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Cold brew coffee? +/-

Ad Astra

The Instigator
Wife was reading Consumer Reports; which cold-brewed coffee was best.

Saw a bottle of the stuff at the grocery store (actually, many) and bought one.

Tried it this morning - neither one of us know what to make of it! :302:

Instead of making a second pot of espresso, I poured a cup of this stuff.

Yes, it tastes pretty good.

I understand the brewing process is different.

It's (relatively) expensive - $5 for 48 oz. jug. We buy a brick of decent Nica espresso for as little as $1.50.

Who's into this? What's the deal? Afternoon drink? After dinner? :a21:

Can't quite grasp it.


AA
 
I have no idea what the draw is for cold brew (or iced even). I was completely unimpressed with Dunkin Donuts cold brew, though I don't normally drink cold coffee. I figured maybe it would be a strong ice coffee which tastes like water with a slight taste of coffee. Nope, still lousy...

I drink hot coffee year round and I like it strong, no longer put sugar in but add cream. Though at times I'll drink coffee black.
 
They sell it in Costa coffee, it is a new addition, I watched as a large jug was filled with water and the infussion mix, I was told it lies overnight to brew/settle...next day I ordered one, I found it to be ok...not "Great" and not Horrible...the true effect came later that evening when I had stomach cramps and severe diahorrea....so no more for me :-:)-(
 
I don't get it. I drink iced coffee all summer but I make coffee and chill it. I have a friend that is a Beard Award winner and she spent a lot of time telling how and why cold brew is so wonderful but it doesn't make sense to me. IMO coffee is a cooked beverage. The hot water makes coffee what it is. Raw coffee just doesn't cut it for me.
 
Apparently most people drink their coffee hot. Up until recently I have never been a fan of this. I always drink it cold. I agree with the coffee as a cooked beverage comment, though. You have to brew it hot and then chill it if desired. I have not tasted too many cold brews, but all that I have tried have tasted weird and unappealing.
 
We are still stuck in the deep south so we have been drinking iced coffee in the evenings instead of hot coffee.

Fill a glass with ice and pour in fresh brewed coffee. Add whole milk. Enjoy.
 
I love refreshing iced lattes / breves and enjoy the flavor of fresh ground, black coffee as well. To my surprise, I found the taste of iced coffee to be awful...and the price easily much too expensive. Dollars to donuts, I'm using superior beans.

Iced coffee is pretty much a gimmick to extract more money per bean on yet another brew method.
 
I tried making cold brew coffee and enjoyed it to a point. But I like hot brewed ice coffee better and hot coffee best. With cold/iced coffee there is more need to add milk and/or sugar which I can avoid when drinking normal coffee.
 

ajkel64

Check Out Chick
Staff member
Over here in Australia we sell a lot of bottled cold coffee made with milk. We sell it in the flavoured milk section in our supermarkets. I’m think it is made with coffee flavouring rather than brewed coffee but I have not really looked into it. I fill the stuff most days but I don’t really look at it. I don’t drink the stuff cold unless it is marked down for quick sale.
 
Fill a glass with ice and pour in fresh brewed coffee. Add whole milk. Enjoy.
You're not pouring hot coffee over the ice are you? That's really going to water it down.

Iced coffee is pretty much a gimmick to extract more money per bean on yet another brew method.
Are you talking about cold brew? Regular brewed iced coffee is only a gimmick to make coffee taste better and be more refreshing in hot weather.

How I deal with avoiding watery coffee from melted ice--
20190628_082425.jpg

The milk is really just a visual pleasure--
20190628_082605.jpg
 

TexLaw

Fussy Evil Genius
The hot water makes coffee what it is.

You pretty much hit the nail on the head, there. Folks go to cold brew because of the very low acidity, but coffee's acidity is a large part of what makes coffee good. Cold brew is nice and smooth and chocolaty and . . . boring. I played around with cold brew coffee for a little while but quit. I used up an awful lot of coffee making something that I didn't particularly enjoy.

I disagree that iced coffee is merely a gimmick. Sure, Starbucks and Dunkin' and whoever else may charge too much for a scoop of ice, but iced coffee can be quite delightful. It often isn't my thing, but when I'm looking for iced coffee, there's no substitute.
 

Ad Astra

The Instigator
Interesting comments ... and I see I'm not alone in the puzzlement.

I have drank the Starbucks espresso-in-a-can, but again it's super pricy for what it actually is.


AA
 
Interesting comments ... and I see I'm not alone in the puzzlement.

I have drank the Starbucks espresso-in-a-can, but again it's super pricy for what it actually is.


AA

I do love iced espresso. I'll make a 6 cup Moka pot and put it in the fridge. Perfect afternoon treat. One of my best memories of living in Italy is the icy cold espresso at the local bar.
 
Yes, sorry guys, too early and not enough hot coffee.

Meant to label cold brew as gimmicky, not iced coffee. Iced coffee sounds delicious to me. Could use one right now possibly. :001_302:
 

FarmerTan

"Self appointed king of Arkoland"
Any coffee that ain't black and hot is just downright unAmurican!!! I'm Dave, and I approve this message.
 
I accidentally pulled an extremely shot shot of espresso this weekend (I was multitasking and distracted). It was less than a 10 second pull, maybe only 6-7 seconds of brew time after a short preinfusion. I added a little water and tried to drink it anyway. It tasted nothing like coffee, only providing some sweet, high notes of flavor. It was like the opposite of cold brewing. That if I had some cold brew to add back in, the result might have been a normal tasting cup of coffee.
 

Doc4

Stumpy in cold weather
Staff member
I was completely unimpressed with Dunkin Donuts cold brew

Maybe that had more to do with the Dunkin Donuts part than the cold brew part ... :001_rolle

IMO coffee is a cooked beverage. The hot water makes coffee what it is. Raw coffee just doesn't cut it for me.

The cooking takes place when the beans are roasted, though.

You have to brew it hot and then chill it if desired.

Never having tried cold-brew coffee ... and sipping a cup of regular joe as I type this ... I am still considering this and may soon give this a try.

A bit if science about cold brew, made accessible so even I can understand ...

 

TexLaw

Fussy Evil Genius
Meant to label cold brew as gimmicky, not iced coffee.

That does make more sense. However, I still have a hard time calling it a gimmick, worth the Toddy system having been around since the '60s. Some of the marketing is gimmicky, and a bunch of stores jumped quickly on the bandwagon in an awful hurry, but cold brew has been around for a while.

I just don't find it particularly interesting as a beverage. It's not bad. It's just relatively boring when compared to hot brewed coffee done well. Now, it's head and shoulders above bad coffee (especially burnt coffee), and I believe that is a large part of cold brew's popularity. A lot of folks still don't know decent coffee, much less good coffee.

Now, as an ingredient, I've started wondering what I could do with cold brew concentrate.
 
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