In hot weather, a glass of cold brew coffee always brings a refreshing coolness. Front Street Coffee's cold brew has recently been in short supply, and many people choose it not only because its flavor differs from ordinary iced coffee, but also because they feel they can't make it at home. In fact, with just a dripper, a few filter papers, ground coffee, and ice cubes, you can put together a simple "home-version cold brew tower." This article breaks down in detail the equipment, parameters, operating steps, and common mistakes of this method, while also explaining the extraction impact caused by the structural differences between a dripper and a cold brew tower, and providing a list of Front Street beans suitable for making cold brew. Finally, it will also explain how long cold brew coffee needs to be refrigerated and fermented after it is formed, as well as how long it can be stored under refrigeration and at room temperature respectively. [more…]

Although cold brew coffee is not common in everyday home brewing, its clean taste and rich fermented aroma have made it unforgettable to many coffee lovers. Making cold brew coffee requires a dedicated cold brew pot and takes a long time, which is also why it remains relatively niche. However, the core of a cold brew pot is actually just the flow restriction valve—as long as you can control the dripping speed of the ice water, you can make cold brew coffee at home even with an ordinary dripper. This article will cover the choice of roast level for cold brew coffee beans, grinding and coffee-to-water ratio, extraction time, and a simplified method that does not require a professional cold brew pot. It also includes Front Street Coffee's bean list recommendations and practical parameters for friends who want to try cold brew at home. [more…]

Ice drip coffee is often called Dutch Coffee. The origin story widely circulated was actually fabricated by Japanese coffee practitioners to promote ice drip pots. The mainstream method in Europe and America is not drip-based, but immersion-based cold brew. Ice drip coffee is made by dripping ice water evenly through coffee grounds, a slow extraction at low temperature and normal pressure, giving it a rich yet not bitter taste. Ice-brewed coffee and ice drip coffee both fall within the category of Dutch coffee. This article focuses on the key operational points of ice drip pots—their structure, coffee-to-water ratio, grind size, drip rate control, and refrigerated fermentation—and, drawing on beans such as Front Street Mozart, Sidra, Gutingding, Butterfly, and PWN Golden Mandheling, explains how different flavor-type coffee beans perform in ice drip and how to approach blending them. [more…]

Iced coffee is not just one method. Depending on the extraction temperature, iced coffee on the market can be broadly divided into two categories: one is brewed with hot water and then cooled with ice, with iced Americano being the most typical example; the other involves low-temperature or room-temperature water directly contacting the coffee grounds, allowing the flavors to release slowly, with cold brew and ice drip both belonging to this camp. Although both are low-temperature extractions, they differ considerably in equipment, process, and final taste. This article will start from the extraction principles, outline the home preparation steps for cold brew coffee, explain the structure and output logic of the ice drip pot, and explain why the ice drip made from the same beans is often cleaner than cold brew. Friends who like floral and fruity notes can also refer to several Front Street Coffee bean recommendations suitable for making iced coffee. [more…]

There are many ways to brew coffee, and cold drip is one of them. Cold drip coffee is also a type of iced coffee, and in summer, iced coffee is even more of a favorite among coffee lovers. Cold drip coffee is naturally not brewed with hot water, but with low-temperature water, which is different from our usual pour-over coffee. [more…]

Want to enjoy a refreshing glass of cold brew coffee but don't want to buy an expensive cold drip tower just for that? In fact, you can rig up a simple cold drip setup using the coffee gear you already have on hand. This article starts from Front Street's hands-on experience, breaks down the structural principles of a cold drip tower, shows how to replace the original equipment with a V60 dripper, a flat-bottom dripper, and a server, and explains in detail every step of the process: distributing the grounds, pouring water, adding ice, and cold-brewing in the fridge. It also covers how the size of the dripper affects your choice of coffee dose, and the key role that ice cube size plays in the extraction, so you can easily make a full-flavored cold brew coffee at home. [more…]

Cold brew coffee, due to its unique low-temperature slow extraction process, presents a mellow, rich yet not astringent, smooth yet not bitter taste, and is deeply loved by coffee enthusiasts who pursue richness but fear bitterness. However, its production time is as long as 4 to 12 hours, and the equipment cost is not low, all of which are directly reflected in the selling price. This article will systematically introduce the flavor sources of cold brew coffee, the differences between the two structures of cold brew towers, the key points for using the ice chamber and the coffee powder cup, as well as the practical parameters shared by Front Street Coffee such as a 1:10 water-to-coffee ratio, pre-infusion, and 7 drops per 10 seconds, and will also include recommendations for coffee beans suitable for cold brew extraction, so that you can consistently make a clean cup of cold brew coffee at home. [more…]

For more specialty coffee knowledge, please follow: Front Street Coffee (Frontsteet Coffee). Many customers who come to Front Street to drink coffee discuss whether there is a difference in taste between ice drip coffee and cold brew coffee. Both are common methods of making cold coffee. Today, Front Street will conduct an experiment on these two [more…]

Ice drip coffee and cold brew coffee are two common cold coffee methods, and many coffee enthusiasts discuss the taste differences between them when drinking coffee at Front Street. This article, through actual experiments, uses the same Front Street sun-dried Huakui coffee beans and employs both ice drip and cold brew methods to make coffee, conducting a comprehensive comparison from production time, equipment, coffee-to-water ratio, extraction scheme to the final flavor performance. Ice drip coffee is clear and bright, with a clean and refreshing taste, carrying fermentation notes and a vinous charm; cold brew coffee, on the other hand, has a full body, obvious fruity sweetness, and a uniform flavor. Through this experiment, the significant difference between the two in terms of a clean and refreshing taste can be clearly identified. [more…]

The iced coffee family has a wide variety of categories, and cold brew, ice drip, and iced Americano each have their own merits. Starting from practical operation, this article analyzes the core differences between cold brew coffee and ice drip coffee in terms of extraction method, equipment structure, coffee-to-water ratio, and time control, while also clarifying the essential difference between ice drip coffee and Americano. The article also compiles the specific parameters used by Front Street Coffee baristas when making cold brew, as well as the structural details of the ice drip pot used in the shop, helping coffee enthusiasts systematically understand the characteristics and key preparation points of various types of iced coffee. [more…]

Although ice drip coffee and cold brew coffee both focus on low-temperature extraction, their brewing principles and taste profiles each have their own strengths. Cold brew relies on long soaking followed by filtering, making it relatively easy to do; ice drip, on the other hand, requires a dedicated drip device, with ice water passing through the coffee grounds drop by drop at an extremely slow rate, and this dynamic extraction brings a cleaner, clearer flavor. This article will detail the equipment structure, extraction principle, and taste characteristics of ice drip coffee, and use the Tiamo three-tier ice drip pot as an example to explain Front Street's ice drip brewing parameters, while also recommending a high-quality single-origin bean suited to ice drip—Front Street Butterfly. In addition, the article will share Front Street's specific cold brew coffee method, including key steps such as coffee-to-water ratio, grind size, and refrigeration time, to help you easily make refreshing summer iced coffee at home. [more…]

When searching for iced coffee in summer, names like ice drip, ice brew, cold brew, Dutch coffee, and Kyoto coffee always leave people bewildered. What exactly is the difference between these terms? This article starts with the broad concept of cold brew coffee, sorts out the historical origins and extraction principles of ice drip coffee, clarifies the precise meaning of ice brew coffee, and, using Front Street Coffee's store practice as an example, introduces in detail the equipment structure, parameter settings, and operating procedures of ice drip coffee, as well as the flavor directions of several types of coffee beans suitable for making ice drip, helping coffee enthusiasts clarify the concepts and master the methods. [more…]

Cold brew drip coffee is a coffee-making method that uses low-temperature ice water for slow drip extraction, forming a sharp contrast with the high-temperature rapid extraction of pour-over. This article systematically reviews the extraction principles, flavor characteristics, and historical origins of cold brew drip coffee, explains how it differs from the cold brew immersion method, and offers bean selection suggestions for different flavor preferences, including specific recommendations such as Front Street Mozart, Yirgacheffe, Kenya Little Tomato, Golden Mandheling, Queen's Estate, Lychee Orchid, and Gesha Village Red Label. At the same time, using actual parameters as examples, it explains step by step the structure of the cold brew drip tower, the coffee-to-water ratio, grind size, flow rate control, filter paper placement, and refrigerated fermentation, helping coffee enthusiasts reliably reproduce at home a cup of cold brew drip coffee with concentrated aroma and a rounded mouthfeel. [more…]

Ice drip coffee and cold brew coffee both belong to the category of cold-brewed coffee, yet they differ markedly in historical background, extraction equipment, operating procedures, and final flavor. Ice drip coffee originated from a local Indonesian brewing method and was improved by Kyoto's Hanabusa Coffee before spreading worldwide; it uses an ice drip tower for layer-by-layer filtration, taking 6 to 8 hours. Cold brew coffee, by contrast, is made by steeping in a container and letting it rest at low temperature for 12 to 24 hours. In this article, Front Street Coffee documents the ice drip process in detail, with a coffee-to-water ratio of 1:10, and shares several blending bean options, while also comparing the flavor differences between ice drip and cold brew made with Huakui beans. The article also discusses the controversy over the caffeine content of ice drip coffee, helping coffee enthusiasts gain a comprehensive understanding of the respective characteristics of these two cold-brewed coffees. [more…]

The reason ice drip coffee is favored by so many enthusiasts lies in its smooth entry, rich and full body, balanced acidity and sweetness without bitterness or astringency. If coffee beans with fermented notes are chosen, it can also present a rich aroma similar to chilled fruit wine. Starting from the production standards of Front Street stores, this article fully sorts out the ice drip coffee making process, including equipment selection, grind size control, dripping flow rate and coffee-to-water ratio, and further explains the key role of cold brew fermentation in enhancing flavor, as well as the tasting period and bean pairing suggestions. Whether you are a beginner who has just gotten an ice drip pot or an advanced player who wants to refine the flavor, you can find practical operational points and bases for flavor judgment here. [more…]

Ice drip coffee, through its pure ice drip filtration and low-temperature fermentation process, presents a mellow, sweet, and refreshingly cool taste, making it a highly favored coffee beverage in summer. Starting from the store practices of Front Street Coffee, this article systematically sorts out the differences between the two common methods of low-temperature extraction—cold brew and ice drip—and explains in detail the structure of the ice drip pot, the choice of grind size, the control of drip speed and coffee-to-water ratio, as well as the grasp of refrigeration fermentation duration. At the same time, focusing on the two major directions of refreshing floral and fruity notes and rich fruity tea notes, it recommends two coffee beans suitable for making ice drip coffee, Front Street Elida Estate Catuai and Front Street Natural Huakui, helping enthusiasts recreate at home a clean-flavored, richly layered ice drip coffee. [more…]

Cold brew coffee, with its sweet, full-bodied taste and low bitterness, is attracting more and more coffee lovers to try making it at home. But which beans to choose, how coarse to grind, and how to control the flow rate often leave people at a loss. This article starts with the difference between cold brew and ice drip, explains why low-temperature extraction produces less bitterness, and gives specific recommendations for floral and fruity coffee beans, including Front Street. Sun-Dried Huakui, Front Street. Washed Butterfly, Front Street. Strawberry Candy, Front Street. Mozart, and Front Street Xizhua, among other options. Then, using in-store practice as a reference, it explains in detail the structure of the ice drip pot, grinding standards, drip rate settings, coffee-to-water ratio, and filter paper placement and other key details, to help you consistently make a cup of clean-flavored ice drip coffee at home. [more…]

Can filter paper only be used for pour-over? In fact, in cold brew, ice drip, espresso, and even moka pot brewing, filter paper also plays an important role, just with different functions emphasized. This article compiles the practical experience of Front Street Coffee and explains one by one the specific uses of filter paper in different extraction methods: why cold brew needs secondary filtration, what roles the upper and lower filter papers in an ice drip brewer each play, what changes adding filter paper above the puck or at the bottom of the portafilter basket brings to espresso, whether a moka pot should use filter paper, and the correct approach to using filter paper to filter coffee grounds. Whether you are just starting out or want to refine your technique, you can find practical reference solutions here. [more…]

For more specialty coffee knowledge, please follow: Front Street Coffee (Frontsteet Coffee) Both ice drip coffee and cold brew coffee are relatively common cold-brewed coffee methods, and their refreshing taste makes many people love them. So what is the difference in flavor between ice drip coffee and cold brew coffee? Front Street below [more…]

Cold brew coffee is loved by coffee enthusiasts for its rich yet refreshing flavor and its natural fermented, wine-like aroma, achieved by slowly dripping ice water through coffee grounds. Making cold brew is actually not complicated; the key lies in choosing the right equipment, controlling the grind size and drip rate, and selecting the right coffee beans. If the grind is too coarse, the flavor will be thin; if it's too fine, it will easily clog and cause water to pool, bringing out bitterness. Front Street Coffee recommends using a No. 20 standard sieve with 80-85% grind size, controlling the drip rate at about 7 drops per 10 seconds, with 60 grams of grounds taking about 6 hours. After dripping, it still needs to be placed in the refrigerator for low-temperature fermentation for 12 hours to reach optimal flavor. This article will explain in detail the brewing parameters and bean selection approach for cold brew coffee. [more…]