With the summer heat comes a craving, a craving for refreshment. The crackle of ice, that satisfying clink, the drip of condensed water travelling down the outside of a chilled glass. The first thing I think of when the sun breaks through the clouds, is an iced coffee.
Unfortunately, iced coffee is divisive especially when it comes to cold brew. Some associate cold coffee with that stale cup you brewed about 2hrs and 25mins ago. Before started to write that carefully phrased work email and before you remembered you have the kids to pick up. Cold coffee doesn’t have to taste stale, it can be bright, sweet without being sticky and vibrant. Recipes for iced coffees are in an abundance and there really is something for everyone.
The coffee you brew is up to you, clean, acidic coffees are often suggested for a cold brew the high acidity ensures your retain some of those fruity notes that could be lost when brewing over a number of hours but with milk those flavours tend not to interact as well as we would like. With an iced pour over I’d encourage you to go mad. If you like it hot, you’ll more than likely love it cold too.
For milk drinkers who want to keep it simple; half a glass of milk (or your dairy alternative) topped up with ice, leaving space for an espresso loving trickled on top. The obvious choice. In essence your afternoon latte but cold. If you don’t have an espresso machine an AeroPress can brew a convincing espresso.
If you are feeling experimental try adding tonic water to a cold brew concentrate with a bit of ice and lemon. Perfect for an afternoon in the garden while admiring the freshly cut grass and if all of this is making you feel like re-enacting Tom Cruz’s scene from the movie Cocktail, we would love to see your creations. My go to is vodka and a slice of orange.
If you are a filter or black coffee fan I have few recipes for you, milk can be added to any of these too.
AeroPress cold brew (you can adapt this recipe for any immersion brewer; however, paper filters produce a cleaner cup)
21g of coarsely ground coffee, a touch courser than what you’d brew a cafetiere with, 180ml of cold water, 100g of ice.
Set up your AeroPress in the inverted position. Add in your 21g of coffee and then 180g of cold water. Give it a stir. Place 2 paper filters in the AeroPress cap and rinse. Pop the cap on your AeroPress and leave to brew at room temperature for 20hrs. You can alter this time to taste. For the steampunk Tanzania this was perfect.
After 20hrs press the AeroPress into a sturdy vessel, over 100g ice. Decant into a glass. Include a sliver of lemon for some added freshness.
You can also add tonic into the glass first and a little less ice to avoid over diluting your drink.
Drip brewer
23g of medium ground coffee, the setting you usually use for your dripper is perfect. 200ml of 94-96 water, 120g of ice.
Boil your kettle and add 120g of ice into a suitable brewing jug or mug.
Pour 23g of ground coffee into your brewer with a rinsed filter paper, and place over the ice.
Pour over around 60ml of water and agitate to ensure all the grounds are wet. Allow to bloom for 45seconds.
After 45s continue to add the remaining water up to 200ml and swirl to settle the coffee bed flat. Allow to drip through.
This recipe is perfect for a flat-bottomed brewer however if you are brewing with a V60 or similar I’d recommend lowering the dose to 18g of coffee.
