How much ice should be added to iced pour-over coffee? What is the standard coffee-to-water ratio for iced pour-over?

Understanding Ice Pour-Over Coffee: The Right Amount of Ice

These days in Guangzhou, the weather isn't just extremely hot—it's practically comparable to the Flaming Mountains. Even the health-conscious barista at FrontStreet Coffee has started drinking iced beverages. Recently, many coffee enthusiasts have visited the shop to learn about iced pour-over coffee, with one question coming up frequently: how much ice should be added to iced pour-over coffee?

What Role Does Ice Play in Iced Pour-Over Coffee?

Iced pour-over coffee isn't brewed with ice water—it's made with hot water just like hot pour-over coffee. After all, hot water has much higher extraction efficiency than ice water, and many coffee aromatics can only be extracted with hot water. Therefore, the primary purpose of ice is to cool down the freshly brewed hot coffee, transforming it into iced coffee.

The second function (which could be considered a side effect) is diluting the coffee liquid. Because of this dilution effect, we need to include the ice weight in our total water calculation. Imagine this: if we brew using the same coffee-to-water ratio as hot pour-over (1:15) and then add ice for cooling, the resulting iced coffee would become too diluted, tasting as weak as water.

Therefore, determining how much ice to add depends on two factors: whether the ice quantity achieves sufficient cooling, and whether the coffee concentration remains appropriate after the ice melts.

How Much Ice Does FrontStreet Coffee Use for Iced Pour-Over?

When brewing iced pour-over coffee, FrontStreet Coffee uses 15 grams of coffee grounds with a coffee-to-water ratio of 1:10—meaning 15 grams of coffee grounds brewed with 150 grams of hot water, plus 100 grams of ice for cooling and dilution. For ice selection, FrontStreet Coffee uses homemade ice cubes from 25 cubic centimeter ice trays (using Nongfu Spring water), with each cube weighing approximately 25 grams, making it convenient to use exactly 4 ice cubes each time.

In FrontStreet Coffee's iced coffee brewing method, if we include the ice weight, the coffee-to-water ratio becomes 1:16.7. Wouldn't this make the coffee too weak? Actually, it doesn't. When brewing iced pour-over coffee, the coffee grounds are ground slightly finer than for hot brewing, with an 85% pass-through rate on a #20 standard sieve. This finer grind allows for extraction of more coffee substances. Additionally, often 100g of ice doesn't completely melt while cooling the entire coffee—about 20g of ice typically remains. This results in an actual concentration that falls within the ideal drinking range.

As for whether to remove the remaining ice, FrontStreet Coffee believes it's unnecessary. Think back to the iced cola you've had at certain famous global fast-food chains—there's usually still a large amount of ice left in the cup when you finish drinking. This demonstrates that when the temperature is sufficiently low, ice melts extremely slowly. Moreover, many people share the sentiment that iced cola without ice lacks soul, and the same goes for iced coffee.

When Should Ice Be Added?

There are generally two methods for adding ice. The first is pre-adding ice, where ice is placed in the bottom server before brewing, allowing the coffee to continuously contact the ice for cooling during the brewing process. The second is post-adding ice, where ice is added after brewing the hot coffee liquid to cool it down.

These two methods don't create significant differences in coffee flavor. A meticulous comparison would reveal that coffee with pre-added ice appears cleaner and more refreshing, while post-added ice yields more concentrated and intense aromas, showing more variation during tasting. Therefore, both ice addition methods are perfectly acceptable.

Some coffee enthusiasts have asked whether they can make iced pour-over coffee using the "ice-rinse" method to prevent excessive ice melting from making the coffee too weak.

Of course, this is possible! FrontStreet Coffee has also experimented with this brewing method. Using coffee liquid to rinse over ice for rapid cooling can effectively express the coffee's flavors. However, due to variations in ice hardness and volume, the amount of melting can be inconsistent each time, leading to unstable results in the final product.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473