Summer Cold Brew Coffee Making Method! Super Simple Iced Coffee Tutorial with Illustrated Guide is Here!

Ultimate Guide to Iced Coffee: Perfect Beans and Easy Methods

"My life! It's iced coffee that keeps me going!" While this might sound like an exaggeration, there's no denying that iced coffee is truly an amazing refreshing drink during hot seasons!

Before the weather reaches peak high temperatures, FrontStreet Coffee has compiled several super simple iced coffee making methods suitable for home or office. Learn these techniques quickly and let's welcome the arrival of summer together!

Summer Iced Coffee Bean Recommendations

When it comes to iced coffee, most people immediately think of clean, refreshing flavors, so many coffee enthusiasts choose light roast beans with bright acidity. However, some have discovered that while light roast beans make very refreshing iced coffee, the flavor profile often lacks some depth and fullness.

Are there coffee beans that can deliver both freshness and a soft, full-bodied character in iced coffee, while also offering excellent value?

"Absolutely, there are!"

Ethiopia Natural Red Cherry Coffee Beans

Medium-light roast, flavors: mixed berries, caramel, black tea, slight fruit fermentation aroma

Red Cherry refers to the "Red Cherry Project" initiated by Dutch green coffee importer Trifeca in 2007. The project aimed to increase purchasing prices for fully mature coffee cherries, thereby encouraging coffee farmers to harvest only ripe cherries with red skin.

This approach not only significantly improved the overall quality of coffee beans but also resulted in higher sugar content in fully mature fruits. After sun-drying the entire cherries, the coffee beans acquire wonderful sweetness and slight fermentation notes, bringing a soft, smooth mouthfeel. These are among the sweetest coffee beans from the Ethiopia region.

Panama Elida Estate Natural Typica Coffee Beans

Medium roast, flavors: peach, orange, raisin, caramel, green tea

When mentioning Elida Estate, many might first recall the ASD slow-dried Geisha coffee beans that won awards at the 2019 BOP competition. However, the estate doesn't just grow Geisha varieties; they also cultivate Caturra and Catuai varieties common in Central and South America, as well as Typica varieties known for their clean, elegant flavor profiles.

The most remarkable feature of these Elida Typica coffee beans is how they combine both the rich juice flavors from their terroir and natural drying process, while maintaining the inherent cleanliness of Typica beans. This results in a very smooth and full-bodied coffee experience.

Colombia Diviso Sidra Coffee Beans

Medium roast, flavors: grape, passion fruit, dried apricot, citrus, fermentation aroma

Sidra variety gained widespread attention when WBC 2022 champion Anthony Douglas used Colombian Sidra coffee beans in his competition.

Sidra coffee is a laboratory variety, hybridized from Typica and Red Bourbon. Later genetic comparisons revealed similarities between Sidra and Ethiopian native varieties, leading some scholars to speculate that Sidra originated from cross-breeding between experimental research varieties exported from Ethiopia and local Bourbon varieties in Ecuador.

Sidra coffee beans possess floral and fruity characteristics comparable to Geisha, expressing flavors like peach, citrus, grape, and honey, with moderate acidity and a rounded mouthfeel. Most importantly? Excellent value for money!

Summer Iced Coffee Brewing Methods (N+1)

All three coffee beans mentioned above can be brewed into iced coffee using the following methods with a medium-fine grind setting, as shown below:

Pour-Over Iced Coffee Method

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:10 (1g coffee: 10g water)

Ice: 100g + Water temperature: 90-91°C

Dripper: V60

Brewing technique: Three-stage pouring

To ensure the final iced coffee is more full-bodied, FrontStreet Coffee suggests brewing the coffee concentrate first, shaking it well, then pouring over ice for cooling and dilution. If you add ice first, the concentration might be inconsistent during each pouring stage, resulting in a relatively thinner final coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee's iced pour-over uses 15g of coffee grounds. First stage: pour 30g and bloom for 30 seconds. Second stage: pour 60g in small circular motions. When water level drops halfway, third stage: pour another 60g in small circular motions. Total water: 150g. Then pour over ice and shake for cooling and dilution.

Note: Prepare extra ice cubes! Only with sufficient ice can you cool the coffee quickly while preventing excessive melting that would dilute the coffee too much. When you reach your desired concentration, simply remove the ice to stop dilution.

Drip Bag Iced Coffee Method

The drip bag coffee sold by FrontStreet Coffee contains 10g per package. The method is similar to pour-over coffee, with the non-woven bag of the drip bag serving as both dripper and filter paper.

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:10 (1g coffee, 10g water)

Ice: 50g + Water temperature: 90-91°C

Brewing technique: Center pouring

① Open the outer packaging of the drip bag coffee, tear along the "open" line, unfold the hangers, and hang it on a short glass.

② Prepare hot water at around 90°C. If you don't have a thermometer, you can boil water and let it sit uncovered for 2 minutes, which will bring the temperature to approximately 90-93°C.

③ Slowly pour 100ml of hot water into the coffee filter bag, ensuring the coffee grounds are completely submerged. Let it steep for 3 minutes (because the water volume is small, steeping is needed to ensure proper extraction). Then remove the drip bag from the cup and discard it.

④ The final step is to add ice for cooling. You can directly place large, hard ice cubes into the cup, or prepare another glass with ice and pour the hot coffee into it, stirring for cooling and dilution.

Cold Brew Iced Coffee Method

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:12 (1g coffee, 12g water)

Water temperature: Room temperature

Equipment: Cold brew maker

Steeping time: 12-16 hours

Cold brew coffee is arguably the most hassle-free and least technique-demanding iced coffee method, though it requires longer brewing time and isn't immediately ready to drink. You can start steeping at dinner time and wake up to full-bodied, clean cold brew coffee the next morning!

Since FrontStreet Coffee uses a 1L cold brew maker, this demonstration will use 60g of coffee grounds. You can adjust the amount based on your cold brew maker size. Keep the ratio the same, but ensure coffee grounds are completely submerged after adding water.

Prepare a clean cold brew maker, pour the ground coffee into the filter basket, then pour 720g of room temperature water over the coffee grounds to ensure complete wetting and steeping. Cover the filter basket with its lid, then close the cold brew maker lid. Place in the refrigerator for 12-16 hours of low-temperature extraction.

When extraction is complete, lift the filter basket and let it rest on the rim to allow remaining coffee liquid to drip. After this, discard the coffee grounds and enjoy. If 1:12 ratio is too strong, you can make it at 1:13 ratio, or dilute with ice/clean water when drinking.

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Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473