What is German Iced Coffee? How is Iced Coffee Made - Is it Brewed with Cold Water?

Iced coffee is made very differently from one European country to the next. Some pour hot coffee over ice cubes, some crown hot coffee with ice cream, and others use cold-water extraction. In America, for example, the basic formula is espresso plus water plus ice cubes, which has become the standard iced Americano served in cafes around the world.

In Italy, the basic formula is espresso plus ice cubes, shaken to build a foam that rounds out the texture of the whole drink. In Germany, the basic formula is a long-extraction espresso with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, cream and caramel sauce or chocolate shavings, with the deluxe version sometimes adding rum.

All of the methods above, however, call for an espresso machine, which is not very convenient. So how can you make delicious iced coffee easily at home? This article shows how to make summer iced coffee with nothing more than cold water.

Cold Brew/Cold Extraction Coffee Preparation

Compared with coffee extracted with hot water, cold-brewed coffee lacks the heat that drives water molecules to move, so bitter compounds in the coffee find it hard to release at low temperatures. That is why cold brew tastes cleaner and more refreshing. The long extraction also lets the good flavor compounds in the coffee release fully, giving the drink a very full body.

Because the extraction runs so long, cold brew contains more caffeine than drip coffee or espresso-based drinks, so if you need an energy boost, it is a first choice.

The process for making cold brew could hardly be simpler.

For homemade cold brew, FrontStreet Coffee recommends the Gudingding Cooperative, a washed, light-roasted Ethiopian bean that needs little introduction. Whatever the brewing method, it always shows white floral notes, citrus, green tea and cream, with a sweet-and-sour balance. Its extraction barrier is very low, which makes it especially friendly to beginners.

Preparation Details:

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:12 (1g coffee, 12g water)
Water temperature: Room temperature
Equipment: Cold brew pitcher
Steeping time: 12-16 hours

Cold extraction, or cold brew, is the most hands-off and least technical way to make iced coffee, though the process takes a while, so you cannot drink it immediately. Start it steeping at dinner time and you can wake up to full-bodied, clean cold brew the next morning.

Since FrontStreet Coffee uses a 1L cold brew pitcher, this demonstration uses 60g of coffee grounds. Adjust the amount to the size of your own pitcher; the ratio stays the same, but make sure the grounds are completely submerged once the water is added.

Prepare a clean cold brew pitcher, pour the ground coffee into the pitcher's filter, then pour 720g of room-temperature water over the grounds so they are fully wet and steeping. Cover the filter section, then cover the pitcher itself, and place it in the refrigerator for low-temperature extraction for 12-16 hours.

When extraction is complete, lift the filter and let it drain over the pitcher edge to collect the remaining coffee liquid. Then discard the grounds and enjoy. If the 1:12 ratio tastes too strong, make it at 1:13, or add ice cubes or clean water to dilute it to taste.

Coffee Bean Recommendations for Iced Drinks

Ethiopia Natural Red Cherry Coffee Beans

Medium-light roast; flavor notes of mixed berries, caramel, black tea and a light fruit fermentation aroma.

Red Cherry refers to the "Red Cherry Project" launched by Dutch green bean traders in 2007. The project was set up mainly to raise the purchase price for fully ripe cherries, encouraging farmers to harvest only fruit with fully red skin and no defects.

The approach greatly improved the overall quality of the beans and also lifted the sugar content, since fully ripe fruit is sweeter. After the whole fruit is sun-dried, the beans take on wonderful sweetness and a slight fermentation note, giving the coffee a smooth, mellow mouthfeel and making it one of Ethiopia's best beans for sweetness.

Panama Elida Estate Natural Typica Coffee Beans

Medium roast; flavor notes of peach, orange, raisin, caramel and green tea.

When Elida Estate comes up, the first thing that may come to mind is the estate's award-winning ASD slow-dried Geisha from the 2019 BOP competition. The estate does not grow Geisha alone, though; it also cultivates the Catuai and Catimor varieties common across Central and South America, as well as Typica, known for its clean and elegant profile.

What stands out about this Elida Typica is that it combines the rich juice flavors that come from regional terroir and natural processing with the inherent cleanliness of Typica, so the coffee tastes very smooth and full-bodied.

Colombia Dividing Line Estate Sidra Coffee Beans

Medium roast; flavor notes of grape, passion fruit, dried apricot, citrus and fermentation aroma.

The Sidra variety drew widespread attention after 2022, when WBC champion barista Anthony Douglas chose Colombian Sidra for his competition.

Sidra is a laboratory variety, hybridized from Typica and Red Bourbon. Later genetic comparisons found that Sidra shares genes with Ethiopian native varieties, leading some scholars to speculate that it is a cross between an experimental research variety exported from Ethiopia and local Bourbon varieties in Ecuador.

Sidra beans carry floral and fruity characteristics comparable to Geisha, showing flavors of peach, citrus, grape and honey, with moderate acidity and a round mouthfeel. Most importantly, it offers excellent value for money.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If you want a bean made for cold brew, FrontStreet's Strawberry Candy Geisha blend is the obvious first pick. It pairs the most representative Panama Geisha with a Costa Rica honey-processed coffee: one supplies delicate rose and orange notes, the other the grape, dried blueberry and strawberry-candy sweetness, and together they build a rich, layered cup. Cold-brewed, it is sweet-and-sour and lively, and left to settle and ferment a little longer it takes on a fruit-wine character.

For a floral cold brew, FrontStreet's Natural Huakui is worth trying. Cold extraction amplifies floral and fruity notes while playing down woody and roast tones, which is exactly where this Ethiopian bean shines. Its natural processing lets the beans soak up a great deal of sweetness from the fruit and skin, and in a cold brew it shows magnolia, creamy strawberry, dried mango, guava and black tea.

If it is a juicy, fruit-forward cold brew you are after, FrontStreet's Kenya Small Tomato leads the way. From Kenya's Thika region, it is grown at 1550-1750 meters from the selected SL28 and SL34 varieties and given the local K72 double-washed process, which pushes the bean's own flavors forward. Roasted medium-light to turn the aromatic precursors into more complex notes, it delivers the sweet-and-sour character of cherry tomato, pear, black plum and dark plum; at low temperature the cherry tomato, pear, black plum and plum notes come through vividly, with low bitterness, a full acidity and a refreshing edge when served over ice.