Iced Coffee Making: How Long to Bloom Pour-Over Coffee with Cold Water? Cold Brew Coffee Parameters and Grinding

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When making pour-over iced coffee, most people first extract coffee liquid with hot water, then add ice cubes to cool and dilute it. Some might ask after reading the title: "Doesn't low-temperature extraction take a long time? Won't brewing coffee with ice water be tasteless?" This article explores how to use ice water for pour-over coffee.

Is ice water pour-over coffee feasible?

Yes, it is! When making pour-over coffee with ice water, you need to prepare two kettles because ice water is not used throughout the entire extraction process. Since low-temperature extraction efficiency is very low, the blooming stage cannot achieve degassing effects or "activate" flavor compounds. Therefore, during the blooming stage, we still need to use hot water, and the blooming time should be longer than with high-temperature brewing.

To help ice water extract better after blooming, the grind size needs to be adjusted slightly finer. For example, when medium-light roast coffee beans are used with hot water pour-over, the grind size allows 80% pass-through through a Chinese standard #20 sieve (0.85mm aperture). When making pour-over with ice water, the grind size should allow 85% pass-through through the same sieve.

How long should the blooming stage be for ice water pour-over?

For an objective comparison, this test uses FrontStreet Coffee's Fei Kui coffee beans for ice water pour-over. These beans come from the familiar Ethiopia, where the coffee cherries are processed using traditional natural methods, resulting in rich, deep fruit aromas suitable for various brewing methods.

Parameters: V60 #01 dripper, hot water temperature: 90°C, ice water temperature: 0-1°C, coffee dose: 15g, coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15, grind size: medium-fine (85% pass-through through Chinese standard #20 sieve).

To compare the effect of blooming duration on flavor, the pour-over parameters remain unchanged, with only the blooming time adjusted. To reduce errors, no additional stirring was done except for water flow agitation during extraction. Group A bloomed for 30 seconds, Group B for 1 minute, Group C for 1 minute 30 seconds, with blooming water amount at twice the coffee dose, i.e., 30g.

Ice Water Brewing Technique

Use 30g of hot water for blooming. After blooming ends, use 0°C ice water for extraction. Pour ice water with a large flow to 125g for the first segment. When the water level drops by 1/2, continue pouring ice water with a large flow to 225g, then stop pouring. Remove the dripper when the water level drops to expose the coffee bed to finish extraction.

Group A - 30 seconds blooming, extraction time: 3 minutes 05 seconds

Flavor profile: Lemon, honey, overall flat.

Group B - 1 minute blooming, extraction time: 3 minutes 35 seconds

Flavor profile: Berries, honey, sweet and sour plum notes, slight acidity and astringency, somewhat thin.

Group C - 1 minute 30 seconds blooming, extraction time: 4 minutes 05 seconds

Flavor profile: Rose, berries, mango juice, honey black tea-like aftertaste, full and smooth mouthfeel.

Comparing the three groups, we can see that Group A had minimal flavor, overall flatness, with only some citrus acidity, somewhat like honey lemon water. Group B had sweet and sour notes but with slight acidity and astringency, with the coffee overall being somewhat thin. Group C was significantly more layered, with a creamy smoothness and sweet aftertaste, overall being fuller.

Through this comparison, FrontStreet Coffee suggests that after pouring ice water in the second and third segments, you can stir with a stir stick to improve extraction while preventing fine particles from blocking the water outlet.

So how to make pour-over coffee with ice water?

First, chill the serving carafe. For the first pour, use 30g of hot water for blooming, with a blooming time of 1 minute 30 seconds. After blooming ends, pour 125g of ice water in a circular motion with a large flow, then use a stir stick to stir the coffee bed to prevent fine particles from blocking the water outlet.

When the coffee bed drops by 1/2, pour ice water to 225g with a large flow, continue stirring the coffee bed to ensure consistent drainage speed. Total extraction time is 4 minutes 03 seconds.

Important Notice :

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