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The Ultimate Guide to Iced Coffee: Ice Drip vs Cold Brew

Summer is here, and for coffee lovers, nothing beats a refreshing glass of iced coffee. If you reject high-calorie options, value mouthfeel and aftertaste, and enjoy exploring new flavors, why not try the goddess-level beverages in the iced coffee world this summer: "Ice Drip Coffee" and "Cold Brew Coffee."

Compared to coffee extracted with hot water, ice drip and cold brew coffees offer unique and wonderful flavors, with their cool textures being especially suitable for summer. Moreover, an extraction process that spans several hours, paired with beautiful coffee equipment, refreshes both body and soul before you even take a sip—just seeing the ice-cold cubes like miniature icebergs is already invigorating. Let's now explore ice drip and cold brew coffees together!

Ice Drip Coffee: The Dutch Innovation

Ice drip coffee, also known as Dutch coffee. Legend has it that during the Dutch colonial period in Indonesia, they cultivated many robusta coffee varieties with strong flavors (extended reading: Differences between Arabica and Robusta beans). To be able to drink these quite bitter coffee beans in tropical regions, they invented a device that uses slowly dripping cold water to brew coffee. Simply put, ice drip coffee achieves a richer, smoother aroma and taste, similar to wine, through low-temperature extraction with ice water.

Although ice drip coffee was invented in the Netherlands, an interesting phenomenon is that you can hardly find this type of coffee in the Netherlands itself. Instead, it has sparked an ice drip trend in Asia. In Japan, ice drip coffee has several hundred years of history, so it's also called "Kyoto coffee" or "Japanese-style slow-drip." In South Korea, almost every coffee shop sells ice drip coffee, and many famous ice drip equipment brands come from Japan and South Korea.

The Differences Between Iced, Cold Brew, and Ice Drip Coffee

Iced Coffee

Iced coffee refers to cold coffee beverages made by quickly extracting coffee powder with hot water, then adding ice cubes or rapidly cooling it down. The preparation takes about 2-3 minutes.

Advantages: Convenient and quick

Disadvantages: Flavor can become diluted as ice cubes melt

Cold Brew Coffee

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

After several hours of refrigeration, excess oils are filtered out and the coffee is bottled. This cold-brew method amplifies the various flavors and aromas of coffee while reducing acidity, resulting in cleaner and purer flavors. Cold Brew coffee's characteristic is that it tastes better the colder it gets—you don't need to dilute it with ice cubes. In the United States, it's popular to add equal parts coconut water, which brings out a purer coffee sweetness.

Dripo travel cups can be used for both cold brew and ice drip coffee—you just need to prepare ice water and coffee grounds. First, add coffee grounds, then place the round filter paper, and finally pour in ice water to start brewing!

Advantages: Because boiling hot water is never used for brewing, the low-temperature cold water doesn't force out impurities and bitter flavors from coffee beans, which is why many prefer using the Cold Brew method. This brewing method not only tastes fresher and slightly sweeter, but the acidity and bitterness are relatively reduced, making the mouthfeel smoother.

Disadvantages: Because water and coffee grounds are in contact for a longer time, Cold Brew coffee contains the strongest caffeine content, making it perfect for moments when you need to stay highly alert.

Ice Drip Coffee

Ice drip coffee refers to coffee made by extracting flavor compounds from coffee grounds using evenly dripping cold water, drop by drop, taking about 4-8 hours depending on the equipment size. The extracted coffee flavor varies based on factors such as coffee roast level, water amount, water temperature, dripping speed, and coffee grind coarseness.

Advantages: Using cold water for drip filtration, the coffee is 100% saturated and moistened, resulting in smooth, non-acidic coffee that's gentle on the stomach. The best coffee beans for ice drip coffee are typically deep-roasted Mandheling and refreshing Yirgacheffe (Ethiopia).

Disadvantages: Requires control of dripping speed—at a slow pace of 7 drops per 10 seconds, water and coffee grounds have more time to blend, resulting in richer coffee flavor; if dripping is too fast, the taste will be too weak and may cause overflow; conversely, if too slow, the coffee may ferment, producing sour and wine-like flavors.

FrontStreet Coffee's Tips for Making Ice Drip Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee recommends paying attention to these small details when making ice drip coffee:

1. Coffee beans : water : ice cubes ratio is 1:5:5
2. You can tamp the grounds, but not too forcefully—the weight of the tamper itself is sufficient. The purpose of tamping is to level the grounds, not to compress them tightly. Without tamping, water will easily float the grounds when poured; but tamping too hard will prevent water from passing through and can easily cause channeling effects.
3. Remember to place a filter paper on the surface of the grounds. The tension of the filter paper helps distribute water evenly. Without filter paper, long-term water dripping will create a crater in the coffee bed.
4. Use ice water for "pre-soaking"—this is similar to the blooming process in pour-over coffee, which can improve extraction efficiency and consistency of the final product. Direct ice dripping without pre-soaking may cause uneven moistening of the coffee layer, with some grounds over-extracted while others don't participate in extraction at all.
5. After brewing, it's best to pour the coffee into a sealed glass bottle and let it ferment in the refrigerator overnight. This allows the coffee flavors to meld together, resulting in better taste and easier drinking.

FrontStreet Coffee's Bean Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee suggests using honey-processed or natural-processed coffee beans when making ice drip coffee. These offer rich flavor layers, prominent fruity sweetness, and fermentation aromas that pair wonderfully with the ice drip coffee brewing method!

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473