Cicadas sing and birds call, the sun shines brightly, and the southern regions are gradually entering summer. The hot weather makes icy, refreshing drinks irresistible. Cold brew coffee is simple to make, with no complicated process—brew a pot before bed and it's ready to drink the next morning. For coffee lovers, cold brew coffee is a great choice for cooling off in summer. What is cold brew coffee? What is Starbucks' Nitro Cold Brew?

     

What is cold brew coffee?
Cold brew coffee, known in English as Cold Brew Coffee. Cold brew coffee is made by grinding coffee beans into powder, then soaking them in cold water for more than 8 hours. For a richer body, you can extend the time to 24–48 hours. After soaking, all we need to do is filter out the coffee grounds and it's ready to taste.
 

The extraction principle of cold brew coffee
Unlike high-temperature rapid extraction (pour-over), low-temperature extraction makes it difficult to extract the bitter substances from the coffee grounds due to the low temperature. At the same time, because of the long, slow soaking, the sweet and sour substances in the coffee are more fully extracted, so the taste is guaranteed to be mellow while the overall cleanliness of the coffee is also improved.
 

What is Starbucks' Nitro Cold Brew?
Nitro actually means nitrogen gas added to the cold brew. At the moment the coffee is poured, it interacts with the air, making the texture creamy, giving a feeling of drinking non-alcoholic dark beer~ With this cup of Nitro Cold Brew coffee, what you're drinking more is its creamy texture. As for whether it tastes good, that's up to individual opinion.

How does Front Street Coffee make cold brew coffee?

If you want to drink cold brew coffee but don't want to go out and buy it, then Front Street Coffee is here to teach you how to make cold brew coffee at home. Cold brew coffee is a very easy method to master. Front Street Coffee's cold brew coffee uses 50 grams of coffee grounds as the baseline. For the grind size, because the water temperature contacting the coffee grounds is lower than that of ordinary pour-over coffee, choose a slightly finer setting than pour-over coffee, i.e., a 20号 standard sieve with an 85% pass rate. Put the coffee grounds into a glass bottle, then add 400 milliliters of room-temperature water and 200 grams of hard ice cubes (totaling 600 grams of ice-water mixture) to the bottle, with a coffee-to-water ratio of 1:12. Then use a stirring rod to mix the coffee grounds and water evenly, seal it, and place it in the refrigerator to chill.

     
After placing it in the refrigerator for 12–24 hours, use filter paper to filter out the coffee grounds and obtain clean coffee liquid. Then use a clean sealed bottle to store the coffee liquid and refrigerate it for about 4 more hours before drinking.
 
Here, Front Street Coffee needs to tell you, friends, that cold brew coffee does not taste better the longer it is extracted—whether it tastes good or not is a very subjective matter. Some people like fresh, clean coffee, while others like bold coffee and enjoy a fermented feel. These all vary from person to person.

     
For those who prefer a stronger fermented feel, Front Street Coffee recommends that the extraction time can be slightly extended. As time goes on, the fermented feel of the coffee liquid becomes stronger, but the coffee's concentration becomes richer and the taste layers more complex. If, when drinking, you feel the coffee liquid is too strong, you can add two ice cubes; as the ice melts, the concentration of the coffee liquid will decrease accordingly.

Recommended single-origin coffee beans suitable for making cold brew coffee

The liquid expressed by cold brew coffee is not as transparent as ice drip coffee, and a thin layer of oil will float on the surface. In terms of flavor and mouthfeel, it appears slightly heavier and more balanced. It is recommended to choose some medium-light roasted coffee beans, which can express the icy, refreshing, and clean feeling of cold brew coffee.

① Front Street Coffee — Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry Coffee Beans: Yirgacheffe, as the most representative African coffee bean, has captured a large number of coffee lovers with its rich floral and fruity tones. The Red Cherry Project, as a natural Ethiopian bean with excellent quality, is also very suitable for making cold brew coffee. Cold brew coffee made from it expresses very sweet berry, layered, and honey flavors.
 

Region: Ethiopia Yirgacheffe
Estate: Aletaland Estate
Altitude: 1700m–2200m
Variety: Local heirloom varieties
Processing method: Natural
 

② Front Street Coffee — Kenya Asaliya Coffee Beans: Kenyan coffee beans attract countless coffee lovers with their full-bodied juice mouthfeel and small tomato aroma. Because of their bright and solid acidity, cold brew made from them has flavors of small tomato, honey, and smoked plum, with rich layers and a full mouthfeel.

Region: Kenya Thika
Processing station: Asali Processing Station
Altitude: 1550m–1750m
Variety: SL28, SL34
Processing method: K72 washed

③ Front Street Coffee — Panama Butterfly Coffee Beans: This coffee is a blend of 70% Geisha and 30% Caturra and Catuai. It is undoubtedly a single-origin coffee bean with very high cost-effectiveness in the Panama region. Used to make cold brew coffee, it expresses clean and fresh floral, citrus, and oolong tea flavors. 

Region: Boquete, Panama
Altitude: 1600m
Variety: 70% Geisha, Caturra, Catuai
Processing method: Washed

④ Front Street Coffee — Costa Rica Mozart Coffee Beans: These coffee beans have a fermented aroma while also carrying a faint orange blossom fragrance. Used to make cold brew coffee, they express the sweetness of raisins and a faint fresh white floral note, with a smooth mouthfeel.

Region: Tarrazu, Costa Rica
Estate: Canet Estate
Altitude: 1980m
Variety: H1
Processing method: Raisin honey processing

⑤ Front Street Coffee — Honduras Sherry Coffee Beans: These coffee beans are placed in whisky barrels for low-temperature fermentation. The green coffee beans absorb the aroma of whisky in the barrels, and the roasted coffee beans are also full of rich whisky aroma. Used to make cold brew coffee, they express whisky aroma as well as vanilla-cream-like sweetness and smoothness.

Region: Marcala, Honduras
Estate: Mocha Estate
Altitude: 1500m–1700m
Variety: Caturra, Catuai, Pacas
Processing method: Fine washed + whisky barrel fermentation

The weather is so hot—without a cup of iced drink, how can you treat yourself right? It's better to act than to just think about it; if you want it, go do it. Immediately grab a bottle, take out the coffee beans, and make your own cup of cold brew coffee!

For more specialty coffee beans, please add the private WeChat of Front Street Coffee, WeChat ID: kaixinguoguo0925

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