Instead of heading to your favorite local coffee shop these days, you can start working on your professional skills as a barista at home. Even if you’re not ready to buy a milk frother and try your hand at the art of latté, you can still try iced drinks as the days get hotter.
However, before you start creating masterpieces, it is essential to know the difference between various drinks.
What exactly is Cold Brew coffee? And how is it different from iced coffee? Most important of all, you want to know how to make the best cup to quench your thirst and boost energy.
What is iced coffee?
Well, it’s iced coffee, right? Or something like that. But there is more to your beloved iced coffee to go two ingredients.
Iced coffee is made with double strength brewed coffee. This means that you make your coffee hot as you normally would, but you double the amount of grind while using the same amount of water.
How is it done?
There are many methods for making iced coffee at home. Some will use a pour while others can trust a French press. You can also follow the simple route and use a traditional coffee maker. Regardless of the route you take, we leave you these easy-to-follow instructions:
- Select whole grains of your choice. Grind them according to the method with which you are making coffee. Medium to coarse is best for the French press or pour, while finely ground beans are ideal for a coffee maker.
- Heat the water, but not too much, around 94 degrees or just below the boil.
- Use two tablespoons of coffee for every 225 grams of water if you are going to store the coffee overnight. If you are going to drink it immediately, double the amount of coffee because the ice will dilute the coffee.
- Then chill the coffee and store it in the refrigerator before pouring it onto the ice. If you want to drink the coffee right away, pour it directly onto ice once it’s brewed, stir, and then add more ice as needed.
What does it taste like?
The flavor of iced coffee is as smooth, light and refreshing, but also slightly acidic.
This is because iced coffee is made with hot coffee first and the heating process causes the beans or ground oils to quickly oxidize. Sometimes this can create a sour taste; however, adding milk can help balance this.
Caffeine content of iced coffee
Generally speaking, it tends to have the same amount of caffeine as a cup of hot coffee. That’s about 96 milligrams per standard eight-ounce cup.
Tips for making the best iced coffee
If you want to make the most of your iced coffee at home, these tips and tricks will make the difference:
- Try the Japanese-style pour : This involves adding ice to the bottom of the pour container before beginning the brewing process. As the coffee drains, it will gradually cool down thanks to the ice in the bottom container. This provides a slightly cleaner taste and is best when poured on fresh ice.
- Always make fresh iced coffee and use a cocktail shaker : although you can make hot coffee and let it cool down while you sleep, this will jeopardize the flavor and vitality of your cold cup of coffee. After you’re done preparing it, let it cool to room temperature. Then add cream, sugar, or other flavors and pour into a martini shaker with ice. Then pour over fresh ice. The result is a perfectly aromatic, tasty and evenly mixed cold coffee drink.
What is the Cold Brew?
Ask anyone if it’s from Team Iced Coffee or Team Cold Brew , and they’ll quickly share the differences between these two blends. Not only do they have multiple flavor profiles, but they are created differently.
Cold Brew coffee is a slow brewing method that replaces heat with brewing time. This means that instead of using water that is just below boiling temperature to brew through a paper or metal filter for four to six minutes, cold brewing is done with coarse ground coffee at room temperature or in a refrigerator for 18 to 24 hours. It is also filtered through paper, mesh, or gauze to remove solids.
What does it taste like?
Cold Brew coffee is one of those flavor profiles you love or hate. It has a thicker body that is almost syrupy.
Because it is heavier and has a lower level of acidity, it combines well with milk and sugar instead of drinking black. You can also add creamy oat milk to this type of coffee.
How much caffeine does it contain?
The caffeine in cold beer can vary. For example, 225 grams of Chameleon Cold Brew has 200 milligrams of caffeine, while the same amount of Starbucks Cold Brew has around 100 milligrams. The cold brew uses less water for ground coffee than iced coffee, which means it is generally more concentrated. Since Cold Brew must be used as a concentrate, you can reduce the caffeine content by adding milk or cream or a plant-based alternative.
Tips to make the best Cold Brew
If you have more time to experiment with brewing at home, try these tricks from the professionals themselves:
- Don’t throw away the oldest coffee beans : Ever wonder what to do with those random beans left at the end of a bag? Before throwing away unused or older coffee, try it with a cup of cold coffee. Because it is a very forgiving brewing method, it is difficult to make a coffee that tastes bad. If you have some coffee bags that are almost empty, put all those coffee beans together and make a cold coffee mix with them! You will probably be pleasantly surprised by the results.
- Try different preparation times and recipes : everyone will have a varied preference for the flavor and strength of your cold preparation. That is why we recommend you experiment with the time you leave to determine your preferred profile.
