What makes cold brew coffee different from iced coffee?

Cold brew coffee is coffee extracted with cold water over a long period, usually several hours of refrigeration rather than a quick hot brew. Because no high heat is involved, the release of tannic acid and caffeine from the grounds is suppressed, so the cup tastes softer, sweeter and less sour or astringent than regular iced coffee, which is brewed hot and then chilled with ice.

The drink first appeared in the United States and spread through social platforms to Japan and Europe before Starbucks launched it and pushed it worldwide. A typical home recipe uses about 450ml of water, a coarse grind and a coffee-to-water ratio measured by weight, left in the fridge to extract; the long, low-temperature process and smaller yield per batch are why cold brew is priced higher.

In recent summers, cold brew coffee has become increasingly common in China. It tastes icy and cold, with a softer and more balanced flavor, yet its preparation is surprisingly simple. This article will start from the definition of cold brew coffee, tracing its rise in the United States, its spread through social platforms to Japan and Europe, and its global popularity after Starbucks officially launched it; at the same time, it will compare the fundamental differences in extraction methods between cold brew and regular iced coffee, explaining why low-temperature extraction suppresses the release of tannic acid and caffeine, thereby bringing out a sweet taste that is neither sour nor astringent. Finally, a 450ml cold brew recipe is included, demonstrated using Front Street Coffee Elda coffee beans, with explanations of the coffee-to-water ratio, grind size, and refrigeration extraction time, so readers can easily make a refreshing glass of black coffee at home.

Cold Brew Coffee, that is, cold brew coffee, gradually became popular in China around last summer. It tastes icy and cold, with a gentler and more balanced flavor, and its preparation is surprisingly simple. Today, let's talk about what exactly makes it so appealing.

Table of Contents

1. What is Cold Brew Coffee?

2. The difference between cold brew coffee and iced coffee

3. Making cold brew coffee at home

NO.1

What is cold brew coffee?

Cold Brew Coffee first appeared in the United States, and later gradually spread to Japan and European countries through social platforms such as Instagram. With Starbucks officially launching "Cold Brew Coffee," cold brew coffee finally became popular worldwide.

As the name suggests, cold brew coffee is coffee extracted with cold water, and it is true "iced coffee" in the real sense. It is similar to cold-brewed tea in that both use long, low-temperature extraction to obtain a gentler and more balanced flavor.

NO.2

Cold brew coffee vs iced coffee

What we usually call iced coffee is actually made by first extracting hot coffee at high temperature, then rapidly cooling it with ice cubes, ice water, or other methods. Cold brew coffee, as mentioned above, is a pure "iced coffee" extracted at low temperature for a long time.

Because it has not undergone high-temperature extraction, the release of tannic acid and caffeine from the coffee beans is suppressed, so cold brew coffee tastes gentler and sweeter, not too sour, and not astringent.

In addition, the principle behind making cold brew coffee is very simple. As long as you get the coffee-to-water ratio right and steep it for a long time (more than 12 hours), you can get a refreshing glass of coffee, which is why it is very popular among office workers. Grind and brew it at home the night before, put it in the refrigerator to chill overnight, and you can drink cold coffee as soon as you get up the next day.

Furthermore, it is said that cold brew coffee can be stored longer without losing its flavor. In short, cold brew coffee is absolutely good news for black coffee lovers.

NO.3

Making cold brew coffee at home

/// Ingredients (450ml)

Coffee beans 40g

Cold water 500ml

★ Coffee-to-water ratio: just a bit higher than the ratio used for regular pour-over. Once you are experienced, you can adjust it to your own taste. In the recipe, 40g beans and 500ml water make it fairly strong because I also add ice cubes when drinking it. If you are not adding ice cubes, you can reduce it to 30g:500ml

★ When shooting the recipe, I used light-roasted Front Street Coffee Elda coffee beans, so the brewed coffee color was lighter. I had left these beans unused for a long time because they were really a bit too sour.. But the cold brew method made their sourness less obvious.

/// Instructions

❶ Weigh the coffee beans/grounds　Weigh the coffee beans and grind them into powder. A finer grind requires a shorter extraction time, while a coarser grind requires a longer extraction time.

❷ Brew with cold water　Fold the filter paper, place it in the teapot strainer, pour in the coffee grounds, and then slowly pour cold water into the pot.

★ There are many brewing methods. You can also use a French press and just press it down. Or you can pour water directly over the coffee grounds and filter before drinking. I simply used the tools I had on hand.

❸ Refrigerate to extract　Put the coffee in the refrigerator overnight and wait for full extraction.

❹ Enjoy!

❺ You can also refer to the milk cap method to make a cold brew coffee milk cap~

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