Why is Cold Drip Coffee Called Dutch Coffee? The Origin Story of Cold Drip Coffee

Many friends who come to FrontStreet Coffee for coffee say that watching the ice water slowly drip through the cold drip tower is incredibly therapeutic, and they ask FrontStreet Coffee what kind of coffee this is. This is the biggest difference between cold drip coffee and many other coffee varieties—it typically requires 6-8 hours of slow extraction, so FrontStreet Coffee's cold drip output is usually limited, creating a "supply-demand imbalance" situation.

The Story of Cold Drip Coffee

What is Cold Drip Coffee?

Cold drip coffee refers to a method where ice water is evenly dripped onto coffee grounds, slowly extracting aromatic compounds under atmospheric pressure. Because the low temperature of ice water doesn't easily extract bitter compounds from coffee, and the slow flow rate greatly increases extraction efficiency, cold drip coffee tastes rich but not bitter. If you choose coffee beans with prominent flavor profiles, the fermentation notes and fruit acidity, combined with the refreshing quality of ice, can provide instant relief from summer heat.

The Origin of Cold Drip Coffee

We often hear about cold drip coffee, cold brew coffee, and Dutch Coffee—what are the differences and connections between these three? FrontStreet Coffee will start with a Dutch coffee story.

In the early 18th century, when the Dutch transported coffee beans from their colony Indonesia back to Europe, the long journey meant there was no hot water on ships, nor time to leisurely brew a cup of coffee. Unable to drink hot coffee, they thought of using cold water to extract coffee. They used a container to hold ground coffee powder, added cold water, and let it steep for several hours. The coffee produced this way was very sweet and completely free of bitterness. Dutch traders discovered this convenient method allowed them to enjoy coffee during maritime trade, so this cold water extraction method began to spread throughout the world.

However, this method of ice water coffee extraction didn't become widespread in the Netherlands but was instead preserved by the Japanese, who gradually transformed it into today's cold drip coffee. Therefore, we sometimes see claims that "cold drip coffee was invented by the Japanese." More accurately, the Japanese improved upon the Dutch invention and preserved this preparation method, allowing us to enjoy this uniquely flavored cold coffee.

After reading the story above, FrontStreet Coffee believes you now understand that this method of using cold water to steep coffee grounds to extract coffee liquid is what people call Dutch Coffee. Cold drip coffee, which is an improvement on the principle of cold brew coffee, also belongs to the Dutch coffee family. Additionally, there's another new low-temperature extraction method: cold brew coffee, which involves pouring ice water into a container of coffee grounds, letting it sit for 12-24 hours, and finally filtering out the grounds to obtain a glass of cold coffee with subtle wine-like and sour-sweet flavors. The brewing principle is actually the same as Dutch coffee, so it also belongs to the Dutch coffee family.

How to Use a Cold Drip Coffee Tower

We can typically find various cold drip tower devices online, with different materials and shapes, but they generally consist of three main parts: upper, middle, and lower sections, which are divided into four main structures: upper chamber, valve, powder cup, and lower chamber.

The upper vessel is mainly used to hold ice cubes and water, connected below to a metal component—the valve that can adjust the water outlet diameter to change the dripping speed, allowing ice water to drip evenly onto the coffee grounds. The middle glass pot, shaped like a cup, holds the ground coffee powder, with a filter hole in the center of the bottom that lets the extracted coffee liquid drip out. The large pot below collects the extracted coffee.

Here, FrontStreet Coffee has chosen a popular Costa Rica Mozart coffee from our shop to make this. Mozart coffee beans use raisin anaerobic honey processed green beans, with flavors of raisin, osmanthus, and fermented fruit sweetness. Cold drip coffee can make the fermentation notes more pronounced.

For grind size, FrontStreet Coffee generally chooses the same grind as for cold hand pour. Because low-temperature water reduces extraction rate, we grind the coffee finer to increase extraction. For this bean, we selected China's No. 20 standard sieve with 85% pass rate, which corresponds to a grind setting of 9 on the EK-43S grinder according to FrontStreet Coffee's shop standards.

First, we calculate the extraction parameters: using a powder-to-liquid ratio of 1:10, extracting 600g of coffee liquid from 60g of coffee powder, with an ice-water mixture ratio of 1:1, and controlling the valve flow rate to 7 drops per 10 seconds. This typically completes dripping in 6-8 hours. (Usually, cold drip ratios range from 1:10 to 1:12, and you can adjust according to your taste preferences.)

Place a circular filter paper at the bottom of the middle chamber, wet it with water to make it adhere, then pour in the ground coffee beans. Make sure to level it to ensure even extraction, and place another circular filter paper on the surface of the powder layer to prevent water drops from dispersing the powder layer. Before dripping, you need to moisten the powder layer with cold water first, which can save extraction time and avoid uneven initial extraction.

Place the powder cup on the stand and start adding the ice-water mixture, typically half ice and half water. Adjust the valve to control the flow rate at 7 drops per 10 seconds, ensuring the water drops align with the position where coffee liquid filters out. After dripping is complete, pour the liquid from the lower chamber into an airtight container—FrontStreet Coffee uses glass bottles—and place it in the refrigerator to ferment for over 12 hours. It's usually ready to drink the next day.

After a night of refrigeration, Mozart coffee will present a wine-like fermentation quality, with the sweet and sour notes of berries, pineapple, and other tropical fruits. The flavor is rich but not bitter, and when diluted with ice cubes, it's like drinking a refreshing fruit wine.

How to Choose Coffee Beans for Cold Drip Coffee

The biggest characteristic of cold drip coffee is long extraction time at low temperatures, so when choosing coffee beans, we generally consider types with prominent flavor characteristics. FrontStreet Coffee introduces several typical types of coffee beans with distinctive flavors.

1. Tropical Fruit, Fermented Wine Aroma Types

For example, the FrontStreet Coffee Mozart mentioned earlier has the sweet and sour notes of dark berries, and the wine-like flavors developed from maturation at low temperatures enhance the overall taste. Additionally, several coffees on FrontStreet Coffee's bean list belong to this type: Colombia's FrontStreet Coffee Huayue Nights Coffee, Honduras' FrontStreet Coffee Sherry Coffee, and Costa Rica's FrontStreet Coffee Strawberry Candy Coffee. These have very prominent aromas and are also suitable for cold hand pour and cold brew methods.

2. Refreshing and Clean Types

Some washed processed coffees have very clean and full acidity. When made into cold drip coffee, they have fruit juice-like acidity with the fresh fragrance of cherry tomatoes and grapefruit, making them very suitable for drinking in hot summer. For example, Kenya's Assalia AA coffee, Ethiopia's washed Gedeb Cooperative coffee, and Panama's Geisha Blend Mariposa coffee from FrontStreet Coffee's bean list—if you're a fan of fresh and light flavors, you'll definitely love this pure and transparent taste.

3. Sweet and Delicious Types

Compared to the two types of medium-light roast coffees mentioned above, dark roast coffees are rarely used for cold drip coffee because they're thought to be very strong and bitter. This isn't actually the case—FrontStreet Coffee has tried using Indonesia's Golden Mandheling to make cold drip coffee, which when diluted with ice cubes, has rich chocolate sweetness and a fermented aroma, without any bitterness. If you can't accept the "strong flavor" of Mandheling coffee, FrontStreet Coffee believes Brazil's Queen's Manor Estate can also present nutty and chocolate flavor notes, with a smooth, creamy texture when diluted with ice.

4. Flavor Blend Types

Friends who often drink espresso coffee must know that coffee beans can be blended, and the same applies to cold drip coffee. Besides using single-origin beans with clear flavors, cold drip coffee can also be made by mixing two or more single-origin beans for extraction. For example, FrontStreet Coffee tried blending Honduras Lychee Lan Coffee with the Musician Series Beethoven Coffee in a 1:1 ratio, hoping to get a coffee with both wine-like and fruity flavors. After mixed dripping, the extracted coffee presents rich brandy aroma and honey sweetness, along with refreshing fruit acidity. Following this approach, you can create a cold drip coffee with taste and flavors according to your personal preferences.

Regarding flavor expressions, everyone can refer to the classification recommendations above from FrontStreet Coffee to make choices. Because cold drip coffee extracts at low temperatures and is relatively slow, it has greater inclusivity. Everyone can adjust based on factors such as equipment at home and budget. What needs to be noted here is that all flavor expressions are based on the freshness of the coffee beans' roast, so FrontStreet Coffee recommends choosing coffee beans within their optimal flavor period. FrontStreet Coffee's roasting philosophy is to roast fresh, good coffee, and all coffee beans shipped by FrontStreet Coffee are freshly roasted within 5 days, hoping every customer can enjoy good coffee during its peak flavor period.

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

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