Many people distinguish cold brew coffee from iced coffee. The reason is that the traditional concept of iced coffee as we understand it is to use hot water to extract and then add ice or ice to change the coffee from hot temperature to iced coffee. The biggest difference of cold brew coffee is that cold water is used throughout the process and the coffee liquid is obtained by low-temperature extraction. FrontStreet Coffee shares knowledge about cold brew coffee!
What is cold brew coffee?
Cold brew coffee is called Cold Brew Coffee in English. The ground coffee powder is directly soaked in cold water. It usually takes more than 8 hours. The iced coffee liquid is obtained by filtering the equipment. When making cold brew coffee, we can adjust the flavor and concentration of the coffee by changing the grinding size, soaking time, and powder-to-water ratio.
Compared with high-temperature extraction such as hand brewing and Italian style, cold extraction weakens the release of burnt and bitter tannins, so the acidity and bitterness are not obvious, and the mouthfeel is smooth and clean. The extraction temperature of cold brew coffee is not as high as that of hot coffee, and it is difficult to extract impurities and bitterness. Therefore, the cold brew method will faithfully reflect the coffee processing method and roasting degree in the flavor expression. Through the cold brewing method, the aromatic substances of the coffee stay in the cold water for a longer time, and the low temperature presents a more natural floral and fruity aroma. Since small molecule flavors are easier to dissipate, even if the cold-brewed coffee is stored in a low-temperature refrigerator, the floral and other small molecule flavors will become less obvious the longer it is stored. Therefore, Front Street recommends filtering the cold brew and storing it in a sealed container. The storage time should not exceed 5 days to avoid the loss of flavor and the growth of bacteria.
How to make cold brew coffee
The method of making cold brew coffee is very simple. First, we need to prepare a pack of coffee beans that are within the taste period, an airtight container to hold the extracted coffee liquid, and a filter bag or filter paper and filter cup to filter the coffee grounds. Front Street here uses home-roasted Honduran lychee coffee beans for production. This coffee is fermented in brandy barrels. It has a rich fermented wine aroma and a very obvious sweetness, reminiscent of honey and lychees. It is very suitable for making cold brew and ice-drip coffee.
① Use an electronic scale to weigh 40g of lychee orchid coffee beans and grind them to the thickness of fine sugar. Front Street will use China’s No. 20 standard sieve to adjust the grinding degree. The pass rate for cold brewing is 75 to 85%, and the grinding scale of ek43s is 9.5 to 10.5.
②Pour the ground coffee powder into a sealed bottle. Front Street will use a powder-to-water ratio of 1:10, that is, add 400 grams of room temperature water.
③Cover the lid and shake evenly. You can also use a stirrer to fully contact the powder with water, and put it in the refrigerator for low-temperature slow extraction for 8 to 12 hours.
④After the time is up, use filter paper (filter) to isolate and remove the coffee grounds. The clear coffee liquid obtained can be enjoyed immediately, or it can be refrigerated to wait for the flavor to ferment and mature, which will form a fuller fermented taste.
What coffee beans are recommended for cold brew coffee?
Regarding the choice of coffee beans, Front Street believes that you can choose coffee beans with different processing methods or roasting degrees according to your own preferences, provided that you use freshly roasted coffee beans. Since coffee goes through a bean-raising period of 4-7 days after roasting, it will enter a best tasting period. After this period, the aroma of the coffee will evaporate more quickly, and the flavor and taste will be greatly reduced. In order to ensure that the coffee you drink has the best flavor, Front Street will ship freshly roasted beans within 5 days, so that the coffee beans you receive have the best aroma.
The characteristics of cold brew caffeine extraction can highlight the aroma of wine, fruit fermentation, and fruit aroma in coffee. If you don’t know which coffee beans to choose, you can refer to the several coffees listed on the front street.
"Refreshing floral and fruity aroma - Front Street Inflorescence TOH Washed Champion Coffee Beans"
This coffee bean is produced in the Guji Uraga production area of Ethiopia, and the geology of this area is rich in nutrient black soil. The coffee beans produced have a fragrant fruit aroma. They are washed to highlight the clear floral and citrus flavor of the coffee. The cold brew coffee made by Front Street using this coffee bean has the sweet taste of grapefruit tea.
"Fermented wine aroma - Front Street Honduran sherry barrel coffee beans"
This Honduran sherry coffee bean is fermented in whiskey barrels. The coffee beans present a rich aroma of vanilla, cream and whiskey. It is a very popular coffee bean on the front street bean list. The sherry cold brew coffee has a rich aroma of fermented wine and the sweetness of honey.
"Strong fruit tea type - Front Street sun-dried Oiran coffee beans"
The sun-dried Oiran coffee beans are made from mature coffee fruits whose pulp sugar content is as high as 30%. The fructose fermented in the sun gives the beans a full fruity sweetness. The cold brew made from this coffee bean has active berries, passion fruit, sour and sweet taste, obvious juice flavor, and a refreshing aroma of black tea in the aftertaste.
"Dark berry type - Front Street Costa Rica Mozart coffee beans"
Mozart's coffee beans use anaerobic honey processing and have a very special raisin aroma. When used to make ice-drip coffee, it will show very obvious flavors of blueberry, black grape and wine fermentation, with a refreshing taste and a lingering fragrance on the teeth and cheeks. After 3-4 days of low-temperature storage and fermentation, the wine aroma and flavor become more obvious.
Why is there no cold brew coffee in the front street store?
If you come to a FrontStreet Coffee store, you will find that FrontStreet only offers iced drip coffee, not cold brew coffee. The reason is that Front Street repeatedly uses different beans to make ice-drip coffee and cold-brew coffee. The appearance of ice-drip coffee will be more transparent and beautiful than cold-brew coffee. And from a sensory perspective, ice-drip coffee will be cleaner and more refreshing! So, out of the two, Front Street chose iced drip coffee. But cold brew coffee also has its advantages, such as the lower cost of equipment, the simple production method, and the unique taste.
Professional coffee knowledge exchange. For more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account cafe_style)
For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee on private WeChat, WeChat ID: qjcoffeex
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
