Overview
- This week’s coverage from multiple outlets highlights that the main faults in homemade iced coffee are oxidation from slow cooling and dilution from melting ordinary ice.
- Flash Brew means brewing hot coffee directly onto very cold, large ice cubes to shock-cool the liquid and lock in aroma, and it requires a noticeably finer grind because the brew time is shorter.
- Cold Brew uses long, cold extraction to produce a milder, less bitter concentrate that often has more perceived sweetness and higher caffeine and can be stored in the fridge for up to about two weeks when bottled cleanly.
- Practical ice tips include using large, dry cubes made from filtered, soft water stored near −18 °C and freezing leftover Cold Brew into ice cubes so melting does not dilute the drink.
- For best results pick light-to-medium roasted Arabica beans, adjust grind and coffee-to-water ratios for each method, and use Cold Brew as an easy base for drinks such as an Iced Latte (about 30 ml Cold Brew to 150 ml milk per serving).