Should You Add Ice Before or After Brewing Pour-Over Coffee? What Should You Pay Attention to When Making Iced Pour-Over Coffee?

Ice First or Ice Last: The Cold Brew Drip Coffee Experiment

Typically, most people's cold brew drip coffee follows the "add ice first, then brew" process. A small number of people use the "brew first, then add ice" or "pass through ice afterward" method to make cold brew drip coffee. FrontStreet Coffee belongs to the former group.

Generally, the difference between these two methods might just be variations in the process. But until yesterday, FrontStreet Coffee remembered the Paragon ice spheres used in an article some time ago. Their main function is to rapidly cool the coffee liquid, locking in volatile substances and preventing them from dissipating, thus allowing people to taste more coffee flavors.

Although the actual effect wasn't as miraculous as the merchants described, it made us wonder: wouldn't cold brew drip coffee with ice first have a similar effect? So, we restarted our experiment! "Is there a difference between cold brew drip coffee with ice first versus ice last?"

Operational Differences

Setting aside taste differences for now, both methods use the same proportion of hot water replaced with ice cubes. Let's briefly describe their operational differences: one method involves adding ice cubes to the lower pot before brewing, directly cooling the dripping coffee liquid; the other method adds ice cubes after brewing is complete, cooling the already obtained coffee liquid.

Experimental Comparison

For this experiment, we used a washed Geisha from Colombia's La Divisa farm. It has a very distinct honeysuckle aroma, which allows us to better perceive flavor differences in comparisons like this cold brew test!

Coffee Parameters:

• Coffee amount: 15g
• Coffee:Water:Ice ratio: 1:10:6 (15g coffee, 150ml hot water, 90g ice)
• Grind setting: Ek43 at 9.5 setting, with 65% passing through a #20 sieve
• Brewing temperature: 92°C
• Brewing method: Three-stage cold brew

The three-stage method for cold brew begins the same as hot brewing: using twice the coffee amount (30ml) for a 30-second bloom. Then in the second stage, use a fine water stream in large circles to pour 70ml of hot water. After the drip finishes, use small circles to pour the remaining 50ml of hot water, then wait for the dripping to complete.

To compensate for time differences during tasting, the "ice first" cold brew was started 20 seconds earlier than the "ice last" version. During subsequent tasting, we began with the "ice first" version to correct for the staggered tasting times.

Both brewing times were exactly one minute and thirty seconds. Regardless of whether ice was added first or last, both needed to be shaken after brewing (combining coffee and ice) to allow the ice to rapidly cool the coffee and ensure better fusion!

After shaking well, at the 2-minute mark, the "ice first" cold brew had a temperature of 7°C, while the "ice last" cold brew had a temperature of 13°C.

(The brew with the black thermometer is "ice last," while the one with the white thermometer is "ice first.") In terms of aroma, the honeysuckle fragrance of the "ice last" version was slightly more intense than the "ice first" version. In terms of drinking experience, both cups of La Divisa Geisha offered rich honeysuckle floral notes, citrus acidity, and a honey-like mouthfeel! There weren't very significant differences between the two, though if forced to distinguish, the "ice last" version was slightly rounder. Then, FrontStreet Coffee let them sit for five minutes and retasted them - the result was that both cups offered almost identical experiences.

Conclusion

Therefore, we can conclude that there isn't much difference between cold brew drip coffee with ice added first versus ice added last. The reason we initially perceived some differences was largely because the ice in the "ice last" version melted more slowly. When we tasted it at the two-minute mark, it hadn't diluted to the same concentration as the "ice first" version. Therefore, both aroma and concentration were slightly more pronounced than the "ice first" version. After five minutes, their concentrations were nearly identical, so there was no difference in taste.

FrontStreet Coffee
No. 10, Bao'an Front Street, Yandun Road, Dongshankou, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473