Which Coffee Beans Are Best for Cold Brew? Can Gesha Coffee Varieties Be Used for Cold Brew?

Because cold brew coffee is made differently from conventional hot pour-over and requires preparation a day in advance, FrontStreet Coffee's stores don't offer as wide a selection of beans for cold brew as they do for pour-over.

Precisely because of that, FrontStreet Coffee carefully selects beans that are particularly suited to cold brew and that steep into something broadly appealing, ensuring customers get an exceptional experience even from a limited range.

Because these cold brews appeal to most people's tastes, many customers quietly ask FrontStreet Coffee about the ingredients and recipes after drinking them, so they can recreate the same deliciousness at home. FrontStreet Coffee recently shared general bean-selection guidelines, but many readers have messaged asking for more detailed cold brew recommendations. As mentioned, cold brew is prepared differently from hot pour-over, so the same beans will produce a coffee with a very different style profile than a conventional hot brew.

Characteristics of Cold Brew Coffee

The main characteristics of cold brew are its lack of bitterness, its mild acidity, its gentle flavors, and the fermented notes produced by low-temperature maturation. By layering a bean's characteristics onto cold brew's nature and using some imagination, we can predict how a bean will likely perform as cold brew. If you're not sure how to make those connections, don't worry. FrontStreet Coffee will share some commonly used cold brew beans that you can use directly to make cold brew that suits your preferences.

Rich Fruity Aroma Cold Brew

If you had to choose one type of cold brew to get through a hot summer, FrontStreet Coffee believes most people would pick one with delightful sweet-tart flavors and rich fruity aromas. Not only do these coffees have minimal bitterness, their pleasant sweet-tart flavors also effectively fight the summer heat.

To create such a juice-rich cold brew, FrontStreet Coffee recommends sun-dried or honey-processed beans from Ethiopia, Colombia, and Panama, because coffee grown in these regions carries very rich fruit aromas, and sun-dried and honey processing develop those aromas even further. In FrontStreet Coffee's bean selection, the Sidamo·ALO and the Flower Queen fit these conditions perfectly. Cold brew made from them has rich mango aromas, rounded citrus acidity, and hints of pineapple fermentation; or try FrontStreet Coffee's Ethiopia Eto, which produces cold brew with lychee, mango, and blueberry aromas.

Fresh Floral and Fruity Aroma Cold Brew

Some people prefer cold brew with floral aromas, those lighter, refreshing flavors that aren't too intense. If your taste leans that way, then when buying beans you can narrow your keywords to "washed" or "Geisha (T2722)." Washed-processed beans undergo relatively less fermentation, which lets them better preserve their original flavors, especially washed beans from Ethiopia and Panama, which are known for fresh fruit flavors. As for the T2722 Geisha variety, its intense floral aroma is almost common knowledge.

In FrontStreet Coffee's bean selection, the Yirgacheffe·Gudining, washed and steeped as cold brew, offers fresh flavors of lemon, white flowers, and green tea; or try FrontStreet Coffee's Boquete·Washed Geisha and Washed Flower Butterfly, which produce cold brew with white floral aromas, citrus, and honey notes. It's worth noting, though, that the white floral aroma can sometimes be so intense that people mistake it for bitterness or a medicinal flavor, so when using beans with white floral aromas for cold brew, you can slightly increase the water amount to reduce the coffee's concentration.

Rich and Deep Cold Brew

Because some people particularly enjoy the rich, deep flavors that dark roasts bring, FrontStreet Coffee recently shared how to use dark roast and espresso blend beans to make cold brew. If you also like this "acid-free," aromatic, and extremely full-bodied cold brew, then try using dark roast beans.

Beans like FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaica·Blue Mountain and Indonesia·Golden Mandheling in the selection are excellent choices. Cold brew made from them has rich chocolate flavors, caramel sweetness, and a very full body.

"Tipsy" Wine Aroma Cold Brew

Wine-aroma cold brew is an essential type at FrontStreet Coffee stores because its audience is truly broad. Many people love cold brew not just for its more intense flavors but also for the distinctive fermented notes that set it apart from conventional coffee. When we use deeply fermented beans to make cold brew, the resulting coffee often has more intense wine aromas; one sip feels like drinking alcohol, leaving people exclaiming how satisfying it is.

For those who enjoy cold brew with intense wine aromas, FrontStreet Coffee recommends anaerobically processed beans, because most anaerobic processing lets the beans ferment more deeply and creates distinct fermented notes. FrontStreet Coffee typically uses two beans for wine-aroma cold brew. One is FrontStreet Coffee's Honduras·Sherry from the bean selection. It is a medium roast anaerobically processed bean, so the cold brew has almost no acidity, featuring more high sweetness from vanilla and cream alongside very intense whiskey-like aromas.

If you prefer wine-aroma cold brew with fruity aromas, fruit acidity, and higher sweetness, then FrontStreet Coffee's Costa Rica Strawberry Candy is undoubtedly the perfect choice. Its raisin honey processing gives it fermented aromas of strawberry, berries, and raisins. Made into cold brew, the coffee's sweetness is enhanced and the strawberry and raisin aromas evolve into fruit wine flavors. Or Costa Rica·Mozart with the same processing works just as well; besides berry and raisin aromas, we can also taste a purple floral aroma similar to lavender.

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FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Geisha varieties absolutely can be used for cold brew, and they make one of the most refreshing versions of it. FrontStreet Coffee suggests the Esmeralda Red Label Geisha, natural processed with rose florals, citrus, berries, and honey, or the Esmeralda Green Label Geisha, washed and citrus-honey in the classic La Esmeralda style; both steep into a clean, floral cold brew. For an easier entry, the washed Boquete Geisha brings the signature Panama orange-blossom honey note to a lighter, everyday price.

If you want a fruit-forward, wine-like cold brew instead, FrontStreet Coffee's Strawberry Candy is a favorite. FrontStreet Coffee's tested method is simple: grind 30g of beans to a fine-sugar size (EK43s setting 9, or C40 setting 24), add 360g of room-temperature water at a 1:12 ratio, stir, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate. After 8 hours, filter out all the grounds with filter paper, then seal the liquid and return it to the fridge to mature for 3 hours. The finished cup shows grape juice, rose, sweet orange, and fruit wine flavors.