Many friends who come to Front Street for coffee say that watching the ice water slowly drip through the cold drip brewer is so soothing, and they ask Front Street what kind of coffee this is. This is the biggest difference between cold drip coffee and many other coffee categories—it generally requires a long, slow extraction of 6-8 hours, so Front Street's cold drip output is usually small, creating a "supply falls short of demand" situation.

The Story of Cold Drip Coffee

What Is Cold Drip Coffee

Cold drip coffee refers to a method of slowly extracting coffee aromatic substances under normal pressure by evenly dripping ice water onto coffee grounds. Since the low-temperature ice water does not easily extract the bitter substances from coffee, and the slow flow rate greatly improves the extraction yield, cold drip coffee tastes strong but not bitter. If you choose coffee beans with more prominent flavors to make it, the fermented notes and the sweet-tart fruitiness, combined with the refreshing coolness of ice, can instantly relieve the summer heat.

How to Use a Cold Drip Coffee Maker

We can usually see all kinds of cold drip brewer devices online, in various materials and shapes, but they generally consist of three parts—top, middle, and bottom—and are divided into four main structures: the upper pot, the valve, the powder cup, and the lower pot.

The upper vessel is mainly used to hold ice and water, with a metal piece connected below—this is the valve that can adjust the water outlet diameter to change the dripping speed, allowing ice water to drip evenly onto the coffee grounds. The middle glass pot, shaped like a cup, is used to hold the ground coffee, with a filter hole at the bottom center that lets the extracted coffee liquid drip out. The large pot below collects the extracted coffee.

Below is an introduction to Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee)'s commonly usedcold drip coffeerecipe:

Front Street chooses a Costa Rica Mozart coffee that is quite popular in stores to make it. Mozart coffee beans use raisin anaerobic honey-processed green beans, with flavors of raisin, osmanthus, and fruit-fermented sweet aroma. Cold drip coffee can make the fermented notes more pronounced.

For grind size, Front Street generally chooses the same grind size as for iced pour-over. Since the low temperature reduces the extraction rate, the coffee is ground finer to improve extraction. For this bean, a 85% passing rate on the Chinese No. 20 standard sieve is chosen, which according to Front Street store's grind size is a 9-setting grind on the ek-43s grinder.

We usually first calculate the extraction parameters, using a coffee-to-liquid ratio of 1:10—60 grams of coffee extracts 600g of coffee liquid. The ratio of ice to water mixture is 1:1, and the valve flow rate is controlled at 7 drops per 10 seconds, generally completing the drip within 6-8 hours. (Usually the cold drip ratio is 1:10-1:12; you can adjust according to your own taste.)

At the bottom of the middle pot, attach a circular filter paper with water, then grind the coffee beans into powder and pour them in. Be careful to spread it flat to ensure even extraction. Place another circular filter paper on the surface of the coffee bed to prevent water droplets from disturbing the coffee bed. Before dripping, wet the coffee bed with cold water first—this can both save extraction time and avoid uneven extraction at the beginning.

Place the powder cup on the stand and begin filling with the ice-water mixture, usually half ice and half water. Adjust the valve flow rate to 7 drops/10 seconds, mainly aligning the dripping water droplets with the position where the coffee liquid filters out. After the drip is complete, pour the contents of the lower pot into an airtight container—Front Street uses a glass bottle—and place it in the refrigerator to ferment for more than 12 hours. It is usually ready to drink the next day.

After a night of refrigeration, Mozart coffee will present a wine-like fermented note, the sweet-tartness of berries, pineapple, and other tropical fruits. The flavor is rich but not bitter. After adding ice to dilute it, it's 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 more prominent flavor characteristics. Here Front Street introduces several types of coffee beans with more typical flavors.

1.Tropical Fruit, Fermented Wine Aroma Type

For example, the Mozart coffee mentioned earlier by Front Street has the sweet-tartness of dark berries, plus the wine aroma produced by aging at low temperature, making the overall taste even better. In addition, several coffees on Front Street's bean list also belong to this type. The most representative ones are Front Street Flower Moon Night, Front Street Sherry, and Front Street Strawberry Candy. They all have very obvious fermented aromas and are also suitable for making iced pour-over and cold brew.

2.Refreshing and Clean Type

Some use washed processing to make the coffee's acidity very clean and full. This flavor made into cold drip coffee will have a juice-like acidity, with the transparent fresh fragrance of cherry tomatoes and grapefruit, very suitable for drinking in hot summer. For example, Front Street Kenya Little Tomato Coffee, Front Street Fruit Ding Ding, and Front Street Flower Butterfly Coffee. If you are a lover of light and fresh flavors, you will definitely like this pure and transparent taste.

3.Sweet and Delicious Type

Compared with the above two types of medium-light roast coffee, dark roast coffee is generally less 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 Indonesian Golden Mandheling to make cold drip coffee. After adding ice, it has a rich chocolate sweetness and a fermented aroma, completely without bitterness. If you cannot accept the "heavy taste" of Mandheling coffee, Front Street Queen's Estate can also present nutty and chocolate flavor tones, with a smooth creamy mouthfeel when diluted with ice.

4.Flavor Blend Type

Friends who often drink espresso certainly 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 two or more single-origin beans together. For example, Front Street has tried blending Front Street Lychee Orchid Coffee and Front Street Musician Series Beethoven Coffee at a 1:1 ratio, hoping to drink coffee with both wine and fruit flavors. After mixed dripping, the extracted coffee shows rich brandy aroma and honey sweetness, along with refreshing fruit acidity. Following this idea, you can make a cup of cold drip coffee with your desired taste and flavor by pairing according to personal preference.

Regarding flavor expression, you can refer to Front Street's classification recommendations above for selection. Since cold drip coffee is extracted at low temperature, the efficiency is slower, so it is more forgiving. You can adjust according to factors such as your home equipment and budget. It should be noted here 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 philosophy is fresh roasted good coffee. Everything Front Street ships is5days freshly roasted coffee beans, hoping every customer can drink good coffee at its best flavor period.

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