Topic: Cold Coffee Brewing At-Home
Guest: Chris O’Brien, Coffee Cycle Roasting
Title: Founder & Head Roaster
Connect: Coffee Cycle Roasting • www.coffeecycleroasting.com • @coffeecycleroasting
FROM THE SHOW
I promised a video of Chris brewing up a Japanese-style flash chilled coffee, but Hurricane Hilary put the kibosh on my plans for a trip down the 5 to Pacific Beach. I’ll get that video up with our next episode.
However, Tim Wendelboe shares his iced or refrigerated coffee method from Oslo. I really dig the chill vibe. “It’s not really complicated,” he says!
KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THE PODCAST
Cold brew is coffee brewed with cold water instead of hot. It takes much, much longer to extract flavor. Cold coffee isn’t necessarily cold brew.
Cold brew is also known as Toddy, which is a brand name that has become so well known it is used as shorthand like Kleenex is for tissues.
During the rise in popularity of the cold brew method, some suspect facts became legends. For example, cold brew has less acidity or more caffeine. Both of those things may or may not be true for a given coffee, but it has nothing to do with the temperature of the coffee but rather how it is brewed.
Japanese-style or flash-chilled iced coffee is Chris’ recommended version of brewing because it is very similar to brewing a pour-over. The difference is that you use less hot water to coffee beans during the brew process because when the coffee is poured over ice, some ice will melt, making up the difference.
RECIPE 1:15 ratio: ½ the water of the total brew (20g coffee beans x 15 = 300g h20)/2 = 150g h20 during hot brewing or pourover phase.
Pour finished hot coffee over ice weighing 2x the weight of coffee grounds or 2x 20g=40g of ice.
The result will be a properly blended cold coffee that still features the nuances of the roast. This is an especially good style for a lighter roast or a coffee with an emphasis on fruit notes.
Refrigerated cold coffee is pretty simple. Make some coffee. Put it in the fridge. Let it sit. The only real concern is that the coffee won’t be fresh, but if you enjoy the flavor, go for it!
There are pros and cons to all three, but after today, you should at least have a foundation to get started with some at-home cold coffee brewing.
Click the button below to set up a Coffee Cycle Roasting subscription so you don’t ever run out.
R!WC INDUSTRY PARTNERS
I’m excited to shout out (as I always am) Steady State Roasting in Carlsbad, CA. Despite a busy summer spent expanding their cafe space, hosting DJ sets during subscription coffee bag pick-ups, and roasting great coffee; they found time to continue their support of R!WC for another year. Founder and Original Head Roaster Elliot Reinecke was one of the very first interviews on this podcast, and being able to claim my neighborhood coffee roaster as an Industry Partner has always been a point of pride.
Those first podcast episodes—in the early days of Covid—were recorded on my phone while the guests and I chatted over Google Meet. It was chaos!
R!WC podcasts and newsletters continue to be free because we have some amazing industry partners and supporting listeners.
• Coffee Cycle (Pacific Beach) Back-To-School Maker’s Event is Saturday, August 26th, from 9:00AM - 1:00 PM. Always good vibes!
• Ascend Roasters is opening a surprise new location at 3231 Camino De Los Coches in La Costa (Carlsbad, CA). Stay tuned for grand opening details.
A huge, on-going thank you to this show’s industry partners. Click these links!
Roastar • Zumbar Coffee & Tea • First Light Coffee Whiskey • Steady State Roasting • Mostra Coffee • Coffee Cycle • Camp Coffee Company • Ignite Coffee Company • Ascend Coffee Roasters • Marea Coffee • Cape Horn Coffee Roasters • Hacea Coffee Source • Crossings Coffee • Acento Coffee Roasters • Sivitz Roasting Machines
Do you want to support the show without subscribing? Help keep us caffeinated by buying us a cup of coffee. Thanks for all your support.
Cold Coffee Brewing At-Home