Where Was Mocha Invented and How Does That Tie Into Cold Brew?

Cold drip coffee uses ice water dripping onto grounds at a steady speed, extracting aroma slowly at low temperature so the cup tastes rich but not bitter. Beans that already carry distinct flavors show amplified fermentation notes and fruity sweetness. The article sorts out equipment structure and brewing parameters, then recommends beans by flavor type for home cold drip.

The history traces back to the early eighteenth century, when the Dutch shipped coffee from their Indonesian colonies to Europe; with no hot water or brewing gear aboard, they brewed with cold water instead. That story connects the drink to where was mocha invented and to when did coffee come to europe, and it explains why cold drip, cold brew and Dutch Coffee share a lineage.

Cold drip coffee, with its unique low-temperature slow extraction, presents a rich yet not bitter taste, and has become increasingly favored by coffee lovers in recent years. But what coffee beans should you choose? How do you manage the coffee-to-water ratio? Roughly how many milliliters does one serving yield? Starting from Front Street Coffee's practical experience, this article sorts out the historical origins, equipment structure, and brewing parameters of cold drip coffee, and recommends coffee beans suitable for making cold drip according to flavor types, including Front Street Mozart, Sidra, Little Tomato, Golden Mandheling, etc., to help you make a refreshing and sweet cup of cold drip coffee at home.

Guests who often come to Front Street stores for coffee say that watching the ice water in the cold drip pot fall drop by drop is especially soothing, and then they ask Front Street what kind of coffee this is. This is exactly what distinguishes cold drip coffee from other coffee categories—it often requires six to eight hours of slow extraction, so Front Street stores have always had a small output of cold drip, often in a state of short supply.

The Origin of Cold Drip Coffee

What Exactly Is Cold Drip Coffee

So-called cold drip coffee is made by letting ice water drip onto coffee grounds at a steady speed, slowly extracting the aromatic substances from the coffee under normal pressure. Because the water temperature is low, the bitter components in the coffee are not easily brought out, while the slow dripping speed significantly improves extraction efficiency, so the finished product tastes rich but not bitter. If you choose beans with already distinctive flavors, the fermentation notes and fruity sweetness and acidity will be amplified, and paired with ice cubes, one sip in summer is especially refreshing.

The Historical Thread of Cold Drip Coffee

We often hear the terms cold drip coffee, cold brew coffee, and Dutch Coffee. What exactly is the relationship between them? Front Street will start with a story about Dutch Coffee.

In the early eighteenth century, the Dutch transported coffee beans from their Indonesian colonies back to Europe. The voyage was long, and there was neither hot water nor the conditions for slow brewing on board, so drinking hot coffee was almost impossible. So they came up with the idea of using cold water to brew coffee: take a container, put in ground coffee, pour in cold water, and let it soak for several hours. The resulting coffee was surprisingly sweet, with no bitterness at all. Dutch merchants found that this method made it convenient to drink coffee during maritime trade, and the practice of making coffee with cold water gradually spread.

However, this ice-water extraction method did not become popular in the Netherlands itself. Instead, it was inherited by the Japanese and gradually improved into the cold drip coffee we see today. So occasionally you may hear the claim that "cold drip coffee was invented by the Japanese." More accurately, the Japanese improved on the Dutch original method and kept this production method alive to this day, which is why we have the chance to taste this uniquely flavored iced coffee.

At this point, Front Street believes you already generally understand: the method of soaking coffee grounds in cold water to obtain coffee liquid is what people call Dutch Coffee. Cold drip coffee, improved from the cold brewing principle, also belongs to the broader Dutch Coffee family. In addition, there is a relatively new low-temperature extraction method—cold brew coffee—which is made by pouring ice water into a container holding coffee grounds, letting it sit for twelve to twenty-four hours, and then filtering out the coffee grounds to obtain a cup of iced coffee with a slight vinous aroma and sweet-sour taste. Its principle is consistent with Dutch Coffee, so it is also considered a type of Dutch Coffee.

How to Operate a Cold Drip Pot

You can find all kinds of cold drip pots online, with a wide variety of materials and shapes, but basically they all consist of three parts: upper, middle, and lower. Specifically, they can be broken down into four main components: upper pot, valve, powder cup, and lower pot.

The topmost container is used to hold ice cubes and water, and below it is connected a metal part, namely the valve, which controls the dripping speed of the water by adjusting the opening size, allowing ice water to drip evenly into the coffee grounds. The middle glass pot, shaped like a cup, is used to hold the ground coffee, with a filter hole in the center of the bottom through which the extracted coffee liquid drips out, while the large pot at the very bottom collects it.

Here we choose a relatively popular Costa Rican Front Street Mozart coffee for demonstration. Front Street Mozart coffee beans use raisin anaerobic honey-processed green beans, with flavor notes of raisins, osmanthus, and fruity fermented sweetness. When made into cold drip, the fermented quality becomes even more prominent.

In terms of grind size, Front Street usually refers to the standard for iced pour-over. Because low-temperature water lowers the extraction rate, the coffee is ground slightly finer to compensate. For this bean, a No. 20 Chinese standard sieve is used to reach an 85% passing rate, corresponding to a grind setting of 9 on the EK-43s grinder at Front Street stores.

Generally, first calculate the extraction parameters: use a coffee-to-liquid ratio of 1:10, take 60 grams of coffee grounds to extract 600 grams of coffee liquid, mix ice and water at 1:1, and control the valve flow rate at 7 drops per 10 seconds. The whole process takes about six to eight hours to finish dripping. (The coffee-to-liquid ratio for cold drip usually falls between 1:10 and 1:12, and can be adjusted slightly according to your own taste.)

Place a round filter paper at the bottom of the middle pot and wet it so it sticks, then pour in the ground coffee, taking care to spread it flat so that extraction is even. Also cover the surface of the coffee bed with a round filter paper to prevent water droplets from disturbing the coffee bed. Before starting to drip, first wet the coffee bed with cold water, which can both save extraction time and avoid uneven extraction at the beginning.

Place the powder cup on the stand and begin pouring in the ice-water mixture, usually half ice and half water. Adjust the valve to keep the flow rate at 7 drops/10 seconds, and make sure the dripping water aligns with the position where the coffee liquid filters out. After dripping is finished, pour the coffee liquid from the lower pot into a sealable container. Front Street uses a glass bottle, and puts it in the refrigerator to cold ferment for more than 12 hours. Generally it is ready to drink the next day.

After a night of refrigeration, Front Street Mozart cold drip presents a vinous fermented quality, as well as the sweet-sour taste of berries, pineapple, and other tropical fruits. It is rich but not bitter, and after dilution with ice it is like drinking a refreshing fruit wine.

Bean Selection Ideas for Cold Drip Coffee

The most notable feature of cold drip coffee is low-temperature long extraction, so when selecting beans, priority is generally given to types with prominent flavor characteristics. Front Street introduces several typical flavor directions here.

1. Front Street Tropical Fruit, Fermented Vinous Type

Front Street Mozart coffee has the sweet-sour taste of dark berries, plus the vinous aroma produced by low-temperature aging, taking the overall mouthfeel up a level. On Front Street's bean list there are also several beans belonging to this type, among which the most representative are Front Street Sidra, Front Street Big Belly, and Front Street Strawberry Candy. They all have very obvious fermentation aromas and are likewise suitable for making with iced pour-over or cold brew.

2. Front Street Refreshing and Clean Type

Some beans undergo washed processing, with clean and full acidity. When made into cold drip, they have a juice-like acidity and a clear, transparent fragrance of cherry tomatoes and pomelo, making them especially suitable for drinking in the heat of summer. Examples include Kenya Front Street Little Tomato Coffee, Front Street Fruit Dingding, and Front Street Butterfly Coffee. If you prefer a fresh and light style, you should like this pure and transparent taste.

3. Sweet and Delicious Type

Compared with the medium-light roasted beans in the previous two categories, dark roasted coffee is usually considered unsuitable for cold drip, on the grounds that it easily becomes both strong and bitter. Actually, this is not necessarily so. Using Indonesian Front Street Golden Mandheling to make cold drip, after adding ice it has a rich chocolate sweetness and also a fermented aroma, not bitter at all. If you cannot accept Mandheling's "heavy taste," Front Street Queen's Estate cold drip coffee can present nutty and chocolate notes, and under dilution with ice it also has a smooth creamy mouthfeel.

4. Flavor Blend Type

Friends who often drink espresso certainly know that coffee beans can combine flavors through blending, and the same goes for cold drip coffee. In addition to using single-origin beans with clear flavors, you can also extract a mixture of two or more single-origin beans.

Regarding flavor expression, everyone can choose according to the categories given by Front Street above. Because cold drip coffee is extracted at low temperature, the efficiency is slower and the tolerance is greater, so you can adjust flexibly according to your home equipment and budget. One reminder: all flavor performance is based on the roasting freshness of the coffee beans, and Front Street suggests trying to use beans within their optimal flavor period. Front Street has always insisted on freshly roasted good coffee, and what is shipped is coffee beans freshly roasted within 5 days, hoping every customer can drink a good cup of coffee when the flavor is at its best.

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