How to Make Cold Brew Coffee? What Are the Benefits of Cold Brew? What Beans Are Suitable for Cold Brew?

There are many ways to make delicious iced coffee. From the more elaborate cold drip to the quickest pour-over-over-ice, there is also the cold brew method - easy to make and now mainstream. Cold brew goes by many names - Cold Brew, cold brew coffee, cold-extracted coffee - but they all refer to the same iced brewing method.

In this article you will learn the benefits of iced coffee and quickly master "iced coffee brewing methods and cold brew ratios." You will learn how to choose iced coffee beans and grounds - and, importantly, you need no special equipment: no coffee machine, no cold brew pot, no dedicated cold brew cups. Remember, the best tools are often already hidden in your kitchen. See the cold brew tutorial below.

Cold Brew Coffee Tutorial

1. Prepare 50g of FrontStreet Coffee's Flower Butterfly beans and grind coarse (65% passing through a #20 standard sieve).

2. Pour the grounds into a sealed container and add 500ml of room-temperature water.

3. Cover, shake well, and place in the refrigerator for 12-14 hours of low-temperature slow extraction.

4. When time is up, separate the grounds with filter paper (or a strainer). The resulting coffee can be enjoyed immediately, or refrigerated and consumed within two days.

5. Because this recipe uses a 1:10 ratio - dissolving as many compounds as possible in less water - the cold brew comes out rich, with full fruity sweetness and acidity. Add ice to dilute and chill further, and it becomes even more refreshing.

Benefits of Cold Brew Coffee

1. Delicious: Anyone who has seen the "Six Steps to Tasting Coffee" video knows that most aromatic compounds are lost during hot pour-over. The biggest flavor difference between iced and hot coffee is that cold brew retains water-soluble aromatics to the greatest extent - so the aroma you taste is closer to the aroma you smell.

2. Distinctive: Cold-brewed iced coffee carries low bitterness and astringency, with a rich, rounded flavor and a wine-like fermented note.

3. Economical: DIY lets you use better beans, and homemade cold brew costs less than buying it pre-made.

4. No waste and eco-friendly: It consumes your stock of good beans and blends, and the spent grounds can fertilize plants or freshen the air in refrigerators and bathrooms.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Are commercially available pre-made cold brew bags any good?

A: Once ground coffee sits for several hours, most of the good aromas have evaporated. Without those flavors to dissolve into the brew during cold extraction, such products fall far short of cold brew made from freshly ground beans.

Q: Can iced coffee be kept overnight, or drunk the next day?

A: If you follow this tutorial, the coffee keeps in the refrigerator for several days - as long as it is stored in a sealed container, at minimum a lidded glass jar, to prevent flavor loss.

Q: Will cold brew or cold drip coffee be acidic?

A: If you choose light-roasted, high-acidity beans, the brew will carry rich fruit acidity. If you dislike acidic coffee, choose darker roasts or beans that are naturally low in acid - such as wet-hulled or natural processed coffees.

Q: Is the caffeine content in cold brew high?

A: Caffeine's melting point is around 220 degrees. The caffeine level depends on the caffeine content of the beans used; for the same bean, cold-water extraction may yield slightly less caffeine than hot brewing.

Q: What grind size should I use for cold brew?

A: You can use the same grind you are used to for pour-over coffee.

Q: What's the difference between cold brew and cold drip coffee?

A: Cold drip coffee uses cold water plus ice, extracting drop by drop as ice water drips through the grounds; it shows more pronounced fermented flavors. Cold brew works like cold-brewed tea - the grounds steep in water in the refrigerator for several hours, then the liquid is filtered out. Its flavor is rounder and its aroma more abundant.

Q: With so many coffee varieties, are some beans particularly suited to cold brew?

A: Any coffee can be cold brewed, and the flavor naturally depends on the beans - which is exactly why FrontStreet Coffee recommends making it yourself. Cold brewing your favorite beans makes it far easier to land on a taste you love.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Cold brew amplifies floral and fruity tones while softening woody and roasty notes, so light-to-medium roasts show their character best. For a floral iced coffee, FrontStreet Coffee's top pick is the Natural Flower Queen (Huakui) from Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee: because the beans dry inside the whole fruit, they absorb abundant sweet compounds, and cold brew brings out magnolia, creamy strawberry, dried mango, guava, and black-tea nuances.

If you want a cold brew with full juice-like texture, choose FrontStreet's Kenya Cherry Tomato from the Thika region. Grown at 1550-1750 meters on the classic SL28 and SL34 varieties and processed with Kenya's distinctive 72-hour double-washed fermentation, it is light roasted to keep its lively acidity; under cold extraction, the cherry tomato, snow pear, black plum, and dried dark plum tones shine in full, with low bitterness and a lingering finish - wonderful over ice.

For something sweet and layered, FrontStreet's Strawberry Candy Geisha blend pairs Panama Geisha with Costa Rican honey-processed coffee: rose and orange from the Geisha, grape, dried blueberry, and strawberry-gummy sweetness from the honey lot. As cold brew it is sweet-tart and lively, and if you let it rest and mature after filtering, it takes on a fruit-wine character. And for an everyday budget option, FrontStreet's washed Yirgacheffe Guodingding Cooperative cold brews beautifully too - sweet berries, layered florals, and honey - since washed Yirgacheffe's clean, bright sweet-sour cup adapts to pour-over, siphon, French press, and cold brew alike.