ICED COFFEE V COLD BREW

When you think of iced coffee, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? For many it would be a can of something cold and sickly sweet, picked up in a hurry from a petrol station to fuel your journey home on a hot day. But it can be so much more than that - brewing iced coffee drinks at home is much easier than you’d think, and provides a delicious, cooling, and sugar-free alternative to a can of pop or bottle of fruit juice.

Cold brew is perhaps the lesser-known cousin of traditional iced coffee, but is becoming more widely available in cans thanks to passionate companies such as our friends at Minor Figures. With its natural sweetness and refreshing vibrancy, the lengthy extraction process required is definitely a labour of love for cold brew enthusiasts.

Brew methods

The principal difference between iced coffee and cold brew is the temperature of the water. For an iced coffee the beverage is prepared in the traditional fashion and then rapidly cooled using ice, leaving the door open for any brew method. At the roastery we love an espresso on the rocks, but great results can be achieved using any filter method too!

For cold brew, coffee grounds are immersed in cold water for a very long time - anything up to 24hrs depending on the desired results. The process extracts fewer acids and caffeine from the beans, resulting in a delicately flavoured drink that is easy on your stomach.

Which coffee should I use?

The answer to this question is, as always with coffee, it depends! Adding ice and milk to a strong espresso has a significant mellowing effect, meaning that some lighter roasts can lose their unique flavour. For this reason we love our Peru Classic or Brazil Signature Espressos for our iced espresso recipes.

For iced filter coffees and cold brews, we like to use a filter roasted single origin such as our El Salvador El Cipres or Ethiopia Nano Challa. Fruity and floral notes are emphasised with these recipes, so a coffee that bursts with these high notes will work wonderfully.