Which Beans Suit Cold Brew and Iced Americano?

Bean choice depends on the brewing method. Low-temperature extraction is slower but yields a mellower cup, since heat breaks down tannic acid into pyrogallic acid and brings out sourness and bitterness. Cold brew and ice drip suit a refreshing juicy type, while an iced americano and Japanese-style iced coffee take a rich sweet or light floral option.

Front Street picked three beans for these two methods. Kenya Little Tomato shows berries, black plum and smoked plum in cold brew or ice drip, then cherry tomato, sour plum drink and an iced americano, with bright acidity and sweetness. The other two cover a rich sweet profile and a light floral tea profile, so each method has a matching bean.

When the weather is hot, iced coffee is naturally indispensable. But with so many varieties—cold brew, ice drip, nitro coffee, Japanese-style iced coffee—how exactly should you choose? Although low-temperature extraction is slow, it can make the coffee flavor mellower and reduce the sourness and astringency brought by high temperatures. Different brewing methods paired with different coffee beans produce very different final tastes. This time, Front Street Coffee selected three beans that are highly favored by coffee lovers and very suitable for making iced coffee, targeting two methods—cold brew/ice drip and iced Americano/Japanese-style iced coffee—corresponding respectively to a refreshing juicy type, a rich and sweet type, and a light floral tea type. Below, we introduce their respective flavor performances one by one.

As soon as the weather gets hot, coffee naturally has to switch to an iced way of drinking. But for Front Street Coffee, which has difficulty choosing, there are simply too many categories of iced coffee—cold brew, ice drip, nitro coffee, Japanese-style iced coffee—so which one exactly should be chosen? Everyone knows that iced coffee usually uses a low-temperature extraction method. Although it is slower, it has more advantages in flavor: high temperatures easily decompose the tannic acid in coffee into pyrogallic acid, thereby bringing out sourness and bitterness. In comparison, coffee extracted at low temperature is mellower, so it is very popular. Although common cold brew, iced Americano, ice drip, and Japanese-style iced coffee all belong to low-temperature products, their tastes differ considerably because of different production processes and coffee beans used. So if you want to make delicious iced coffee, what kind of coffee beans should you choose? Below, combining two different brewing methods, Front Street Coffee brings you three beans that are deeply welcomed by coffee lovers and are very suitable for making iced coffee:

1. Refreshing juicy type—Front Street Coffee Kenya·Little Tomato Coffee When made into cold brew or ice drip coffee, the flavor performance is: berries, black plum, smoked plum, with a round mouthfeel. When made into iced Americano or Japanese-style iced coffee, the flavor performance is: cherry tomatoes, sour plum drink, sugarcane, with bright acidity and sweetness.

2. Rich and sweet type—Front Street Coffee Strawberry Candy Coffee When made into cold brew or ice drip coffee, the flavor performance is: ripe strawberries, raisins, orange, fruit wine, with a mellow mouthfeel. When made into iced Americano or Japanese-style iced coffee, the flavor performance is: blueberries, strawberry gummies, roses, honey.

3. Light floral tea type—Front Street Coffee Butterfly Coffee When made into cold brew or ice drip coffee, the flavor performance is: citrus, orange, nuts, black tea sweet aftertaste, with a smooth mouthfeel. When made into iced Americano or Japanese-style iced coffee, the flavor performance is: lemon, berries, light floral aroma, tea sensation.

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.