What Essential Elements Should You Consider When Making a Great Cold Drip Coffee?

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Many friends who come to FrontStreet Coffee say that watching the ice water slowly dripping through the cold drip tower is incredibly therapeutic, and they ask FrontStreet Coffee what kind of coffee this is. This is the biggest difference between cold drip coffee and many other coffee varieties - it typically requires 6-8 hours of slow extraction, so FrontStreet Coffee's cold drip production is limited, creating a situation of "supply not meeting demand."

What is Cold Drip Coffee?

Cold drip coffee refers to a method where ice water is dripped evenly onto coffee grounds at normal pressure, slowly extracting the aromatic compounds from the coffee. Because the low-temperature ice water doesn't easily extract the bitter substances from coffee, and the slow flow rate greatly increases the extraction efficiency, cold drip coffee has a rich but not bitter taste. If you choose coffee beans with prominent flavors to make it, the fermentation notes and sweet-tart fruits, combined with the refreshing ice, can instantly cool you down in summer.

The Origin of Cold Drip Coffee

Usually, we often hear about cold drip coffee, cold brew coffee, and Dutch Coffee. What are the differences and connections between these three types of coffee? FrontStreet Coffee will start with a Dutch coffee story.

In the early 18th century, when the Dutch transported coffee beans from their colony Indonesia back to Europe, the journey was long, and there was no hot water on board, nor could they leisurely brew a cup of coffee. Unable to drink hot coffee, they thought of using cold water to extract coffee. They used a container to hold ground coffee powder, added cold water, and let it steep for several hours. The coffee made this way was very sweet and completely non-bitter. Dutch trading merchants discovered this convenient method that allowed them to drink coffee during sea voyages, and thus this cold water coffee-making method began to spread throughout the world.

However, this method of extracting coffee with ice water did not become widespread in the Netherlands but was preserved by the Japanese and gradually evolved into today's cold drip coffee. Therefore, we sometimes see statements like "cold drip coffee was invented by the Japanese." In fact, it would be more accurate to say that the Japanese improved upon the method invented by the Dutch and preserved this preparation method, allowing us to enjoy this unique-tasting iced coffee.

After reading the story above, FrontStreet Coffee believes you now understand that this method of using cold water to steep coffee grounds to extract coffee liquid is what people call Dutch Coffee. Cold drip coffee, which is an improvement based on the cold brew coffee principle, also belongs to the category of Dutch Coffee. Additionally, there is another type of low-temperature extraction method - cold brew coffee - which involves pouring ice water into a container with coffee grounds, letting it sit for 12-24 hours, and finally filtering out the coffee grounds to obtain a glass of iced coffee with some wine-like notes and sweet-tart flavors. The brewing principle is actually the same as Dutch Coffee, so it also belongs to the category of Dutch Coffee.

How to Use a Cold Drip Coffee Tower

We can usually see various types of cold drip tower devices online, with different materials and shapes, but they generally consist of three parts: upper, middle, and lower sections, which can be divided into four main structures: upper chamber, valve, ground coffee chamber, and lower chamber.

The upper vessel is mainly used to hold ice cubes and water. Below it is connected a metal object - this is the valve that can adjust the water outlet diameter to change the dripping speed, allowing ice water to drip evenly onto the coffee grounds. The middle glass cup-like container is used to hold the ground coffee powder, with a filter hole in the center of the bottom that lets the extracted coffee liquid drip through. The large pot below collects the extracted coffee.

Here, FrontStreet Coffee has selected a popular Costa Rica Mozart Coffee from our store to make this. Mozart coffee beans use raisin anaerobic honey processed green coffee beans, with flavors of raisins, osmanthus, and sweet fermented fruit notes. Cold drip coffee can make the fermentation notes more pronounced.

For the grind size, FrontStreet Coffee generally chooses the same grind size as for iced pour-over. Because low-temperature water reduces extraction efficiency, we grind the coffee finer to increase its extraction. For this bean, we selected an 85% pass-through rate on China's No. 20 standard sieve, which according to FrontStreet Coffee's store standards is a 9-grade grind on the EK-43S grinder.

Generally, we first calculate the extraction parameters, using a coffee-to-water ratio of 1:10, extracting 600g of coffee liquid from 60g of coffee. The ice-water mixture ratio is 1:1, and the valve flow rate is controlled at 7 drops per 10 seconds. The dripping usually completes within 6-8 hours. (Typically, cold drip ratios range from 1:10 to 1:12, and you can adjust according to your taste preferences.)

Place a circular filter paper at the bottom of the middle chamber and wet it with water. Then grind the coffee beans and pour the grounds into the chamber, making sure to spread them evenly to ensure uniform extraction. Place another circular filter paper on the surface of the coffee grounds to prevent water drops from disturbing the coffee bed. Before starting the drip, you need to moisten the coffee bed with cold water first, which can save extraction time and avoid uneven initial extraction.

Place the ground coffee chamber on the stand and start filling with the ice-water mixture, typically half ice and half water. Adjust the valve to control the flow rate at 7 drops per 10 seconds, ensuring the dripping water drops align with the position where the coffee liquid filters out. After the dripping is complete, pour the liquid from the lower chamber into an airtight container - FrontStreet Coffee uses glass bottles - and place it in the refrigerator to ferment for more than 12 hours. It's usually ready to drink the next day.

After a night of refrigeration, the Mozart coffee will present a wine-like fermentation quality, with the sweet-tart notes of berries, pineapples, and other tropical fruits. The taste is rich but not bitter. After adding ice cubes to dilute it, it's like drinking a refreshing fruit wine.

How to Choose Coffee Beans for Cold Drip Coffee

The biggest characteristic of cold drip coffee is long-term extraction at low temperatures, so when we choose coffee beans, we generally consider types with prominent flavor characteristics. Here, FrontStreet Coffee introduces several typical types of coffee beans with different flavor profiles.

1. Tropical Fruit and Fermented Wine Aroma Types

For example, the Mozart Coffee mentioned earlier by FrontStreet Coffee has the sweet-tart notes of dark berries, and the wine-like flavors that develop from low-temperature aging enhance the overall taste. Additionally, FrontStreet Coffee's bean menu includes several coffees of this type: Colombia's Flower Moon Night Coffee, Honduras's Sherry Coffee, and Costa Rica's Strawberry Sugar Coffee. These have very distinct aromas and are also suitable for making iced pour-over and cold brew.

2. Clean and Refreshing Types

Some coffees use washed processing that gives the coffee beans very clean and full acidity. When made into cold drip coffee, these flavors will have juice-like acidity with the bright, clear fragrance of cherry tomatoes and grapefruit, making them perfect for drinking in hot summers. For example, on FrontStreet Coffee's bean menu: Kenya's Assalia AA Coffee, Ethiopia's washed Guddi Cooperative Coffee, and Panama's Geisha Blend Butterfly Coffee. If you're a fan of light and refreshing flavors, you'll definitely love this pure and clean taste.

3. Sweet and Palatable Types

Compared to the two types of light to medium roast coffees mentioned above, dark roast coffees are rarely used to make cold drip coffee, as they're thought to be very strong and bitter. This is actually not the case. FrontStreet Coffee has tried using Indonesia's Golden Mandheling to make cold drip coffee, which has rich chocolate sweetness and a fermented aroma after adding ice cubes, with no bitterness at all. If you can't accept the "heavy flavor" of Mandheling coffee, FrontStreet Coffee thinks that Brazil's Queen's Estate can also present nutty and chocolate flavor notes, with a smooth, creamy texture when diluted with ice.

4. Flavor Blend Types

Friends who often drink espresso coffee must know that coffee beans can be blended for preparation, and the same applies to cold drip coffee. Besides using single-origin beans with distinct flavors, cold drip coffee can also be made by mixing two or more single-origin beans for extraction. For example, FrontStreet Coffee has tried blending Honduras Lychee Lan Coffee and Musician Series Beethoven Coffee in a 1:1 ratio, hoping to create a coffee with both wine-like and fruity flavors. After this mixed drip extraction, the resulting coffee shows rich brandy aroma and honey sweetness, along with refreshing fruit acidity. Following this approach, you can create a cold drip coffee with customized taste and flavor based on your personal preferences.

Regarding flavor expression, everyone can refer to FrontStreet Coffee's classification recommendations above to make selections. Because cold drip coffee is extracted at low temperatures and efficiency is slow, it's more forgiving. Everyone can adjust based on factors like home equipment and budget. It's important to note that all flavor expressions are based on the freshness of the coffee beans' roast, so FrontStreet Coffee recommends choosing coffee beans within their optimal flavor period. FrontStreet Coffee's roasting philosophy is to freshly roast good coffee, and all coffee beans shipped by FrontStreet Coffee are freshly roasted within 5 days. We hope every guest can enjoy good coffee during its peak flavor period.

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