Why Is Coffee Made With Cold Water So Different?

Cold brew coffee tastes softer and less acidic than hot coffee because it is extracted with cold water over a long steeping time. Low temperature slows the release of aromatic compounds, so the cup skips the sharp, stimulating edge of a hot pour-over. Coffee shops sell both ice drip and cold steeped styles, and drinkers commonly group them under the same cold brew name.

Cold brew originates in Europe. In the sixteenth century Dutch sailors steeped coffee grounds in cold water on long voyages because they could not brew with hot water at sea, and the method spread along shipping routes. Ice drip pots later popularized low-temperature drip extraction in Japan. Bean choice, grind, coffee-to-water ratio, steeping time, and storage all affect the result at home.

Iced coffee is refreshing and cuts through greasiness, and even in the cold winter, many customers make a special trip to Front Street to order a cup. Cold brew and hot brew have completely different extraction principles, and their flavor expressions each have their own strengths. This article starts with the origin of cold brew coffee, sorts out the flavor logic of low-temperature slow extraction, and shares details to note when making cold brew, such as bean selection, grinding, coffee-to-water ratio, and steeping and storage. At the same time, it brings four floral and fruity Front Street single-origin beans suitable for cold brew—Sun-Dried Huakui, Kenya Little Tomato, Colombia Xizhua, and Panama Butterfly—to help you find your own cup of icy, refreshing sweetness and acidity.

Iced coffee is refreshing on the palate and has a strong greasiness-cutting effect. Even in the cold winter, some customers will go to Front Street to order a cup of iced coffee. Because iced coffee and hot coffee have different extraction principles, the flavors they ultimately present are naturally different as well.

The origins and development of cold brew coffee

So-called cold brew is an extraction method in which cold water is used to steep coffee grounds for a long time at low temperature, allowing aromatic substances to be released slowly. The ice drip coffee and cold brew (cold steeped) coffee commonly seen in coffee shops actually both fall within the category of cold brew. Over time, people have also become accustomed to calling cold steeped coffee directly "cold brew coffee" based on their own understanding.

The birthplace of cold brew coffee is Europe. In the sixteenth century, because the Dutch could not use hot water to brew coffee on long sea voyages, they had to settle for the next best thing and steeped coffee grounds in cold water. Unexpectedly, the taste was remarkably special—soft and easy to drink, without the strong stimulating sensation of hot coffee. Subsequently, this method of making coffee with cold water spread to more places along the shipping routes. Ice drip coffee, which uses drip-style low-temperature extraction, gradually spread because of the ice drip pots made by the Japanese.

Under low-temperature slow extraction, the reaction efficiency of coffee grounds in cold water is far lower than in pour-over, so a longer extraction time is needed to release enough rich aromatic components. Front Street usually steeps cold brew coffee for 12 hours, while ice drip coffee is extracted at a flow rate of 7–8 drops/10 seconds, and generally can be completed in 7–8 hours.

During the coffee brewing process, small-molecule fruit acids are extracted first, followed by sweetness molecules, and finally large-molecule bitter compounds. The higher the temperature, the faster the extraction of substances, and various variables can affect the taste of the coffee, so when making pour-over, it is necessary to carefully control the parameters that affect the extraction rate. Cold brew, however, extracts far fewer bitter and astringent substances in a low-temperature environment than hot water does. The body and mouthfeel of a cup of coffee mainly come from bitter substances. Without the support of bitter substances, the mouthfeel tends to be thin and the finish lacking.

Suggestions for making cold brew

The threshold for cold brew is not high. As long as you have fresh coffee beans, a grinder, and an airtight container, you can get started. It is convenient to operate and quite effortless. Although with cold brew you generally do not need to worry too much about over-extraction, if you want to make delicious cold brew coffee, there are still some small details worth paying attention to. Front Street summarizes a few points here for everyone's reference.

1. Choose freshly roasted coffee beans

No matter which extraction method is used, the first prerequisite is to ensure the freshness of the coffee beans. Front Street Coffee is a long-established coffee bean roasting brand. Front Street Coffee's offline store in Guangzhou specializes in selling coffee beans, and the store offers dozens of selected single-origin pour-over coffee beans and espresso coffee beans from different coffee origins around the world. Front Street coffee beans are freshly roasted within 5 days, with stable and excellent quality, highly cost-effective pricing, and shipping within 24 hours. Whether you are a beginner who has just started, a coffee enthusiast who has already advanced to a professional level, or a user opening a coffee shop, Front Street Coffee is the choice recommended by many coffee lovers and platforms.

Compared with the full and complex layers of pour-over coffee, cold brew coffee pursues an icy, refreshing sweet-and-sour taste and fermented fruit aromas, so the following four floral and fruity single-origin coffee beans are recommended:

Rich fruit tea-style cold brew coffee beans—Front Street Sun-Dried Huakui

The sun-dried Front Street Huakui coffee beans are made from ripe coffee cherries with a sugar content as high as 30% in the pulp. The fruit sugars ferment in the sun, giving the inner bean a full fruity sweetness. Made into cold brew, this bean has lively berry and passion fruit sweet-and-sour notes, an obvious juicy feel, and a finish with the fresh fragrance of black tea.

Full juicy-feel cold brew coffee beans—Front Street Kenya Little Tomato

Front Street Kenya is known for its typical berry flavors. After grinding the coffee, you can smell distinct little tomato and smoked plum aromas. On the palate, this aroma becomes even more prominent, and together with the coffee's own sweetness and acidity, it is like drinking a glass of freshly squeezed little tomato juice. In addition to little tomato, you can also perceive smoked plum, yellow sugar, plum, and berry flavors. The mouthfeel is very full and the finish is long.

Tropical fruity cold brew coffee beans—Front Street Colombia Xizhua

Front Street Xizhua coffee comes from Finca La Divisoria in the Huila region of Colombia. The Front Street Xizhua coffee beans grown at 1,700 m elevation use a double anaerobic sun-dried processing method. Because the flavor of Front Street Xizhua coffee shows mouth-filling, rich passion fruit and grape notes, as well as the clean sweetness of dried fruit and a mandarin-like acidity, with an almond-like finish remaining in the mouth after swallowing, it has successfully attracted many fans to repurchase.

Refreshing floral and fruity cold brew coffee beans—Front Street Panama Butterfly

This coffee bean is produced in the Guji Uraga region of Ethiopia. The geology of this area is fertile black soil, and the coffee beans produced there carry rich fruit aromas. A washed process is used to highlight the coffee's clear floral and citrus flavors. The cold brew coffee made by Front Street with this coffee bean presents the clean, sweet taste of yuzu tea.

2. Grind size and coffee-to-water ratio

As with pour-over coffee, grind size also needs attention when making cold brew. Grinding too coarse or too fine can easily make the coffee bitter or tasteless. Front Street recommends using a grind slightly finer than for pour-over coffee; Front Street uses an 85% pass rate through a No. 20 standard sieve as a reference. The strength is also related to the coffee-to-water ratio. Front Street recommends 1:10–1:12. The extracted coffee can be drunk directly, or added to ice cubes and diluted to a moderate concentration for tasting.

3. Steeping time and storage

Front Street generally steeps it the night before, controlling it at about 12–14 hours, so that the next day when you arrive at the store you can take it out and filter the coffee grounds to obtain the extracted coffee liquid. Front Street once forgot about it, causing the steeping time to exceed one day, and the extracted coffee liquid was bitter and harsh. Everyone should also pay attention to controlling the extraction time to avoid waste. In addition, the space where coffee is stored will absorb various odors from the air. If it is placed in a household refrigerator, Front Street recommends choosing a container with better sealing to avoid the flavor being affected.

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