezer and it's ready to drink in 10 minutes - quicker, easier and better than overnight cold brew. I have yet to find a bottled or barista home brew that tastes as rich as pour over coffee to me.
1
@Artie
Try upping your beans-to-water ratio, increasing the brew time, and agitating gently (if using a mason jar) once or twice through out the process.
...why does a hot coffee at Starbucks have more caffeine than an iced coffee?
3
@Mssr. Pleure - Might be ice?
I'm also curious as to whether that 12 mg/oz figure is calculated including the volume of ice in the cup or is based on a pre-ice measure (which would make it more directly comparable to pre-packaged brands).
1
A 20 oz hot drip coffee is 20 ozs of coffee. A 20 oz iced coffee is about 14 ozs coffee, 6 oz ice. Ice isn't caffeinated.
1
Most places and people (including myself) kill “iced coffee” with the proverbial “bad ice”, milk and sugar, and a glass that encourages melt to a watery coffee solution. A good cold brew without any of the above can be excellent but isn’t for everybody.
2
I was diagnosed with a stomach ulcer last year and was instructed to cut out all caffeinated drinks. When I asked my gastroenterologist about cold brew he said: "it's still caffeine and will upset your ulcer."
Lucky for me he was wrong and I can drink cold brew daily without any gastric upset.
Long live cold brew!
22
I don’t have this coffee problem! Ice tea is the way I go! Nonetheless, wonderful article, and I love the doctor’s name! Rabia A. De Latour! But, I still tour back to tea!
5
@Counter Measures
I love tea, especially green tea but I can't drink it anymore because it messes up my esophagus too much.
Thank goodness for fresh coffee!
I can't drink hot or iced coffee due to the stomach issues mentioned in the article. The closest I can get oddly enough, is cold expresso and melted unsweetened dark chocolate poured at the same time over ice, with a splash of cold lactose free milk. I am assuming the ice dilutes the acids, etc. as does the splash of milk. I always enjoy reading anything Bobby Finger writes!
2
Not even a close match. Cold brew wins every time.
30
The difference between cold brew and properly brewed coffee is like the difference between a grocery store tomato and a fresh-picked home grown one. The home grown tomato has a range of flavor notes: sweet, acid, grassy, salty and so on. The grocery store tomato has little taste. If you take the acid out of coffee, you oversimplify its flavor. Cold brewed coffee is popular because Americans have gotten used to drinking bad-but-convenient coffee machine coffee. Cold brew may be better than something that's been sitting on the warming pad for hours, but it's nowhere near as tasty and only a tiny bit more convenient than a good cup of homemade coffee.
34
@Heather
I don't see how being cold brew means that the coffee is not homemade. The cold brew I drink doesn't come from the grocery store. I drink hot coffee first thing in the morning. I buy light or medium roast beans, grind them, and then brew the coffee in a french press. It's delicious. If I drink coffee later in the day, I prefer cold brew. It tastes much better than hot brewed coffee poured over ice. I buy the cold brew at a coffee shop that makes cold brew daily. It's delicious.
7
@Abby Everyone's taste buds are different. I've been drinking whole bean French roast coffee, made with freshly ground beans, hot and black, for 40 years. If I want iced coffee I briefly chill it in the freezer compartment so it won't melt the cubes, and then pour it over ice with a splash of milk. I have friends who make their own cold brew and prefer it to all other kinds of coffee. I've made it at home following their recipes, ordered it in fancy coffee shops, and drunk it premade from the dairy case, and in all forms it's just not my cup of tea. I miss the more complex taste of pour-over coffee. But obviously lots of people love it, and maybe I'm just resistant to change.
3
@Heather
I agree it comes down to personal taste. However, as someone who roasts coffee, I can't over state the importance of matching brewing methods to the proper beans, roast level, and grind setting to get the best cup.
4
I've been making cold brew concentrate at home for a number of years, using tall jars, a spagetti strainer and paper towels. I make decaf, which has the same degree of digestively helpful particulates, but not the physically stressful and unpredictable caffeine. I get really good fresh coarsely ground coffee beans from a local coffee roasting shop. Add ice and lowfat milk, perfect start to the day, esp with some ripe figs, just coming into season now!
14
@Bbwalker It's a free country, but... you've taken out the caffeine, the taste of whole milk, you've strained the whole thing through paper towels, and made 'digestively helpful particulates'. While we might argue amicably about the merits of espresso versus cold brew, we need to agree on some limits to what we will tolerate as civilized people. What you've described there crosses that line!
50
@Coffee Drinker Something tells me you are less a coffee drinker than a coffee shop owner! I do spend my fair share on incredible cappucinos made by wonderful baristas some of whom I have known for years. But give your customers a break, let them experiment! I can get up and write all morning on this cold brew, without getting overcaffeinated.
3
@Coffee Drinker, try it first, then complain! B
So, how can Starbucks's iced coffee (which is hot coffee cooled down) contain 165 mg of caffeine for 16 oz., while its hot coffee has 310 mg for 16 oz., unless they are considering the impact of adding the iced coffee to a cup full of ice, and thus diluting the coffee with an almost equal amount of (very hard) water? If the iced coffee is simply put in the refrigerator to cool off and somebody orders it without ice, I would assume that it also would have 310 mg. for 16 oz., correct?
14
@KJK You're absolutely right! The ice will dilute the coffee to about 1/2 strength. So doing what you said, putting it in the fridge and letting it cool off, then serving it will give the same amount of caffeine.
I know that the Whole Foods in Boulder on Pearl St. serves their iced coffee with coffee ice cubes, so if you're looking for something cold but not diluted, I'd try that.
16
@Miguel Parra. Try saving any left over coffee/cold brewed coffee, freeze that into ice cubes and use that for your iced coffee or cold brew...it does not dilute your coffee and .....you could also freeze 1/2&1/2 or milk into ice cubes, just use your imagination.
1
Two local shops make custom cold brew. They certainly taste less acidic than hot brewed iced - no idea if they are. Brewed strong, I prefer it to standard iced. Also, it "feels" like it has more caffeine than regular coffee.
I have been making this at home for almost 5 years and I will never go back to hot coffee. I have a device called a Bruer which makes the process cleaner and easy (it is a slow drip of cool water over coarse ground beans in a chamber over about 4 hours). I make it at night so I have it ready in the morning and one batch gives me 32 oz. The taste is so much better and I can keep it in a thermos without worrying about it getting too cold after a while. I also don't pay an arm and a leg for my daily coffee...
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I love coffee but avoid cold brew. It lacks the qualities that make a balanced cup of coffee with acidity playing a big role just as it does in cooking. Without acidity, the end result can taste muddy and sour.
Try Japanese style iced coffee brewed directly over ice. This method doesn't sacrifice any flavor nor does it take many hours to brew.
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Hot brewed coffee becomes stale after about an hour. Cold brew degrades more slowly and is preferable for service where product must be made in multiple-serving batches.
The dirt on turning hot coffee into iced coffee: brewed coffee allowed to sit and cool results in a stale cup, and only a moron would pour a regular batch of hot coffee over ice and expect anything but diluted coffee.
What you mean when you say "Japanese iced coffee"* is (now) common: the ground coffee to water ratio is tweaked and brewed hot over a container of ice, which cools the coffee and brings it to a normal concentration.
*In the specialty coffee community the term "Japanese iced coffee" usually refers to something other than what you think. This method is also called "Kyoto", "Slow drip" or "Ice drip". Done correctly, it results in superb coffee. It requires expensive, specialized equipment consisting of a three-vessel tower. This consists of an upper vessel that holds melting ice, which drips at an adjustable rate into a second vessel below. The second vessel contains a level bed of ground, bloomed coffee topped with a paper filter that disperses the dripping water evenly onto the coffee bed for a gradual and continuous extraction using gravity rather than immersion. This flows through a ceramic filter and into a serving vessel below. In my opinion, coffee made with this method is unparalleled in taste.
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@Alice I've always known what you've described as Kyoto drip, and that may be a topic for another article. Japanese "style" iced coffee (hot coffee brewed directly over ice) is how I've seen the term used, but I'm just a coffee pedestrian.
Cold brew may be preferable for service and that's great for the industry, but if I'm spending my dollars on coffee, I'll buy what tastes better.
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Cold brew is the snake oil of caffeinated beverages--a way to make even more expensive something that was overpriced to begin with. The best iced coffee I get in my neighborhood is made at the local bagel place. They just make it straight up and unpretentious, with plenty of ice and it is refreshing, invigorating and delicious. Don't believe the cold brew hype!
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I get Cool Brew from the New Orleans Coffee Company - original flavor which has chickory in the coffee mix. It seems to lower the caffeine and acid even further. Plus I cut it at times with my own decaf cold brew made at home (using a really convenient kitchenaid cold brew maker/dispenser - all really helps with GERD!
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Iced coffee is coffee with frozen water in it, so it's no wonder that the caffeine content is less. Most iced coffee served by coffee shops is weak coffee. Cold brew is easy to make, if you remember to make it, and holds up to ice very well. You can mix decaf coffee in with the regular coffee to reduce the amount of caffeine as well.
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I make proper espresso at home and also cold brew. I use cold brew for iced coffee b/c it's more convenient to make iced from something that's already cold.
But if you drink it as straight black coffee, or heat it to make a "cup of coffee" - which some do - it's sort of flat and lacking in taste compared to good brewed coffee, especially espresso.
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I've been brewing my own cold-brew for about 4 years. Super simple. 1 lb coarse ground, which I soak for 48 hours before filtering. I use a Filtron system you can find online for cheap under $50. Much more refreshing during the hot and humid Florida mornings than hot coffee.
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I tried it. Tasted really different, very "musky" tasting. Did not like it at all, never tried it again.
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@kenzo "Musky tasting" ?? Yikes! With all due respect, it sounds like something went very wrong. I'd suggest trying it again, and following the easy directions -- see Toddycafe.com, which turned me on to cold brewed several years ago.
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@kenzo Don't assume that the taste of cold brew made by one cafe = the taste in another cold brew. Different beans, different lengths of steeping, etc all change the taste. Some I love, some I hate.
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"My husband recently had an endoscopy that revealed an anomalous patch of stomach tissue on the wall of his esophagus which had been exacerbating his acid reflux."
Just for the records, is the acid reflux that likely caused the tissue anomaly, not the opposite.
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Cold brew is hot! I own a small coffee and bakery shop and we are having trouble keeping up with the demand. And it's greater than last year, so the word is getting out. We use one pound of coarse-ground coffee to one gallon of cold water. It "brews" for 18 hours. Smoooooth.
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@Robert Hunt Gotta love the margin!
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