Coffee on a hot summer dat? A coldbrew might be a better choice than a warm espresso or milky cappuccino.

The base of coldbrew is simple. Mix coarsely ground coffee with water and leave it in the fridge for 16 to 24 hours. Then strain it and it's ready to drink.

You can also make cold coffee with warm water. With a filter (like a Hario V60) put icecubes in the coffee pot and let the pour-over coffee land on the ice cubes. Officially not a cold brew (as you brew with warm water) but a good way to make a cold coffee without the hours waiting time. However the tast is different.

I listened to an interesting podcast about the taste of coldbrew, "Hot vs Cold: The science behind temperature and taste" Worth listening the whole episode, but some of the highlights were:

  • Cold-brew is less bitter. Bitter taste don't get extracted easy, so with low temperatures they remain in the coffee waste, and do not get in your drink. Another reasons is some of the aromas we associate with bitter can be better smelled when using warm water. In that case it's not the taste but the smell.
  • Coldbrew has more aroma. Reason may be that some of the aromas evaporate with higher temperatures, but remain in the water with low temperatures.
  • Coldbrew is less acid. This is a combination of effects, and a bit more complex. Listen to the podcast if you want to know more.

Interesting to hear about the experiments with coldbrew, but also interesting to try the several methodologies yourself and compare the tastes.