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Cold brew coffee, also known as iced brewed coffee. Unlike iced drip coffee, cold brew coffee needs to steep in the refrigerator for 8-12 hours, otherwise the coffee's body, fullness and aroma will not come through. Also because of its full, clean mouthfeel and rich aroma, by the time summer arrives, cold brew coffee becomes a hot-selling product in coffee shops.

At the same time, because the production time is relatively long, it is almost always a limited product, and being able to drink a cup still depends on luck. Do you find it a bit troublesome? Why not make a cup yourself! In this article, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) will teach everyone how to make the king of iced coffee at home!

Unlike iced Americano or iced pour-over coffee, which require first extracting a higher-concentration coffee liquid with hot water and then diluting it with ice water/ice cubes, cold brew coffee is extracted in a low-temperature environment from beginning to end.

Although high-temperature extraction can quickly extract the soluble substances in the coffee particles, its drawback is that without good control of the coffee particle grind size or the extraction time, the coffee easily shows bitterness and astringency. In a low-temperature environment, the heavy molecular substances in the coffee particles (bitter/body substances) are hard to release, and a longer soaking time is also required, so the extraction of the sweet and sour flavor substances in the coffee is more complete.

So FrontStreet Coffee usually uses coffee beans with more pronounced acidity/sweetness or more pronounced flavor for extraction when making cold brew coffee, so that the cold brew coffee produced is pleasantly sweet and tart, refreshing and cutting through richness. Because it is a long immersion extraction, and because cold brew coffee can clearly express the quality of a coffee bean, FrontStreet Coffee recommends using freshly roasted coffee beans when making cold brew coffee.

Every bag of coffee beans sold by FrontStreet Coffee is shipped within 5 days of the roast date, ensuring that the coffee beans reach every friend's hands in their best condition. Before roasting and after roasting is completed, FrontStreet Coffee staff specially assigned to the task sort through the coffee beans to prevent defective beans from affecting the expression of the coffee's flavor.

To make a refreshing cold brew coffee, FrontStreet Coffee recommends using FrontStreet Huakui coffee beans from the Sidamo region of Ethiopia, which have full berry acidity and sweetness, alluring red floral aromas and a faint fruity fermentation aroma.

To make a cold brew coffee with a full flavor, FrontStreet Coffee recommends using FrontStreet Costa Rica Strawberry Candy coffee beans, which have the aroma of strawberry hard candy, the acidity and sweetness of strawberries and the sweet fragrance of candied fruit. To make a cold brew coffee with a distinctive flavor, FrontStreet Coffee recommends using FrontStreet Honduras Sherry coffee beans, which have a whisky aroma, the smoothness of vanilla cream and the sweet fragrance of caramel.

To make cold brew coffee, you usually just need a clean, oil-free, sealable container and something to filter the coffee grounds with (coffee filter paper, a tea bag, a high-density mesh strainer, a cloth bag, etc. all work), then mix the coffee grounds evenly with ice water and leave it in the fridge to steep for 8-12 hours. FrontStreet Coffee recommends using 30g of coffee grounds and extracting at a 1:13 coffee-to-water ratio (that is, steeping 30g of coffee grounds in about 400g of water). Once extraction is complete, filter out the grounds and it is ready to drink.

The coffee grounds used for cold brew should not be too fine. Extract using coffee particles about the size of granulated white sugar (70-75% passing through a China No. 20 standard sieve). If the grind is too fine, the coffee grounds tend to clump and ball together during extraction. Because of the low temperature, there is no heat to increase the movement of water molecules, so solid molecules tend to clump together (form lumps). The finer the coffee is ground, the more it will clump in the water, to the point that the coffee grounds in the middle of the clump cannot be fully extracted.

Actually, making cold brew coffee is really very simple, it is just that it takes a bit of time... but being able to drink a coffee with a fuller, cleaner taste makes the wait well worth it!! Finally, FrontStreet Coffee wants to remind everyone that although cold brew coffee tastes good, you should not drink too much of it in a day!!

Because the water and coffee grounds steep together for a long time, the caffeine content is relatively high and it carries an alcoholic fermented feel. A little iced brewed coffee plus ice cubes feels like drinking strong liquor, and drinking too much or drinking it at too high a concentration can also cause dizziness.