In this post post you will learn:
- The difference between cold brew and iced coffee
- Which type of coffee beans to use for iced coffee
- The best recipe for making iced coffee using a Chemex Pour Over Brewer
What’s the difference between iced coffee and cold brew coffee?
Cold brew and iced coffee are brewed and prepared differently, creating a much different flavor profile. Many people use the terms interchangeably, but in reality these are two different coffee drinks.
Cold brew coffee is one of the most popular and fastest growing segments within the specialty coffee industry. It is brewed by steeping coarse coffee grounds in cold water for 12-24 hours. The cold temperature and longer brew time extracts the sweeter compounds in coffee and leaves behind the more acidic compounds, resulting in a drink that is more simple, sweet, and easy to drink. For our favorite ways to make cold brew coffee at home, check out our blog post here.
Iced coffee, also known as the Japanese Flash Brew Method, is brewed hot, and typically flash chilled and served over ice. The higher temperature of this brew method creates full extraction of the coffee grounds, resulting in a cold coffee with more complexity and depth of flavor. Think of iced coffee as hot coffee served cold and cold brew coffee as an entirely different drink. If you like the acidity and complexity of a hot cup of coffee, this may be the cold coffee drink for you!
What type of coffee beans should I use for iced coffee?
Because iced coffee is brewed hot, the best coffee beans for iced coffee should have a natural sweetness and bright acidity for complexity and depth of flavor. Light roast coffee is best for this method, because dark roasted coffee can be bitter and create dry flavors that are not refreshing served cold. For a great cup of iced coffee, the Folly Coffee Winer has a bright acidity for a unique, flavorful cup. For a sweet, fruity, refreshing cup, the Folly Coffee House Bean is a fantastic option.
Recipe using a Chemex Pour Over Brewer
The Chemex Pour Over brewing is my preferred method for making iced coffee. The 10 cup brewer is a great way to make a large batch of iced coffee to share or keep in the fridge to drink throughout the day. To check out the full selection of Chemex Pour Over Brewers, check out their website here.
The key to great iced coffee is rapidly chilling the hot brewed coffee. Putting hot coffee in the fridge to cool with oxidize the coffee, making it taste stale. Simply adding ice to hot coffee will rapidly melt the ice, creating a watery and diluted cup of coffee. To avoid both of these, we replace a portion of the brewing water in the recipe with ice. Pro tip: use spring water or distilled water with Third Wave Water Minerals when making your ice for the best flavor.
While the Chemex is my favorite, any pourover method can be used to create iced coffee. Replace 40% of the water in the recipe with ice placed at the bottom of your serving or drinking container. For example, for a 400g V60 pourover recipe, use 160 grams of ice and 240 grams of hot water. The higher concentration of coffee to hot water creates a stronger brew that is balanced by the ice.
Things needed for iced coffee recipe:
- Scale to measure coffee grounds, ice, and water
- 65 grams medium-fine ground coffee
- 10 Cup Chemex Coffee Brewer
- Gooseneck kettle. we love the Stagg EKG Electric Kettle
- 400 grams of ice
Making Iced Coffee
- Place Chemex Coffee Brewer on Scale and tare to zero
- Add 400 grams of ice into the Chemex
400 grams ice
- Place filter in top of Chemex, pour in 65 grams of medium-fine ground coffee, and tare scale to zero
65g medium-fine ground coffee
- Pour hot water (near boiling) over the grounds until grounds are saturated, wait 30 seconds
- This allows the coffee to de-gas. You should see bubbling when this happens
Pour water until grounds are saturated
- This allows the coffee to de-gas. You should see bubbling when this happens
- Pouring in quarter-sized circles, pour hot water over saturated grounds aiming for the dark grounds
- Repeat pouring two to three times until scale reaches 600 grams of water
The ice flash chills the coffee
- Allow water to filter through completely
- Remove filter with spent grounds, pour over ice and enjoy!
Pour and enjoy! Ice optional
This is a great way to enjoy the refreshing quality of cold coffee without the hassle of long wait times for preparation. It is fun to experiment with grind size, water temperature, and ratios of ice, water, and coffee grounds. Experimenting with these variables can create a number of different flavor profiles from the same bean to explore all the flavors of a given coffee. Be sure to take notes as you experiment to be able to dial in towards your new favorite iced coffee bean and recipe.
Want to learn our favorite way to brew French Press Coffee? Check out our blog on the topic here
Find our favorite home coffee grinders to improve the quality of your coffee here
This blog is written by Folly Coffee founder and owner Rob Bathe. To learn more about the Folly Coffee team, click here
Folly Coffee Winer is the coffee used in the pictures above. To see the full selection of Folly Coffee, check out our online shop, voted Best Online Coffee Retailer- Minnesota by Corporate Vision Magazine.