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Lately, more and more friends are making cold brew coffee, ice drip coffee, and other cold-brewed coffees at home. The ice drip coffee pre-made by Front Street Coffee is also in short supply. Many friends have also asked, how long can cold-brewed coffee be stored in the refrigerator?  

What is the secret behind low-temperature extracted cold-brewed coffee?

Both cold brew coffee and ice drip coffee belong to low-temperature extraction, where the temperature at which water contacts the coffee grounds is controlled between 0-7°C. The only difference is that cold brew coffee uses a low-temperature immersion method, while ice drip coffee uses a low-temperature drip filtration method. If we compare them to the types of coffee brewed with regular hot water, cold brew corresponds to immersion extraction methods like the French press and Clever Cup, while ice drip corresponds to drip filtration extraction represented by pour-over coffee. The former has a more balanced taste, while the latter tends to have more distinct layers.

Back to low-temperature extraction: the reason cold brew and ice drip are so popular is that they have one advantage — by making use of the low efficiency of low-temperature extraction, they can reduce the release of large-molecule bitter substances, so the ice drip coffee we drink is refreshing, with rich sweet-and-sour flavors.

To make cold brew or ice drip, what equipment do you need to buy?

Usually, if we want to make the same iced coffee as a coffee shop, Front Street Coffee would recommend buying dedicated cold brew pots and ice drip pots, as these can effectively control extraction. However, because the principle of cold brew coffee is simple and it uses low-temperature extraction, it does not depend much on equipment. We can just find a clean, sealable container at home, which saves money for another bag of coffee beans.

As for ice drip, it not only requires a container for ice water, but also has high requirements for a uniform-rate drip valve, so it is hard to find a "budget substitute." Here we still recommend buying an ice drip pot directly.

In fact, besides ice drip equipment, choosing the right coffee beans is also key. If you like cold brew with a sweet-and-sour taste, we recommend three specialty coffee beans: Front Street Coffee Fruit Ding Ding, Front Street Coffee Strawberry Candy, and Front Street Coffee Huakui. They are not only full of fruity aroma, but also present a refined sweet-and-sour taste under low-temperature extraction. If you prefer a balanced taste, we recommend Front Street Coffee, Diamond Mountain, Front Street Coffee Kafa Forest, and Front Street Coffee Gesha Village Chaka, which have a good balance of sweet, sour, bitter, and sweet. But if you are someone who only loves mellow dark-roasted coffee, then you should start with these single-origin coffees: Front Street Coffee Queen's Manor, Front Street Coffee Bird of Paradise, Front Street Coffee Golden Mandheling, and Front Street Coffee Huilan.

Can ice drip coffee be drunk directly after it is made?

Based on Front Street Coffee's experience, ice drip coffee tastes better after it is made and then chilled in the refrigerator for 10–12 hours.

Ice drip coffee is usually completed at room temperature (26-28°C), and the production time is about 6-8 hours, shorter than the time required for cold brew coffee. Freshly made ice drip coffee is about 15°C and has an obvious layered effect (darker at the bottom, lighter at the top). This is because the coffee substances extracted at the beginning are greater in amount, while the coffee substances extracted by the later water droplets are fewer. In addition, because the coffee liquid is low in temperature and not easy to flow, it is prone to concentration inconsistency and layering.

At this point, the flavor of the ice drip coffee is not very rich, retaining only the front and middle sections of the coffee bean's own flavor. Front Street Coffee generally pours the finished ice drip coffee into a glass bottle with a sealing rubber ring and lets it sit in the refrigerator for 12 hours before drinking. Pouring it into a glass bottle can mix the coffee liquid with inconsistent concentration, and choosing a container with good sealing performance can ensure it is not contaminated by the outside. The refrigerator surface may look clean, but in reality it has many microorganisms invisible to the naked eye.

Placing it in the refrigerator for 12 hours of low-temperature fermentation will give the ice drip coffee a fragrant fermented aroma, and the original flavors will also become richer. Fermentation is very common in daily life, and uncontrolled fermentation will cause food to spoil and deteriorate. In a low-temperature environment, this process can be effectively slowed down, and Front Street Coffee has also verified that ice drip coffee made from most coffee beans is most delicious after 12 hours of chilling.

How many days can cold-brewed coffee/cold brew coffee be stored at most?

Many friends are very concerned about this question. For coffee brewed with hot water, the flavor is generally greatly weakened after being left for 1 hour, or even completely gone. Coffee made at low temperature and stored at low temperature can be kept longer. Ice drip coffee has the best flavor after 12 hours of chilling after production, and cold brew coffee has the best flavor after filtering out the grounds and then chilling for 4 hours. As it sits longer, the fermented taste of the coffee becomes stronger, eventually masking the coffee's own aroma.

As mentioned above by Front Street Coffee, low-temperature control of fermentation only slows down the speed of fermentation, and over time, ice drip coffee will eventually spoil and deteriorate. Generally, ice drip coffee stored in the refrigerator for 5 days is relatively safe, and ice drip coffee beyond 5 days is prone to spoilage flavors such as sour off-flavors. As for cold brew coffee, because both the production and storage environments are at low temperature, it can generally be stored in the refrigerator for 7 days.

Whether it is ice drip or cold brew coffee, Front Street Coffee recommends drinking it within 5 days. Although after 5 days ice drip coffee will not necessarily spoil, nor is it necessarily undrinkable, out of consideration for flavor experience and health safety, the tasting period for ice drip coffee made by Front Street Coffee is set at 4–5 days.

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