Why cold brew tastes like alcohol and how cold drip works

Cold drip coffee drips ice water onto coffee grounds at a constant speed under normal pressure, so bitterness and astringency stay out of the cup. A cold drip pot has an upper pot, a valve, a powder cup and a lower pot; grind size, coffee-to-water ratio and flow rate control the result, with Costa Rica Mozart as a workable reference bean.

The method belongs to the Dutch coffee family, alongside steeped cold brew that sits 12-24 hours before filtering. Some cups carry a slight alcoholic note, and cold brew tastes like alcohol mainly because fermented or winey processing leaves those aromatics intact at low temperature. Beans grouped as tropical fruit fermented, clean and bright, sweet, or blends cover most preferences.

Cold drip coffee, with its unique low-temperature slow extraction method, presents a rich yet non-bitter taste, making it a beloved beverage in summer. This article will start with the principles of cold drip coffee, provide a detailed introduction to the structure and usage of a cold drip pot, and use Costa Rica Mozart coffee as an example to explain key parameters such as grind size, coffee-to-water ratio, and flow rate control. At the same time, the article also recommends coffee beans suitable for making cold drip coffee by flavor type, including four directions: tropical fruit fermented wine aroma, refreshing and clean, sweet and delicious, and flavor blends, helping coffee enthusiasts make suitable choices based on personal taste and equipment conditions.

Cold drip coffee refers to a method in which ice water is dripped onto coffee grounds at a constant speed, slowly extracting the aromatic components of coffee under normal pressure. Because low-temperature ice water makes it difficult to dissolve the bitterness and astringency in coffee, and because the dripping speed is slow, the extraction efficiency is greatly improved, so cold drip coffee tastes mellow but not bitter. If beans with strong flavor expression are chosen for production, the fermented notes and fruity sweet-tartness, combined with the coolness of ice cubes, are enough to make people quickly feel refreshed in the intense heat.

After reading the story above, Front Street believes you already have a rough understanding that this method of soaking coffee grounds in cold water to extract coffee liquid is what people call Dutch Coffee. Cold drip coffee, improved from the production principles of cold brew coffee, is also a type of Dutch Coffee. In addition, there is another new type of low-temperature extraction method. Cold brew coffee refers to pouring ice water into a container holding coffee grounds, then letting it sit for 12-24 hours, and finally filtering out the coffee grounds to obtain a cup of iced coffee with a slight alcoholic note and sweet-tart flavor. The brewing principle is actually the same as Dutch Coffee, so it also belongs to the category of Dutch Coffee.

How to use a cold drip coffee pot

We often see all kinds of cold drip devices online, with different materials and shapes, but they usually consist of three parts: upper, middle, and lower. Specifically, they can be broken down into four main structures: upper pot, valve, powder cup, and lower pot.

The topmost container is used to hold ice cubes and water. Below it is connected a metal component, namely the valve. By adjusting the outlet diameter, the dripping speed of the water can be changed, allowing ice water to drip evenly into the coffee grounds. The middle glass pot, which resembles a cup, is used to hold the ground coffee. There is a filter hole in the center of its bottom, through which the extracted coffee liquid drips out, while the large pot at the very bottom is responsible for collecting this coffee liquid.

Here, Front Street chooses a Costa Rica Mozart coffee that is relatively popular in stores for production. Mozart coffee beans use raisins anaerobic honey-processed green coffee beans. The flavor is raisins, osmanthus, and the sweet aroma of fruit fermentation. Cold drip coffee can make the fermented sensation more obvious.

In terms of grind size, Front Street generally chooses the same grind size as for iced pour-over. 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 grind size, that is a 9 setting on an ek-43s grinder.

Generally, we first calculate the extraction parameters, using a coffee-to-water ratio of 1:10, extracting 600g of coffee liquid from 60g of coffee. The ratio of ice-water mixture is 1:1, and the valve flow rate is controlled at 7 drops every 10 seconds. It is generally completed within 6-8 hours. (Usually the ratio for cold drip is 1:10-1:12; everyone can adjust according to their own taste.)

At the bottom of the middle pot, fit a round filter paper with water, then grind the coffee beans into powder and pour them in. Note that they must be leveled to ensure even extraction. Also place a round filter paper on the surface of the coffee bed to prevent water droplets from scattering the coffee bed. Before dripping, the coffee bed needs to be moistened with cold water. This can both save extraction time and avoid uneven extraction at the beginning.

Place the powder cup on the stand, then pour in the ice-water mixture, generally prepared in a ratio of half ice and half water. Adjust the valve flow rate to 7 drops every 10 seconds. The key is to keep the dripping water droplets aligned with the position where the coffee liquid flows out. After dripping is finished, pour the liquid in the lower pot into a sealable container, such as the glass bottle used by Front Street, and place it in the refrigerator to ferment for more than 12 hours. It is usually ready to enjoy the next day.

After a night of refrigeration, Mozart coffee will present a wine-like fermented sensation, the sweet-tartness of tropical fruits such as berries and pineapple, and a rich flavor without bitterness. After adding ice cubes to dilute it, it feels like drinking a refreshing fruit wine.

How to choose coffee beans for cold drip coffee

The biggest characteristic of cold drip coffee is long extraction at low temperature, so when choosing coffee beans, we generally consider types with relatively prominent flavor characteristics. Here, Front Street introduces several types of coffee beans with more typical flavors.

1. Front Street tropical fruit, fermented wine aroma type

Recommended Front Street Mozart coffee, with the sweet-tartness of dark berries, plus the wine-like flavor produced by aging at low temperature, making the overall taste even better. In addition, several coffee beans on the Front Street bean list also belong to this type: Colombia's Front Street Chiroso coffee, Front Street Big Belly, Front Street Strawberry Candy coffee, and Costa Rica's Blackberry coffee. They have very obvious aromas and are likewise suitable for iced pour-over and cold brew methods.

2. Front Street refreshing and clean type

Some use washed processing to make the coffee beans' acidity very clean and full. When this flavor is made into cold drip coffee, it has a juice-like acidity, with the clear fresh fragrance of cherry tomatoes and pomelo, very suitable for drinking in hot summer. The most representative are Kenya's Front Street Little Tomato coffee, Ethiopia's Front Street Gutingding, and Panama's Front Street Butterfly. If you are a lover of light and fresh styles, you will definitely like this pure and transparent taste.

3. Front Street sweet and delicious type

Compared with the above two types of medium-light roasted coffee, dark-roasted coffee is generally less often used to make cold drip coffee, as it is thought to be very strong and bitter. Actually, this is not the case. Front Street has tried using Indonesia's Front Street Golden Mandheling to make cold drip coffee. After adding ice cubes, it has a rich chocolatey sweetness and also a fermented aroma, completely without bitterness. If you cannot accept the "heavy-flavored" Mandheling coffee, Brazil's Front Street Queen Estate can also present nutty and chocolate flavor tones, and with dilution by ice cubes it also has a smooth creamy mouthfeel.

4. Front Street flavor blend type

Friends who often drink espresso coffee must know that coffee beans can be made into blends, and cold drip coffee can do the same. In addition to using single-origin beans with clear flavors, cold drip coffee can also choose to extract a mixture of two or more single-origin beans. For example, Front Street Chiroso + Front Street Kenya, Front Street Mozart + Front Street Red Cherry, and Front Street Big Belly + Front Street Butterfly can all present a very good complex taste.

Regarding flavor expression, everyone can refer to the classification recommendations above from Front Street when making choices. Because cold drip coffee is extracted at low temperature, the efficiency is slower, so it is more forgiving. Everyone can adjust according to factors such as equipment and budget at home. What needs to be noted here is that all flavor expression is based on the roasting freshness of the coffee beans, so Front Street recommends choosing coffee beans within their optimal flavor period. Front Street's roasting principle is freshly roasted good coffee. What Front Street ships is coffee beans freshly roasted within 5 days. We hope every customer can drink good coffee during the period when the flavor is at its best.

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