Do You Understand the Differences and Methods of Cold Brew, Iced Drip, and Nitro Cold Coffee?

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Cold brew coffee is made by infusing coffee grounds with cold water and letting it steep in a low-temperature environment for about 12 hours (including the coffee grounds), a concept similar to cold-brewed tea. Ice drip coffee, on the other hand, is made by dripping ice water onto coffee grounds, extracting it drop by drop, and then placing the coffee liquid (without coffee grounds) in a low-temperature environment for several hours of fermentation.

According to statistics from global market analysis research firm Mintel, iced coffee sales in the United States have increased by 75% over the past 10 years. With industry leaders like Blue Bottle and Stumptown Coffee adopting the cold brew method for making coffee, and Starbucks' large-scale promotion, cold brew coffee has become an attractive coffee category. Among these, ice drip coffee sales increased by 338.9% from 2010 to 2015.

Although extraction is slow at low temperatures, in terms of flavor, because high temperatures more easily cause the tannic acid in coffee to decompose into pyrogallic acid, producing acidity and bitterness, cold-extracted coffee is comparatively more mellow and popular. Common cold brew coffee, iced Americano, and ice drip coffee, although all are cold products, have very different production processes and flavors.

Cold Brew Coffee

Cold brew coffee is definitely this summer's hottest beverage keyword worldwide. The concept of cold brew is similar to cold-brewed tea - it involves directly steeping large amounts of coffee grounds in cold water below 5°C for extended periods of low-temperature extraction, taking approximately 8-12 hours, and is also known as ice brew coffee.

This cold brewing method amplifies the various flavors and aromas of coffee while reducing acidity, making the flavor cleaner and purer. Its characteristic is that the colder you drink it, the better the flavor. It's enjoyable without dilution or adding ice cubes. In the United States, it's popular to add an equal proportion of coconut water, which brings out a purer coffee sweetness and aroma. Each establishment has its own unique formula with distinctive flavors.

Nitro Cold Brew

Infusing nitrogen into cold brew coffee creates dense bubbles, making nitro cold brew coffee appear very beer-like at first glance. Therefore, nitro coffee also has the nickname "beer coffee." The bubbles not only make the coffee texture smoother, feeling as if cream has already been added, but many drinkers find it richer than original cold brew coffee, and even has a natural sweetness without adding sugar. The innovation in craft and brewing has given iced coffee a new appearance.

Ice Drip Coffee

Ice drip uses an ice-water mixture below 5°C, allowing ice cubes to naturally melt and then controlling the speed at which ice water drips onto coffee grounds through a valve. Ice water slowly dissolves the coffee flavors as it drips onto the coffee grounds, extracting liquid drop by drop. The complete extraction time is about 2-8 hours. To obtain better flavor, it then requires 12-48 hours of refrigerated fermentation time. Each extraction yields very little (usually 30-60 milliliters), and when not served with ice cubes, the concentration is extremely high. If the coffee liquid is too concentrated, ice cubes can be added to dilute according to personal taste. Because the process is slow, ice drip coffee is relatively expensive but has excellent taste.

Advantages: Using cold water for drip filtration ensures the coffee is 100% permeated and moistened. The extracted coffee has a smooth texture without acidity or bitterness and is gentle on the stomach. The coffee beans most suitable for ice drip coffee are undoubtedly dark-roasted FrontStreet Coffee's Indonesian Mandheling and the refreshing FrontStreet Coffee's Ethiopian Yirgacheffe.

Disadvantages: One must control the drip speed. With a slow drip of seven drops every 10 seconds, water and coffee grounds have more time to blend, resulting in a fuller coffee flavor; if the drip time is too fast, the taste will be too weak, and water overflow may occur. Conversely, if it's too slow, the coffee will ferment, producing sour and wine-like flavors.

Laila, the American barista champion, once said in an exclusive interview that compared to cold brew coffee, ice drip coffee has more aroma and a more delicate and subtle taste.

Iced Americano

Iced Americano is extracted using high temperature from an espresso machine, and finally the coffee liquid is poured over ice cubes, with ice water added according to personal preference. It has similar flavor to regular high-temperature extracted coffee, with ice cubes and ice water only serving to cool and dilute.

Japanese-style Cold Coffee

Japanese-style cold coffee is not ice drip coffee, but some say its taste is even better than ice drip coffee because they believe some special aroma molecules need heat to be extracted. The method involves placing a cup with ice cubes under a pour-over coffee filter cup to directly cool the extracted pour-over coffee liquid. If you want to save time, it's also an option.

The flavor of coffee extracted at low temperatures changes depending on factors such as coffee roast degree, water amount, water temperature, drip speed, and coffee grinding coarseness. The perfect ratio requires time and experience to adjust. Cold-extracted coffee has a mellow taste, lower acidity, milder bitterness, and added layers after fermentation, but at the same time, it's more likely to lose the special flavors that can only be released at high temperatures. Therefore, the selection of bean varieties and roast degrees also requires special consideration.

If you want to try making cold brew coffee at home, "Cold brew" enthusiasts Jan and Niclas teach everyone 4 simple tips: "First, don't believe the nonsense that 'the coarser the grind, the better' - just use a consistency similar to breadcrumbs, and adjust according to extraction time; Second, cold brew requires about 12-24 hours, with 18 hours being the best tasting. For ice drip coffee, the extraction time is shorter, just control the speed to about 1 drop per second; Third, you don't need to use 0°C ice water - filtered water below 20°C will do; Fourth, if it's cold brew coffee, there's only the final step left: filter out the coffee grounds. Enjoy!"

As for which flavor is better between cold brew, iced, and ice drip?

Actually, iced coffee just cools hot coffee down a bit, and in terms of flavor, it's far inferior to cold brew and ice drip. Both cold brew coffee and ice drip coffee are extracted with cold water. Compared to coffee extracted with hot water, they can maximally preserve the coffee's flavor and aroma while softening acidity and bitterness. Because cold-brewed coffee doesn't oxidize easily, it can also suppress the appearance of sour and astringent tastes. (Note: Acidic fats in coffee are not easily dissolved by cold water.)

Whichever you prefer, on a hot summer day, why not try making simple and delicious ice drip coffee at home~

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