All about Cold Coffee
Summer is the time to drink cold or chilled beverages. Iced Coffee, Cold Brew, Caffè Freddo, Freddo Espresso... there are many ways to enjoy refreshing cold coffee when the temperatures are on the rise. So here are a few ideas how you can easily transform your coffee to fit the season:
COLD BREW
It seems everyone is talking about Cold Brew at the moment. But what makes Cold Brew Cold Brew though? Cold Brew is extracted with cold water and uses time rather than heat as an aid for extraction.
How to do it: Preferably use a coarse ground filter roast (ca. 100g / Liter water) and fully immerse with cold water. A french press or a large jar or jug work quite well. Keep closed in a cold place (like your fridge) for 6 to 48 hours. Then scoop off the crust before filtering the cold brew through a fine metal mesh sieve, metal filter or cheese cloth. Don't attempt to filter it through a paper filter - the fines will clog the filter super fast.
Stored airtight, cold and unsweetened, your Cold Brew will keep for a few days. Enjoy pure on the rocks, with some milk or tonic!
COLD DRIP
Cold Drip also uses time instead of temperature to extract the coffee. This method requires some equipment though as cold water is slowly dripped drop by drop through a bed of ground coffee.
In contrast to Cold Brew which is like a cold bold filter coffee, Cold Drip is more like a very intense concentrate and it's recommended to dilute before drinking.
FLASH BREW
Another filter coffee style cold beverage, Flash Brew is brewed hot but immediately cooled after extraction.
How to do it: Use your favourite brewing method and recipe (manual or automatic) and drip it directly into a cold vessel optionally containing cooling (but not melting!) elements. Be very careful when using glass vessels for this method as the temperature difference will likely cause the glass to crack. It's better to use a metal vessel standing in a cold bain-marie or similar.
JAPANESE ICED COFFEE
This is a manual method where using whichever device you prefer and substituting 50% of your water with ice which is placed in the vessel you are brewing into. This way you are adding an ice-cold bypass and immediately chilling the extracted coffee.
ICED COFFEE
The more unspectacular method: Just chill your coffee and drink it when it's cold. Make sure you are using good quality coffee that stays tasty even when it's completely cooled off.
WHICH BEANS?
We recommend using a filter coffee roast for all Cold Brew / Cold Drip / Japanese / Flash Brew. Click below for all our beans suited for these cold coffees.
ESPRESSO TONIC
Pull an espresso over ice cold tonic. Maybe the most refreshing, tingling experience in cold coffee.
ICED LATTE
Simply add a single or double espresso to your cold milk (or milk alternative).
SHAKERATO
An Italian favourite in the summer, a single or double espresso is sweetened, shaken with ice in a cocktail shaker and strained into a chilled martini glass. You can make this without sweetening obviously.
FREDDO ESPRESSO
The Greeks use an electric mixer but as in the Shakerato the espresso is combined with ice cubes, given an intense spin and then strained over ice into a glass.
WHICH BEANS?
Use good quality espresso roast coffee! Click below for all our beans suited for these cold coffees.
TRY THIS
When making cold brew, use hot water for the bloom and follow up with cold water.
Adding milk or milk alternatives to any of the beverages (except Espresso Tonic) adds another flavour component and texture.
Keep leftover or extra shots of espresso in an airtight container, then use it for flavouring homemade ice cream, frozen yoghurt etc.
Use those extra shots of espresso (or fresh ones) to make ice cubes, then add those to a cold coffee beverage, cocktail or chilled milk drink.
WHAT ABOUT SWEETENING?
If you prefer your cold coffee sweetened use a homemade simple syrup. It's literally simple to make and will dissolve properly in your cold drink.
How to make simple syrup: Boil water and add sugar 1:1 or 1:2 or however "thick" or sweet you want the syrup to be. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved and let the liquid cool down. Easy as ABC. Pour the syrup into a sterilized bottle and keep it in your fridge or freezer.
