Home Cold-Brewed Iced Coffee:
This may come as a surprise to you, but did you know you can brew your ice coffee using cold water? That's right, without using any hot water. It seems so natural that coffee should be brewed using hot water that it does not seem possible, but not only is it possible, the result will pleasantly surprise you.
Cold brewing yields a very smooth/clean tasting coffee with all the characteristics and flavors you like about coffee EXCEPT the acidity. If you like the acidity and bite of your favorite coffee, this brewing method is not for you. If you only tolerate the acidity and bite for the sake of all the other coffee flavors you love, then YOU ARE ON TO SOMETHING.
Okay, here are the instructions: (very simple)
1) Start with excellent coffee - (no short-cut here)
2) Grind the coffee to a coarse grind (this makes it easier to strain the coffee after brewing)
3) Add a 1/4 cup of ground coffee into a pitcher or a glass jar
4) Add 1 cup of water into the pitcher/glass jar (recommended ratio of water to coffee is 4:1)
5) Stir to mix the coffee and water and then refrigerate overnight ( 6 - 12 hrs)
6) In the morning, strain the coffee into another container using a fine strainer
Your cold brew coffee concentrate is ready. Pour over ice and dilute with some water if you like. If you like strong iced coffee, then no need to dilute
Participate in the Hot vs. Cold Iced Coffee Brew Experiment:
As always there are two sides to any debate and so is the case with Cold-Brewed Iced Coffee. Some people swear by it while others are not yet sold. Where do you stand?
Make your opinion count in this debate that is slowly gripping the coffee world:
Using the same type of coffee (apples to apples), brew iced coffee using the Cold Brew Method and the regular Hot Brew Method (i.e. brew hot and then chill in the refrigerator or pour over ice), and then have your own TASTE COMPETITION
Once you are done, share your opinion with the rest of us coffee fans by posting to this blog.
Once we have enough opinions, we will send you a summary of the results.
