Ice drip coffee, also known as ice-brewed coffee or water-drop coffee, is called Ice Drip coffee in English, and is a method of making a coffee beverage. Generally, cold brew coffee refers to coffee made by soaking ground coffee beans in room-temperature water for more than ten hours, after which special filter paper or a filter is needed to separate the water from the coffee components. There is also a kind of ice drip coffee that uses ice cubes naturally melting into ice water, dripping drop by drop into coffee grounds to extract the coffee. This process is very slow and often takes several hours, so ice drip coffee is relatively expensive, but its taste is excellent. It is completely different from the hand-brewed coffee we commonly use, as they are two entirely different coffee brewing methods.
Ice drip coffee, as the name suggests, is coffee brewed with low-temperature water, while the hand-brewed coffee we usually drink is brewed with high-temperature water. These two are completely different in operation! The advantage of high-temperature extraction is that it can quickly extract the flavor substances in coffee, causing the tannic acid in coffee to quickly decompose into pyrogallic acid, producing sourness, sweetness, and bitterness, which is what Front Street often calls the process of releasing coffee flavors. The disadvantage of high-temperature extraction is that it easily causes the coffee flavors to be fully released, and then it begins to release the taste of the coffee beans' woody fiber, which is what we often call off-flavors, woody flavors, and other unpleasant tastes.
Low-temperature coffee extraction uses near-zero-degree ice water for extraction, allowing the flavors in the coffee to reduce volatilization under low-temperature conditions and preserving the coffee aroma in the coffee liquid as much as possible. When it is drunk, as the coffee liquid warms in the mouth, the aroma contained in the coffee liquid suddenly bursts out, allowing the coffee drinker to feel a strong aroma at the back root of the tongue in the oral cavity. This sudden aroma burst makes people feel a great sense of happiness. The disadvantage is that the production time is longer, and the drip-filtered ice drip coffee cannot be drunk immediately. It must be placed in the refrigerator and left still for more than 8 hours, so that the flavor molecules extracted at low temperature can be fully released.
After slight fermentation, ice drip coffee has a faint fermented aroma, and the mouthfeel also tends to become fuller. Because it is not extracted at high temperature, relatively fewer impurities in the coffee are extracted, and the caffeine content is slightly lower; however, some friends say that because the extraction time is relatively long, the caffeine content will be relatively higher. In fact, Front Street also acknowledges this view: with long extraction, caffeine should not be underestimated either. So, if friends who are affected by caffeine are afraid of sleeping poorly after drinking ice drip coffee, they can choose decaf coffee. Front Street's Colombia Swiss Water Process decaf coffee is also very good!
The Origin of Ice Drip Coffee
Ice drip coffee originated in Europe. Because the coffee distiller was invented by the Dutch, some people call it Dutch Coffee, distilled coffee, or water-drop coffee. "In the 1600s, Dutch sailors were carrying coffee back to Europe from the then-colony Indonesia. Because there was no hot water on the ship and they could not drink hot coffee, they came up with ice drip coffee. Coffee extracted with cold water has a soft, smooth taste and a fragrant aroma. Not only the sailors, but ordinary people also loved it very much."
Although ice drip is called Dutch coffee, it actually does not have a very deep connection with the Netherlands. Instead, it has a deep connection with Japan, so it is also called Kyoto coffee. The owner of Kyoto Hanabusa Coffee read about the coffee-brewing method of the local people in Indonesia, then a Dutch colony, while reading a coffee book, and became very interested in this method. Then, based on the description in the book at that time, with the help of chemistry students at Kyoto University and a medical equipment company, he developed an ice drip device, wanting to reproduce the Indonesian brewing method, and thus invented ice drip coffee. Later it became popular in Europe and America. Because Europeans and Americans were unclear about this history, they directly called it Kyoto coffee.
In Western countries, including the Netherlands, what is mainly used is not the Japanese drip method (an extraction method in which ice water drips down drop by drop), but rather the so-called "Cold-Brew" immersion method (soaking coffee grounds in cold water for a long time) for cold extraction. Moreover, in the West, there is also no so-called ice drip coffee (Dutch Coffee).
Drinking coffee is mainly about drinking the flavor you like. If you brew it yourself, you will certainly also choose the coffee beans you like to brew with. There are many kinds of coffee beans. Although it can be said that all coffee beans can be used for hand brewing, if making ice drip, can all coffee beans also be used? Front Street believes that under normal circumstances, yes, but some coffee beans may not taste as good when made into ice drip. Front Street believes that for making ice drip coffee, it is better to choose some representative single-origin coffee beans. Ice drip coffee uses a relatively long period of cold-water permeation extraction, such as strongly characteristic beans like Kenya and Yirgacheffe, so the extracted coffee will be very distinctive. Of course, Front Street sometimes also chooses blends of two or more beans to make ice drip coffee. Compared with cold brew coffee, ice drip coffee has more aroma, and its taste is more delicate and subtle.
How to Choose Coffee Beans for Ice Drip Coffee
These are several more typical flavor types of coffee beans introduced by Front Street for everyone's reference:
1. Tropical fruit, fermented wine aroma type
Coffee beans with special processing methods: such as Front Street Mozart coffee, which has the sweet-and-sour taste of dark berries, plus the winey flavor produced by low-temperature aging, making the overall mouthfeel even better; Front Street Colombia's Flower Moon Night coffee, Honduras'sSherry coffee, and Costa Rica's Strawberry Candy coffee have very obvious aromas and are likewise suitable for ice hand brew and cold brew methods.
2. Refreshing and clean type
The refreshing and clean type belongs to African coffee beans, such as coffee from Ethiopia's Yirgacheffe region,Kenya Asalia coffee, etc.; but Panama's washed ButterflyGeishablend also has a unique flavor!
3. Sweet and delicious type
The above two types of coffee beans are both medium-light roasted. Dark roast may be more intended for espresso. But Front Street has tried using Indonesia'sGolden Mandhelingto make ice drip coffee. After adding ice cubes, it has a rich chocolatey sweetness and a fermented aroma, without any bitterness at all. If you cannot accept the "heavy-flavored" Mandheling coffee, Front Street believes that Brazil's Queen's Estate can also present a nutty, chocolatey flavor profile, and with dilution by ice cubes it also has a smooth creamy mouthfeel.
4. Flavor blend type
Espresso is mostly made as a blend, and ice drip coffee can do the same. In addition to using single-origin beans with clear flavors, ice drip coffee can also choose to extract a mixture of two or more single-origin beans. For example, Front Street has tried blending Honduras Lychee Orchid coffee and Geisha Village Red Label coffee. The barrel-processed Lychee Orchid plus the sun-dried Geisha Village Red Label gives a faint brandy aroma, with plum-like acidity paired with the sweetness of maple syrup. When made into ice drip, you will feel the faint aroma of brandy, and the rich fruity acidity leads to a honeyed sweetness and a creamy, smooth mouthfeel.
How to Use an Ice Drip Coffee Maker
We can usually see all kinds of ice drip devices online, in various materials and shapes, but generally they cannot do without the three parts: upper, middle, and lower, and they are also divided into four main structures: upper pot, valve, powder cup, and lower pot.
The upper vessel is mainly used to hold ice cubes and water. Below it is connected a metal component, which is the valve that can adjust the 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, is used to hold the ground coffee. There is a filter hole in the middle of the bottom that can drip out the extracted coffee liquid. The large pot below is for collecting the extracted coffee.
Here Front Street chooses a relatively popular Costa RicaMozart coffeefrom the store to make it. Mozart coffee beans use raisins anaerobic honey-processed green coffee beans. The flavor is the sweet aroma of raisins, osmanthus, and fruit fermentation. Ice drip coffee can make the fermented feeling more obvious.
For grind size, Front Street generally chooses the same grind size as for ice hand brew. Because low-temperature water lowers the extraction rate, the coffee is ground finer to improve extraction. For this bean, choose a 85% passing rate on the China No. 20 standard sieve. According to Front Street store's grind size, that is a 9 setting on the EK-43S grinder.
Generally, we first calculate the extraction parameters, using a coffee-to-liquid ratio of 1:10. 60 grams of coffee extracts 600g of coffee liquid. The ratio of ice-water mixture is 1:1. The valve flow rate is controlled at 7 drops per 10 seconds, and it is generally completed within 6-8 hours. (Usually the ice drip ratio is 1:10-1:12. Everyone can adjust according to their own taste.)
At the bottom of the middle pot, attach a round filter paper with water, then grind the coffee beans into powder and pour them in. Be careful to level it to ensure even extraction. Place another round filter paper on the surface of the coffee bed to prevent water droplets from disturbing the coffee bed. Before dripping, the coffee bed needs to be moistened with cold water first. This can both save extraction time and avoid uneven extraction at the beginning.
Place the powder cup on the stand and begin adding the ice-water mixture, usually half ice and half water. Adjust the valve flow rate to 7 drops/10 seconds, mainly aligning the dripping water drops with the position where the coffee liquid filters out. After the dripping is completed, pour the contents of the lower pot into an airtight container. At Front Street, we use a glass bottle, place it in the refrigerator to ferment for more than 12 hours, and it can usually be drunk the next day.
After a night of refrigeration, Mozart coffee will present a wine-like fermented feel, with the sweet-and-sour taste of berries, pineapple, and other tropical fruits. The flavor is rich but not bitter. After dilution with ice cubes, it is like drinking a refreshing fruit wine.
Front Street Coffee Brewing Suggestions:
Regarding coffee brewing, Front Street has always believed that the freshness of coffee beans has a great relationship with coffee flavor. Therefore, the coffee beans shipped by Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) are all within 5 days of the roasting date. Front Street's roasting philosophy is "freshly roasted good coffee," so that every customer who places an order receives the freshest coffee when it arrives. The resting period for coffee is about 4-7 days, so when customers receive it, it is exactly at its best flavor.
For friends who need ground coffee, Front Street warmly reminds you: once coffee beans are ground in advance, they no longer need to be rested, because during transportation, the pressure produced by carbon dioxide inside the package can also make the coffee flavor rounder, so once you receive the ground coffee, you can immediately brew a cup and drink it. However, ground coffee needs to be brewed promptly, because after coffee grounds contact air, they oxidize relatively quickly; in other words, the coffee flavor will dissipate relatively quickly and will not be as good. Therefore, Front Street recommends buying whole beans and grinding fresh before brewing, so that you can better taste the coffee's flavor.
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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
