What Coffee Beans to Use for Cold Brew and Ice Drip Coffee? Which Equipment is Best for Ice Drip Coffee?

Ice drip coffee has long been cherished by coffee enthusiasts for its smooth texture, distinct layers, and clean, refreshing taste. Ice drip coffee has consistently been one of the best-selling products at FrontStreet Coffee, especially during summer when FrontStreet Coffee's baristas prepare ice drip coffee daily to ensure the refrigerator is always well-stocked with various flavors of ice drip coffee. In winter, customers can also pre-order FrontStreet Coffee's ice drip coffee with their preferred flavor profiles.

The popularity of ice drip coffee stems from two main factors: first, FrontStreet Coffee uses freshly roasted coffee beans from their own roastery, and second, the low-temperature extraction process combined with the post-extraction oxidation steps allows coffee flavor molecules to be fully released and preserved. In this article, FrontStreet Coffee will explain what ice drip coffee is, its characteristics, and recommended coffee beans for making ice drip coffee.

What is Ice Drip Coffee?

As the name suggests, ice drip coffee is a method of extracting coffee using "low temperature" and "slow dripping." Temperature affects the decomposition rate of oils, acids, and sugars in coffee. Depending on how quickly this process occurs, the aroma, taste, and texture of coffee can vary significantly. This is why different extraction methods can produce coffee with different qualities.

Brewing coffee is essentially the process of extracting and dissolving aromatic molecules from coffee cells. This is typically achieved quickly using hot water, whereas ice drip coffee replaces temperature with time. Ice water below 5°C is dripped onto coffee grounds, slowly extracting the coffee's flavors, which then drip out drop by drop as the final extraction liquid. The complete extraction process for ice drip coffee takes about 2-8 hours, depending on personal preference and coffee bean variety.

Low-temperature extraction involves prolonged contact between water and coffee grounds at low temperatures. Only smaller molecular flavor compounds, such as floral and fruity notes, are extracted, while larger molecular flavor compounds like smoky and roasted flavors are difficult to extract. Therefore, cold brew coffee better showcases the inherent flavors of coffee beans, resulting in a smooth texture with distinct layers and a pleasant aftertaste.

Characteristics of Ice Drip Coffee

Sweeter Taste

Aromatic molecules in coffee dissolve in a specific order - aromatic compounds are extracted first, followed by bitter compounds. When brewing coffee with hot water, improper temperature and time control often lead to excessive extraction of bitter molecules, resulting in poor-tasting coffee. Ice drip coffee uses cold water for prolonged extraction, dissolving only the pleasant aromatic molecules, resulting in a more fragrant, smooth taste that presents coffee's best original flavors. The absence of bitterness and astringency is the main reason why many people love ice drip coffee.

Long Shelf Life

Any food becomes more perishable after heating due to the destruction of its molecular structure. Hot-brewed coffee has an extremely short freshness period - its taste begins to deteriorate after more than 45 minutes. Ice drip coffee hasn't undergone a heating process, so it has a very long shelf life. After extraction, it can be kept fresh in the refrigerator for up to two weeks, during which the fermentation process allows the coffee's flavor to develop different layers of mellow richness.

Generally, it's recommended to let the extracted ice drip coffee sit in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours before drinking for optimal flavor. Many people say that ice drip coffee becomes exceptionally mellow and smooth after a week, but FrontStreet Coffee doesn't advocate storing ice drip coffee for a week. After all, bacteria in the air or bottles make it difficult to guarantee the coffee's condition after prolonged storage. It's recommended to consume ice drip coffee within 72 hours.

Lower Stomach Irritation

Many people with sensitive stomachs avoid coffee due to the stomach pain caused by regular coffee. Ice drip coffee contains fewer irritating compounds found in hot-extracted coffee and has lower caffeine content at the same concentration, making it a healthier choice.

Why is it recommended to refrigerate ice drip coffee for 12-24 hours after extraction?

This is actually an oxidation process. Just like freshly roasted coffee beans, which contain about 2% carbon dioxide by weight, this large amount of carbon dioxide is gradually released depending on storage environment, equipment, or methods. This creates pressure higher than atmospheric pressure in the packaging, which helps aromatic substances blend with oils, putting all aromatic compounds inside the coffee beans in a state where they can be easily extracted.

What Coffee Beans to Use for Ice Drip Coffee?

Actually, there are no specific requirements for which coffee beans to use for ice drip - you can choose any coffee beans with flavors you like. When making ice drip coffee, FrontStreet Coffee typically chooses medium-light roast freshly roasted coffee beans. For example, Ethiopian region coffee beans with bright citrus acidity and refreshing taste, Panama region coffee beans with distinct floral aromas, or Costa Rica region coffee beans with noticeable fermentation characteristics, and so on. This time, FrontStreet Coffee will use Ethiopian natural process Alo village coffee beans, which have rich fruit acidity and fermentation characteristics, for the ice drip coffee demonstration.

FrontStreet Coffee: Ethiopia · Alo Coffee Beans
Coffee Region: Sidamo Bensa
Growing Altitude: 1950-2350m
Coffee Varieties: Local Landraces (Heirloom)
Processing Method: Natural Process
Grade: G1

How FrontStreet Coffee Makes Ice Drip Coffee

1. FrontStreet Coffee uses a water-to-coffee ratio of 1:10 for ice drip, meaning 60 grams of coffee grounds extract 600 milliliters of coffee liquid.

2. Place a circular filter paper at the bottom of the brew chamber, wet it to fit the cup walls, and add 60g of ground coffee (FrontStreet Coffee uses Chinese standard #20 sieve with 58% pass rate - slightly coarser than pour-over grind). Then level the coffee surface, and you can also use the tamper's own weight to lightly press the powder layer to make the surface even.

3. Place a filter paper on top of the coffee grounds layer. Because the filter paper's tension allows water to be evenly distributed across the coffee grounds surface for extraction. Without filter paper, prolonged water dripping would create a pit in the coffee bed.

4. Use ice water for "pre-soaking" - evenly moisten the entire coffee grounds layer with ice water. This step is similar to the bloom phase in pour-over coffee, which can improve extraction efficiency and consistency of the final product.

5. Add a 1:1 mixture of ice and water to the water container and adjust the valve to approximately 7 drops every 10 seconds.

6. After brewing, pour the coffee liquid into a sealed glass bottle and place it in the refrigerator to ferment overnight. This allows the coffee flavors to meld together, resulting in better taste and easier drinking.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee on WeChat: ID: kaixinguoguo0925

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473