Japanese Iced Coffee Tutorial: Pour-Over Iced Coffee Brewing Method

As the perceived temperature briefly soars, FrontStreet Coffee's home in Guangzhou begins to step into a Schrödinger's summer, and iced coffee naturally returns to the top of the store's sales. As everyone's favorite, iced pour-over not only allows you to choose your favorite coffee beans but also adds an icy texture - mellow yet refreshing, making it an essential remedy for high-temperature weather.

On this beautifully sunny day, FrontStreet Coffee has compiled a collection of extraction methods for iced pour-over, all with zero barriers to entry - simple enough that anyone can master them with hands. Save them quickly~

What You Must Know for Making Iced Pour-over

Regardless of the coffee extraction method, the parameters we focus on actually revolve around two key points: extraction rate and concentration. The first, extraction rate, directly affects whether the coffee tastes more acidic, balanced, or more bitter. The second, concentration, changes our perception during tasting - too concentrated can easily create irritation and mask flavors, while too diluted is like drinking water. Therefore, as long as these two fall within appropriate ranges, the combination of parameters can be flexibly adjusted.

Like many coffee preparation methods, iced pour-over is derived from the existing hot pour-over framework. In conventional hot pour-over, we coordinate grind size, water temperature, coffee-to-water ratio, equipment, and pouring techniques to achieve suitable extraction rate and concentration for a cup of coffee. Iced pour-over adds ice cubes on top of hot pour-over to cool the coffee, so if we directly apply the hot pour-over formula + ice cubes, although the coffee achieves the appropriate extraction rate, the concentration is diluted because the ice melts into water, making it inevitably taste like bland, flavorless iced coffee water.

Therefore, to get a delicious iced pour-over, the core issue is solving how to maintain a moderate concentration after the coffee cools down. The most common approaches include changing ratios, adjusting grind size, using technique intervention, and physical cooling. FrontStreet Coffee has categorized these into roughly 4 methods.

Method One: High Concentration, High Extraction Method

High concentration and high extraction, as the name suggests, means high concentration and high extraction rate. High concentration is easy to understand - ensuring the brewed coffee still has excellent flavor and maintains a full body after adding ice cubes. The operation is also very simple: appropriately reduce the water amount and make the grind finer.

With the same water amount, increasing extraction rate means allowing the coffee to obtain more flavors. Iced pour-over requires us to separate part of the hot water and replace it with ice cubes, so the water amount is less than conventional hot pour-over, and extraction time shortens accordingly. The reduction in later-stage substances leads to lower extraction rates. Therefore, the "high extraction" FrontStreet Coffee refers to here actually means allowing the brewer to extract as many soluble substances as possible with limited water. We can coordinate this through technique changes.

Here, FrontStreet Coffee uses a light-medium roast coffee bean - Ethiopia Kaffa Forest - as an example, using the following iced pour-over parameters for high concentration and high extraction:

Coffee Dose: 15g
10x Hot Water: 150g
5x Ice Amount: 75g
Water Temperature: 92°C
Grind Size: 83% pass-through on #20 sieve (EK43s setting 9, C40 setting 22)
Dripper: Hario V60
Technique: Three-stage pour

First, place 75g of ice cubes in the server, then pour 15g of ground coffee into the filter cup and gently level it. For the first stage, use a small water flow of 3ml/s to pour 30g of hot water from the center outward in small circles for a 30-second bloom. After 30 seconds, pour the second 60g of water using the same technique - be careful not to raise the liquid level too high, which can cause under-extraction. When the coffee liquid is about to dry up, pour all remaining 60g of hot water at 3ml/s flow rate, ensuring extraction time falls within 1 minute 50 seconds to 2 minutes.

This brewed Kaffa Forest not only has rich fruit flavors like lemon and blueberry but also highlights the sweet fragrance of melon seeds, with a light body and balanced sweet-sour-bitter profile. However, since there will be some crushed ice residue after brewing, if you don't want the coffee to be further diluted, either drink it quickly before the ice melts or remove the ice cubes first.

Method Two: Ice-Rinsing Method

In the first method, FrontStreet Coffee used high-hardness square old ice cubes, which means they dissolve more slowly, so the coffee liquid can cool quickly while avoiding the risk of over-dilution. But if our home ice molds are smaller and the ice particles we make melt faster, using the same parameters to brew an iced coffee will present slightly inferior results, generally表现为 watery texture and weak flavors.

Therefore, to reduce the situation of low concentration caused by excessive ice melting, we can use the "ice-rinsing" method for cooling. This method keeps the same brewing parameters - we just need to prepare double the amount of ice (150g), then find a filter that can hold ice cubes and flowing liquid. Here, FrontStreet Coffee directly uses the filter cup, then pours the brewed coffee liquid directly onto the ice cubes, achieving cooling through continuous rinsing.

This brewed Kaffa Forest is superior to the previous method in both richness and flavor layers, with prominent aromas of yellow peach, citrus, and apricot, featuring a smooth mouthfeel and a sweet aftertaste.

Method Three: Stirring Method

Within the same time frame, adding stirring motion in pour-over can use external force to increase the extraction efficiency of hot water on coffee grounds, thereby enhancing flavor concentration. For light to medium roast beans, stirring during the water pouring stage can accelerate the release of acidic and sweet substances, giving the coffee better juice-like texture and floral notes. The corresponding iced pour-over parameters are as follows:

Coffee Dose: 15g
Hot Water: 160g
Ice Cubes: 80g
Grind Size: 80% pass-through on #20 sieve (EK43s setting 9.5, C40 setting 24)
Dripper: Hario V60
Three-stage: 30g, 80g + stirring, 50g

Before pouring, first place the ice cubes in the server and pour all the coffee grounds. The first bloom stage remains unchanged - use a small water flow of 3-4ml/s to pour 30g from the center outward in circles. After 30 seconds, pour 80g of hot water from inside to outside in circles, slightly raising the water level. When the timer scale shows 110g, stop pouring and take out a prepared small spoon to stir 5 circles along the filter cup wall in one direction, then wait for the coffee liquid to slowly flow down.

When the coffee bed is about to be exposed, use a small water flow to pour the remaining 50g of hot water into the center. When all the coffee liquid has dripped through, remove the filter cup to end extraction, with time approximately falling between 2 minutes to 2 minutes 10 seconds. Finally, shake the server to melt all the ice cubes inside, and you can begin tasting.

The iced pour-over Kaffa Forest with added stirring motion has richer sweet and sour sensations, with flavors predominantly of grapefruit, orange, yellow peach, and sweet orange, accompanied by tea-like aftertaste. The final ice cubes give the coffee a refreshing quality, making it taste full of juice-like sensation.

Method Four: Ice Barrier Cooling Method

In addition to the three more common methods above, FrontStreet Coffee's collection includes a more luxurious method - "ice bath cooling." This method doesn't require adjusting grind size or coffee-to-water ratio. The coffee liquid is physically cooled throughout by external ice water, which can reduce the diluted taste caused by ice melting in the coffee. The disadvantage is that it requires a large amount of ice cubes and a lengthy cooling process. Before brewing, we need to prepare a thermometer first. The corresponding brewing parameters are as follows:

Coffee Dose: 15g
Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:15
Grind Size: 78% pass-through on #20 sieve (EK43s setting 10, C40 setting 26)
Water Temperature: 92°C
Dripper: Hario V60
Pouring Technique: Three-stage pour

The first stage pours 30g of water for a 30-second bloom. Use a medium water flow of 5ml/s to pour 95g from the center outward in circles, completing in about 50 seconds. When the water level drops to 2/3 of the coffee bed, pour the remaining 100g of hot water using the same technique, completing drip filtration in about 2 minutes 10 seconds. Then place the entire pot of coffee in an ice-water mixture for cooling. When the thermometer shows the temperature has dropped to 10°C, you can begin tasting.

The Kaffa Forest cooled by ice bath has very clear sweetness. Because there's no ice cube interference, you can immediately feel white floral notes and citrus fruit acidity upon entry, accompanied by characteristics of sweet melon, sugar tangerine, and blueberry. The sweet and sour flavors are full and rich, making it the most layered cup among the four methods.

- END -

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473