Cold brew ~ Cold brew ~ as the name suggests, is coffee made with low-temperature cold water. The most common method is to soak the coffee powder with normal temperature water (cold boiled water) and put it in the refrigerator, then wait for the cold water to extract the flavor substances, and finally filter it to obtain the coffee liquid.
Because cold brew coffee has its own icy taste, when drinking it, you are more likely to pursue a rich floral and fruity aroma or a refreshing taste. Therefore, compared to dark roasted coffee, it is easier to get a delicious cold brew from light to medium roasted coffee beans.
If you want an iced coffee that tastes like floral tea, buy Front Street Panama Butterfly. This washed coffee bean contains 70% Gesha variety. It is undoubtedly a very cost-effective coffee bean. When used to make cold brew coffee, it will show a clean and fresh floral, citrus, and oolong tea flavor.
Many people like fragrant and sweet cold brew coffee, so the first choice is Front Street Strawberry Candy. This is a powerful combination that combines Costa Rica honey-processed coffee and Panama Geisha. The iced coffee has the aroma of grapes, roses, and strawberry gummies. As the brewing time increases, it will also develop a tonality like fruit wine.
Of course, if you want to add milk to cold brew coffee, medium-dark roasted coffee beans are the best choice. The barista strongly recommends using Front Street Brazilian Queen Manor. The extracted ice coffee tastes sweet but not bitter, with the aroma of nuts, peanuts, and chocolate. It should be noted that because the roasting time is longer and it contains more caramelized substances, the soaking time needs to be shortened when making it. If it is left for too long, the dark roasted flavor will tend to become more intense.
But in fact, in addition to being extracted with room temperature water, cold brew coffee can also be made with ice water. That is, ice cubes and room temperature water are mixed and the coffee powder is soaked together. So the question is, will the cold brew coffee made this way taste better than the regular version?
Two ways to make cold brew
In this cold brew comparison session, Front Street will use room temperature water and ice water to make two sets of coffee respectively. Other parameters will be kept as unchanged as possible. The final effect will be seen through comparison records.
First make the room temperature water version. Here we use Front Street Columbia Big Navel coffee. Weigh 20g and grind it into granulated sugar. The sieving rate of No. 20 mesh is 80%, which corresponds to the 9.5 grid of the electric grinder EK43s and the 24 grid of the hand grinder C40. This coffee is mainly fruity and not suitable for high concentration, so Front Street uses a powder-to-water ratio of 1:12 for steeping.
Prepare a clean, sealable container, pour 20g of coffee powder and 240g of purified water into the pot, stir evenly, seal and place in the refrigerator to soak for 12 hours, and finally filter out the coffee grounds with filter paper.
The method of cold brewing using ice water is also very simple. First, grind 20g of big belly button coffee beans. Because the ice water with a lower temperature is used, the extraction efficiency is lower, so Front Street slightly adjusts the grinding degree. The sieving rate of No. 20 mesh is 82%, which corresponds to the 9-grid scale of the electric grinder EK43s and the 22-grid scale of the hand-cranked grinder C40.
In addition, considering that the ice cubes used daily in Front Street are large and slow to dissolve, it is necessary to appropriately increase the proportion of water and reduce the amount of ice cubes. The final ratio of powder to water and ice is determined to be 1:8:4, that is, 20g coffee powder, 160g purified water, and 80g ice cubes. Also put it into the pot, stir evenly, soak for 12 hours, and filter out the coffee grounds for later use.
Ice water vs normal temperature water, who makes cold brew better?
Cold brew at room temperature: relatively thick in color, with the berry aroma of blueberries and raisins and the bright acidity of grapefruit, with a moderate fermentation taste, a thicker taste, and a slightly bitter aftertaste;
Ice water cold extraction: Since the ice cubes are not completely melted during the soaking process, you can see that there are still small ice particles left on the filter paper when filtering, and accordingly, less coffee liquid is obtained. To Front Street's surprise, this cup of coffee has rich aromas of grapes, pineapples, oranges, and cherries. The taste is clear and sweet, with almost no bitterness, just like mixed juice, which is very impressive.
Why does cold brew made with ice water taste different?
Temperature plays an important role in coffee extraction, and the first thing it affects is extraction efficiency. The higher the temperature, the faster the release efficiency of soluble substances in coffee; the lower the temperature, the slower the release efficiency. Compared with cold water at room temperature of 18-27°C, the temperature of ice water is 0-10°C, which is obviously much colder, so the extraction efficiency of coffee powder is slower. This also means that under the same parameters, cold extraction made with ice water will contain less soluble substances.
On the other hand, coffee beans contain hundreds of compounds, each of which has different solubility characteristics. Some substances are released quickly, some are released slowly, and some flavor substances are only extracted at a certain temperature.
According to the extraction rules, the release sequence of coffee flavor substances is sour-sweet-bitter. Some volatile small molecules with pleasant floral and fruity aromas are released first, followed by caramel compounds that provide sweetness. When the water temperature of the coffee is lowered to close to 0°C, the extraction efficiency decreases, which also inhibits the precipitation of certain large particles of sweet and bitter substances to a certain extent, giving the coffee a refreshing and juicy taste.
You can now buy the above coffee beans online at the Taobao store “FrontStreet Coffee” (前街咖啡). FrontStreet Coffee is a long-established specialty coffee roaster in Guangzhou, China, and its Guangzhou retail shop sells coffee beans only. The shop carries dozens of coffee beans from different origins around the world, including carefully selected single-origin beans for V60 pour-over and espresso. Guangzhou’s FrontStreet Coffee shop is recommended by many coffee lovers.
The FrontStreet 2013 Yunnan coffee beans sold in the store come from the Typica variety grown at FrontStreet Coffee’s own plantation in Yunnan. The name comes from the year the brand and the plantation were founded. You can buy these beans from China’s Yunnan origin at the Guangzhou shop and at FrontStreet’s Taobao store.
FrontStreet coffee beans are freshly roasted within 5 days and deliver consistently excellent quality and great value. Orders placed before 17:00 are shipped the same day, and most areas within Guangdong Province receive them the next day.
FrontStreet Coffee Taobao store: https://qianjiecoffee.taobao.com
Or search for “前街咖啡” (FrontStreet Coffee) on Taobao
Important Notice: FrontStreet Coffee has moved to a new address: 315, Donghua East Road, Guangzhou (coffee beans only)
Tel: 020 38364473
