making cold coffee

Do you have an expresso maker? Just dump the shots over ice. You can add water to taste, but I prefer not adding any.

Fore regular coffee, brew it stronger to compensate for the ice melt. An extra scoop of grounds or more according to taste.

What I do: Brew a pot of strong coffee, let it cool, put it in airtight container in refrigerator and dose accordingly. This way, you need almost no ice, and what little you need will melt more slowly because the coffee is so chilled. Whenever you have dribs and drabs of normal coffee left over, pour them into the container in the fridge.

double strenght drip. if you are really hardcore about it, you take your drip coffee, cool, and then pour it into ice cube trays and freeze. then pour cold double strenght drip over the coffee ice cubes.

it's a lot easier if you have access to an espresso maker. then all you have to do is pour coffee over ice and add a shot of espresso. both are decent ways to get a good iced cup.

i do have an espresso maker. for some reason i thought i must be in the dark about some cold brewing process, but apparenntly brew-cool-serve over ice is the way to go. easy enough. thx.

To make a great cold press coffee.

1. Use 0.5 lb of coffee ground on a french press setting (put in a 1 gal container).

2. Add cold filtered water to the 1 gal mark.

3. cover the container and let it steep at room temp for 12 - 14 hours.

4. strain the coffee through a gold (metal) filter and then store in the fridge. This will be good for 3 days if you dont drink it all.

...or google "cold press coffee" and you'll get some good info

that is what we use at my cafe to cold brew. it's nothing more than a plastic cylinder with a spout hole in the base. you plug the hole up with a latex stop, insert the little filter they provide (reuseable), dump in the coffee grounds, pour in the water, cover with plastic wrap, and wait 8-12 hours depending on how strong you like your coffee. ultimately, taste is all about the beans and the water, but that aside, this is the best method i've found.

Thanks, barista 2. Nice post. I love iced coffee on a hot day. Can't wait to try that out this summer.

Drinking cold coffee is like drinking warm beer!

I would say you should NEVER pour hot espresso (or coffee) onto ice,,,it will melt the ice and make it extremely bitter. I might make an iced latte and add the espresso to the milk then add the ice. Best way for iced coffee is with a toddy maker, it makes almost 2 quarts and lasts approx 2 weeks. You can make hot and cold drinks with the brew but most coffee shops not named starbucks keep it around only for cold drinks.

bjärn wrote:

Drinking cold coffee is like drinking warm beer!

Gotta agree with this. I don't know how cooling coffee down could possibly make it better.

Cold coffee is pretty damned good. I like it really strong, cut with some milk, a little sugar....refreshing on a hot day.

What about the caffeine? I've heard that coffee looses it's caffeine after an hour or so (coffee after it's taken out of the can, pouch etc). Does the cold French press method sacrifice much of the caffeine?

good stuff

Braavo Furgi wrote:

What about the caffeine? I've heard that coffee looses it's caffeine after an hour or so (coffee after it's taken out of the can, pouch etc). Does the cold French press method sacrifice much of the caffeine?

Come on, now that's just silly! Coffee doesn't lose caffeine unless it's forced out via a chemical process.

It will not lose caffeine. The french press method I described above makes a very smooth cup of joe. By letting it steep for at least 12 hrs it removes any acidity that that particular coffee has.

Go to a vietnamese restaurant. They can teach you how to make iced coffee. Can probably get you or inform you where to get one of the little vietnamese coffee press thingyjiggies.

qrkid wrote:

It will not lose caffeine. The french press method I described above makes a very smooth cup of joe. By letting it steep for at least 12 hrs it removes any acidity that that particular coffee has.

I tried this last night. I took a Nalgene bottle 1/4 full with good, fresh ground coffee and then the rest with cool water. I let it sit at room temperature for 12 hours, then used my french press to strain the coffee grounds out and pour it back into the Nalgene. I added some ice, a splash of half and half, and a dash of sugar. Damn it was good. So smooth, yet strong. This may become my favorite summer drink.

Yikes, a pound of beans for nine cups of coffee? Dang, that is some strong brew.