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Under the scorching hot weather, iced coffee has become the first choice for many people, and there are many ways to make iced coffee, such as the iced pour-over coffee, cold drip coffee, iced Americano, iced latte, etc. sold in coffee shops. But what should you do if you want to drink delicious and rich iced coffee at home? Today I will teach you an super simple way to make refreshing and rich cold brew coffee at home.

What is cold brew coffee?

Cold brew coffee is also a kind of coffee extracted with ice water. Like cold drip coffee, its production cycle is long and very time-consuming. But unlike cold drip coffee, cold drip coffee uses a drip method with ice water to extract the coffee flavor, while cold brew coffee uses an immersion method with ice water to extract the coffee flavor.

Because low-temperature immersion does not easily extract large-molecule flavor substances (bitter, full-bodied), if medium-dark roasted coffee beans are used to make cold brew coffee, the final product may lack a rich mouthfeel. Therefore, for beans used to steep cold brew coffee, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) recommends using beans with prominent flavor, or medium-light to medium roast beans with a sweet-and-sour character to make cold brew coffee.

For example, Front Street Coffee's (FrontStreet Coffee) "Ethiopia Sidamo Huakui Coffee Beans" — the medium-light roast preserves the coffee's unique and rich mixed berry acidity. After being made into cold brew coffee, it expresses the full sweet-and-sour taste of mixed berry juice, the soft fermented aroma of fruit wine, and a black tea-like sweet aftertaste.

Another example is Front Street Coffee's (FrontStreet Coffee) "Honduras Sherry Coffee Beans." The rum barrel fermentation process combined with medium roasting preserves the wine aroma in the coffee and also stimulates more caramel aroma. After being made into cold brew coffee, it expresses the aroma of sherry, the sweet fragrance of vanilla cream, a smooth mouthfeel, and a nutty chocolate finish.

Long extraction at low temperature can fully release the sweet-and-sour notes in the coffee beans while also controlling the release of bitter substances. Compared with high-temperature pour-over coffee, cold brew coffee performs more fully and has a cleaner mouthfeel.

How to easily make delicious cold brew coffee at home?

Making cold brew coffee is very simple, and the tools for making cold brew coffee do not need to be too particular. You only need a clean, sealable container to make it.

The grind size for making cold brew coffee can use the grind size for pour-over coffee (caster sugar size). If you do not have a grinder at home, you can go to a coffee shop and ask the owner to grind it for you, or ask the coffee bean seller to grind it for you. At present, the coffee beans sold by Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) are all shipped 5 days after roasting is completed, by default as whole beans, and the packaging is 100% freshly roasted. Friends who need it can also leave a note "cold brew grind" after placing an order.

When making cold brew coffee, choose 40 grams of coffee grounds and add 520 milliliters of room-temperature drinking water/ice water, for a coffee-to-water ratio of 1:13. Then stir evenly so that the coffee grounds and water fully contact, then seal the bottle and put it in the refrigerator's cold storage compartment, then extract at low temperature for 8 to 12 hours.

When the time is up, take it out, place filter paper/a dense mesh filter in a coffee filter, and filter out the coffee liquid. The cold brew coffee is then finished. It is simple to make, requires little skill, and has a high tolerance for error, so you can very easily make delicious iced coffee.

Can cold brew coffee be extracted at room temperature? How long can it be stored?

Cold brew coffee is not recommended to be extracted at room temperature. Cold brew coffee extraction is recommended to be carried out in the refrigerator's cold storage compartment. After extraction is completed and filtered, the coffee liquid can be stored in the refrigerator for 72 hours~

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