Many people distinguish cold brew coffee from iced coffee, because what we understand as iced coffee is made by extracting with hot water, then adding ice or chilling it, turning hot coffee into iced coffee—this is the traditional concept. The biggest difference with cold brew coffee is that it uses cold water throughout the entire process, extracting at low temperatures to obtain the coffee liquid. Front Street Coffee shares some knowledge about cold brew coffee!

 
What is cold brew coffee?
Cold brew coffee, known in English as Cold Brew Coffee, is made by directly soaking ground coffee in cold water, usually for more than 8 hours, then filtering it with equipment to obtain a chilled coffee liquid. When making cold brew coffee, we can adjust the coffee's flavor and strength by changing the grind size, soaking time, and coffee-to-water ratio.

Through the cold brew method, the aromatic compounds in coffee stay in cold water for a longer time, presenting a more natural floral and fruity aroma at low temperatures. Since small-molecule flavors dissipate more easily, although cold brew coffee is stored at low temperatures in the refrigerator, floral and other small-molecule flavors become less pronounced the longer it is stored. Therefore, Front Street recommends storing filtered cold brew in an airtight container and keeping it for no more than 5 days, to avoid flavor loss and bacterial growth.

To make a delicious cold brew, Front Street believes the key is choosing the right coffee beans. Interms of coffee bean selection, Front Street suggests choosing coffee beans with different processing methods or roast levels according to your preferences, provided they are freshly roasted. After roasting, coffee goes through a 4-7 day resting period and then enters its optimal flavor window; after this period, the coffee's aroma accelerates its volatilization and the flavor and mouthfeel are greatly diminished. To ensure everyone can enjoy coffee at its best, Front Street ships beans that have been freshly roasted within 5 days, so the coffee beans you receive are at peak aroma.

Due to the characteristics of cold brew extraction, it can highlight the fermented wine-like aroma, juicy feel, and floral-fruity tea notes in coffee. If you don't know which coffee bean to choose, you can refer to the several coffees listed by Front Street.

"Rich fruity tea type—Front Street Huakui Coffee Beans"

This coffee bean comes from the Guji Hambela region of Ethiopia, where the soil is nutrient-rich black soil. The coffee beans produced here carry a rich fruity aroma,using ripe coffee cherries with a sugar content of up to 30% in the pulp; the fructose ferments under the sun, giving the inner bean a full fruity sweetness, highlighting the coffee's clear floral and berry flavors, which is why it is deeply loved by Chinese consumers. The cold brew coffee made by Front Street with this coffee bean haslively berry and passion fruit sweet-tartness, an obvious juicy feel, and a finish with the fresh aroma of black tea..

"Fermented wine aroma type—Front Street Colombia Sidra Coffee Beans"

ThisFront Street Sidra coffee beancomes from the Huila region, produced by the famous Finca La Divisa estate, and uses a double anaerobic natural processing method. When Front Street makes Sidra coffee into cold brew, it expresses a mouthful of rich passion fruit, grape, and candied fruit sweetness with a tangerine-like acidity; after swallowing, an almond-like finish remains in the mouth.

"Dark plum juice type—Front Street Cherry Tomato Coffee Beans"

When it comes to coffee with an obvious juicy feel, Front Street first thinks of Kenya, thanks to its unique growing conditions and special double washed processing. Light-roastedFront Street Kenya coffeehas flavors of dark plum and cherry tomato on the palate, with strong, full-bodied acidity, a prominent mid-palate sweetness, a black plum-like juicy feel, and a finish of berry aroma and brown sugar sweetness, accompanied by a faint tea aroma—which is why it is deeply favored by coffee lovers

"Dark berry type—Front Street Costa Rica Mozart Coffee Beans"

The Mozart coffee bean uses an anaerobic honey processing method and itself has a very distinctive raisin aroma. When used to make cold drip coffee, it expresses very obvious blueberry, black grape, and wine-like fermented flavors, with a refreshing mouthfeel and lingering fragrance on the lips and teeth. After 3-4 days of low-temperature storage and fermentation, its wine-like flavor becomes even more pronounced.

 
How to make cold brew coffee

The method for making cold brew coffee is very simple. First, we need to prepare a pack of freshly roasted Front Street Mozart coffee beans, an airtight container for holding the extracted coffee liquid, and a filter bag or filter paper with a dripper for filtering out the coffee grounds.

① Use an electronic scale to weigh 40g of Mozart coffee beans and grind them to a fine sugar consistency. Front Street adjusts the grind size using the Chinese No. 20 standard sieve, with a pass rate of 75–85% for cold brew, and an EK43S grind setting of 9.5–10.5.

② Pour the ground coffee powder into a sealed bottle. Front Street uses a coffee-to-water ratio of 1:10, which means adding 400g of room-temperature water.

③ Cover with the lid and shake evenly. You can also use a stirrer to ensure the coffee and water are fully in contact, then place it in the refrigerator for low-temperature slow extraction for 8–12 hours.

④ Once the time is up, use filter paper (or a filter mesh) to separate and remove the coffee grounds. The clear coffee liquid obtained can be enjoyed immediately, or refrigerated to wait for flavor fermentation and maturation, which will create a fuller fermented mouthfeel.

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