What is the Taste Difference Between Cold Brew and Iced Americano - How to Make Delicious Cold Brew Coffee

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The Difference Between Cold Brew and Iced Americano

The biggest difference between cold brew coffee and iced Americano coffee is that cold brew coffee is a coffee extracted at low temperature, with a clean, full, and refreshing taste; while Americano coffee is a coffee extracted at high temperature, with a rich and mellow taste. If it's iced Americano coffee, it will be rich and refreshing.

What is Cold Brew Coffee?

Cold Brew Coffee, also known as cold-drip coffee, ice-brewed coffee, or cold-fermented coffee, is made by directly placing ground coffee powder into room temperature water for full soaking, then refrigerating for extraction for more than 8-12 hours. It's a coffee extracted at low temperature.

The greatest characteristic of low-temperature coffee extraction is that unpleasant substances in coffee taste (such as bitter and astringent substances) are not easily released in low-temperature water. Therefore, the taste of cold brew coffee will be cleaner. At the same time, due to long-term soaking, pleasant substances in coffee (such as acid and sweet) will be fully extracted, making the overall flavor more full-bodied.

What is Americano Coffee?

Americano coffee is a coffee made by diluting espresso with water, allowing concentration adjustment according to personal taste preferences. This coffee is made by putting finely ground coffee powder into a designated portafilter, leveling and tamping it, then using an espresso machine to pressurize hot water to quickly pass through the powder layer, extracting a small amount of high-concentration coffee liquid.

The characteristic of Americano coffee lies in its speed, with taste intensity determined by personal preference. Unlike cold brew coffee, Americano coffee is extracted at high temperature, so it can extract more bitter substances, making the coffee taste richer and more mellow, with a more substantial mouthfeel.

How to Make Cold Brew Coffee

Cold brew coffee is similar to cold-brewed tea. FrontStreet Coffee makes cold brew coffee by first grinding coffee beans to the size of granulated sugar and placing them in a clean, sealable container. Then room temperature water is injected to fully contact with the coffee powder. Afterwards, it's placed in the refrigerator to soak for 8-12 hours, then filtered using a high-density filter screen/filter paper to remove coffee grounds.

This cold brewing method amplifies the various flavors and aromas of coffee, making the sweet and sour sensations softer and fuller, with a cleaner and purer taste. The flavor of cold brew coffee depends on the roasting and flavor of the coffee beans themselves. Since low-temperature extraction doesn't easily extract mellow substances, FrontStreet Coffee recommends using coffee beans with sweet and sour flavors/distinct flavors, and medium-light to medium roast.

For example, FrontStreet Coffee's best-selling "Ethiopia Sidamo region Guji Coffee Bean." This is a medium-light roast coffee bean that, when made into cold brew coffee, has an extremely attractive and full sweet and sour sensation, as delicious as complex fruit juice; at the same time, it will have a soft fruit fermentation aroma and a tea-like aftertaste.

If Guji coffee beans are used to make Americano coffee, due to the light roast degree, more mellow substances cannot be formed. Therefore, under extremely fine grinding, pressurized high-temperature rapid extraction, the coffee taste will appear thin. Although it also has charming berry acidity and tea-like aftertaste, after diluting with water to make Americano coffee, the taste will be watery, with an overall bland performance.

Shelf Life of Cold Brew Coffee

After cold brew coffee extraction is complete, it must be filtered before storage, otherwise the coffee grounds and water will continue to maintain the extraction state. After the flavor substances in the coffee grounds are completely extracted, they will release the taste of woody fibers, so remember to filter first!!

Filtered coffee liquid can be sealed and stored in the refrigerator for 120 hours. However, the home refrigerator environment is complex, so FrontStreet Coffee does not advocate storing it for so long~ The filtered cold brew coffee liquid should be consumed within 72 hours!

Important Notice :

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