How Do You Make Cold Brew Coffee Step by Step?

Cold brew coffee is made by steeping coffee grounds in room-temperature water for more than ten hours, then filtering. Ice drip raises the difficulty: ice melts into cold water that drips one drop at a time through the grounds over several hours. The result is clearer and more layered, but the process takes more time and effort.

A demonstration batch used 50g of coffee, 300g of water and 300g of ice, a 1:6:6 ratio. Key points include placing circular filter paper, wetting the grounds, setting the drip rate and letting the brew mature in the refrigerator. Fresh floral or fruity beans work well, and the same hand brew coffee meaning of careful control applies throughout.

In the previous article, we discussed how to make cold brew coffee. This time, let's raise the difficulty a bit and try our hand at ice drip coffee. The process for ice drip is more complicated than cold brew and requires more time and effort, but the clarity and layering of the final product are often worth the wait. The following illustrated tutorial will start with a list of equipment, then gradually explain the key details such as the ratio of coffee grounds to water to ice, filter paper placement, wetting the coffee grounds, setting the drip rate, and cold brew maturation. It also includes recommendations for beans suitable for ice drip. You can adjust flexibly according to your own equipment and taste preferences to make your own pot of ice drip.

We have previously shared how to make cold brew coffee, so today let's take a different direction and challenge ice drip coffee together. Compared to cold brew, ice drip involves more complex steps and requires more time and effort. You can refer to the illustrations and text in this article, and adjust and make it based on your own equipment and personal preferences.

Before starting, gather everything: ice drip pot, room-temperature drinking water, ice cubes, circular filter paper specifically for ice drip, coffee beans, and a sealed bottle. In this demonstration, the ratio of coffee grounds to water to ice is 1:6:6, meaning 50g of coffee beans, 300g of water, and 300g of ice.

(Tip: If you don't have special ice drip filter paper on hand, you can cut regular pour-over filter paper into a circle that matches the size of the ice drip coffee grounds basket as a substitute.)

When choosing beans for ice drip, you can lean towards a fresh floral or rich fruity profile, such as Front Street Strawberry Candy Coffee, Front Street Kenya Coffee, Front Street Yirgacheffe Coffee. Ice drip made with such beans usually has a refreshing taste and is delicious with or without ice.

Step 1: Grind Front Street Strawberry Candy Coffee beans into coffee grounds.

(For reference only: The beans used in this demonstration are Front Street Strawberry Candy, a blend of Costa Rica and Panama. The coffee has a rich aroma with flavors of rose, raisin, cream, and berries on the palate. The grinder is EK43s, and the grind size refers to the 9 setting typically used for iced pour-over.)

Step 2: Place a circular ice drip filter paper in the coffee grounds basket of the ice drip pot. Wet it with water first, then pour in the coffee grounds and level them.

Step 3: Cover the leveled coffee grounds with another circular ice drip filter paper, then moisten the coffee grounds with room-temperature water. (Tip: Make sure all grounds are wet, which can shorten the drip time and ensure the coffee bed is evenly saturated with water.)

Step 4: Pour ice and water sequentially into the top container of the ice drip pot with the drip rate valve.

(Note: Close the drip rate valve before pouring water to avoid ice water rushing down in a large stream.)

Step 5: Adjust the drip rate valve to 7 drops per 10 seconds, then wait for it to finish dripping.

(The dripping process is relatively long, so check the drip rate occasionally to prevent changes midway.)

Step 6: After dripping is complete, pour the coffee into a sealed bottle and refrigerate for 8 hours.

(Note: It's refrigeration, not freezing!)

Step 7: Time to enjoy! The long preparation and waiting have finally paid off. Enjoy the goodness brought by this long-term effort! (Adding ice cubes makes it even better!)

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