Iced Coffee vs. Cold Brew
We are jumping right into summer here; the season of iced coffees all day long. Now while we think that it is absolutely perfectly acceptable to sip on this beverage all year round-it is our opinion that it tastes especially good in the summertime.
So let’s dive in…there are two obvious differences between iced coffee and cold brew. One, how they are made, and two, how they taste. Iced coffee starts out as hot brewed coffee and cold brew coffee is just as it implies, brewed cold. But really the difference between the two is in the flavor.
When coffee is brewed hot, the oils in the coffee beans are extracted by hot water -which is where acidity comes from. Since cold brew is extracted by cold water, those oils aren’t extracted and are lower in acidity; making these coffees taste distinctly different.
Making Iced coffee is pretty quick and easy. There is little planning needed, you can choose any ground coffee, and also use any brew method you are most familiar with (pour-over, drip, french press). No need for fancy gear. Just simply brew, allow coffee to cool, and pour over ice. Wala…you have iced coffee. You can doctor it up any which way you prefer.
When making iced coffee there are a few tips worth noting:
We suggest making your brew stronger by doubling the amount of ground coffee you normally would use for a hot brew.
If you don’t want to make your brew stronger, simply wait for the hot coffee to cool before adding ice. This will keep the coffee from tasting watered down.
Use leftover coffee to make frozen coffee ice cubes in a silicon ice cube tray. When you are ready to enjoy your iced coffee, you can use your frozen coffee ice cubes in your drink.
Now, cold brew isn’t as simple. Because the cold brew method uses time instead of heat for extraction, it definitely takes a little bit of preparation on your part, making it not as straightforward.
Cold brew coffee is coarsely ground coffee steeped in cold water for 12-24 hours. After steeping, the grounds are filtered from the coffee before serving. The longer the coffee grounds steep, the stronger the flavor you will get out of the brew.
Here are a few things to note on cold brew:
Cold-brew is in essence a concentrate due to the high coffee to water ratio in brewing. Because of this, you have control over how strong your coffee is by diluting to your preference. I would suggest starting with a 2:1 water to coffee ratio. If it is too strong, dial it back.
Try using coffee that is medium in body. Coffees varietals that are lightly roasted and have a brighter acidity like our Monarch Estate Gesha and Pacamara might not be the right fit for this brew method. Instead, try a more developed roast like our farmhand full city coffee. We find it makes a delicious cold brew.
There are some pretty cool systems to make cold brew. None of them are a must you can use a simple mason jar if that suits you. We use the Toddy™ and it works great for us since we are usually making cold brew for a crowd. Fair warning - it is a bugger to clean up after cold brew regardless of your system. You can see how we use it here.
And now you know. The two questions I get asked most often are:
What’s the difference in taste?
Which of the two is better?
Generally speaking, cold brew is smoother and has a more perceived sweetness than iced coffee because it is made without heat. If you tend to find that the acidity of hot coffee bothers your stomach, it may help to switch to a cold brew.
As to which of the two is better? That’s for you to decide.
Happy Brewing!
