Iced coffee is not just one thing. Depending on the brewing method, it can take many forms, including iced Americano, iced pour-over, cold drip, iced French press, and cold brew. This article will introduce the preparation ideas and characteristics of these iced coffees one by one, and focus on Geisha coffee as an example to break down the steps for making cold brew in detail, including key parameters such as grind size, coffee-to-water ratio, and steeping time. The article will also include bean recommendations from Front Street Coffee to help coffee lovers easily make a smooth, clean, and full-flavored iced coffee at home.

When many people think of iced coffee, only one image usually comes to mind, but in fact, depending on the preparation method, iced coffee can take quite a rich variety of forms. In addition to the most familiar iced Americano, there are also iced pour-over, cold drip, iced French press coffee, and cold brew coffee, among others.

Iced Americano is made by pouring freshly extracted espresso directly over ice and water. It tastes refreshing and mellow, and Front Street Deep Cocoa Base Blend coffee beans are usually chosen to make it;

Iced pour-over is based on hot pour-over, but part of the hot water is replaced with ice, thereby achieving both dilution and cooling at the same time, ultimately resulting in a chilled and refreshing cup of coffee. Almost all single-origin coffee beans can be used for iced pour-over. For beginners, everyday beans that are tasty but not expensive, such as Front Street Fruit Ding Ding, Front Street Flower Kui, and Front Street Mandheling, are the first choice.

Cold drip coffee requires a dedicated set of equipment, allowing ice water from above to slowly drip through the coffee grounds to extract flavor compounds. Its mouthfeel is rich and full-bodied, with relatively low acidity, and after settling for a period of time it also develops an aroma reminiscent of fermented wine, making it suitable for pairing with coffee beans with prominent tropical fruit flavors, such as Front Street Strawberry Candy and Front Street Xizhua.

Cold brew coffee has the lowest barrier to entry. Simply grind the coffee beans and put them into a pitcher, add cold water at a certain ratio, seal it, and place it in the refrigerator to steep for 6 to 16 hours. Take it out and filter it, and you can easily obtain a smooth, non-acidic cup of iced coffee.

The liquid of cold brew coffee is not as clear and translucent as cold drip. A thin layer of oil floats on the surface, and the flavor and mouthfeel tend toward heaviness and balance. Therefore, it is recommended to choose medium-light roasted coffee beans, as this better showcases the icy, clean character of cold brew coffee.

If you plan to try cold brew for the first time, you might as well choose beans with prominent floral and fruity aromas, excellent acidity, and no lack of body, such as Front Street Kenya Little Tomato, which is known for its juicy quality, Front Street Flower Butterfly, whose tea-like aroma is more obvious, and Front Street Boquete Geisha, which shows exuberant floral notes.

Taking the cold brew routinely produced by Front Street as an example, the coffee beans are ground slightly finer than for pour-over, that is, 75–80% passing through a China No. 20 standard sieve. To the naked eye, it looks about the coarseness of fine granulated sugar, corresponding to 9.5–10 on an EK43s, and for a hand grinder, taking the C40 as an example, roughly 22–26 clicks.

Next, put the ground coffee into a clean container. A dedicated cold brew pitcher will do, and a mineral water bottle is also fine. Add room-temperature water at a 1:10 coffee-to-water ratio, stir evenly, seal the opening with plastic wrap, move it to the refrigerator, and steep for more than 8 hours (the best results are within 12 hours). Finally, use filter paper to separate the coffee grounds, and the cold brew preparation is complete.

The coffee-to-water ratio for cold brew is often the issue people care about most. Front Street’s view is that if you plan to drink it directly without adding anything else, you can use a 1:12 to 1:13 coffee-to-water ratio, because black coffee made in this range has the highest palatability and the aroma is also extracted relatively fully. However, considering that we will ultimately add fresh milk, the concentration of the coffee must be increased, otherwise it will easily be “watered down” too much afterward. Therefore, Front Street recommends making it at a ratio of 1:10 to 1:11, which is more appropriate.

Finally, Front Street reminds you once more that, generally speaking, for the sake of flavor experience and health safety, whether it is cold drip or cold brew, as long as it is an extraction method carried out in a low-temperature environment, Front Street recommends drinking it within 5 days (counting from the day it is made).

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