I just received my Bodum ice coffee press, and I was wondering which coffee I should start with...

I decided to give the Starbucks Iced Coffee beans a try. Apparently they're the same beans used for the iced coffee sold at Starbucks, so I'd be getting the exact same product. The description on the bag states that it's smooth and caramelly. The instructions tell you to hot brew it and chill it with ice. No instructions on cold brewing.

It says to use a 1:3 ratio for coffee grind to water. I used a 1:4 ratio instead, because I was cold brewing. I assumed they recommended 1:3, because the hot coffee would get diluted by the ice. My cold brew won't get anywhere near as diluted with ice, though...

Anyway, I cold brewed for 12 hours, and the result was alright. It certainly didn't knock my socks off. I'm no expert on coffee, so I couldn't really discern whether there was a difference between cold brewing and just icing hot brewed coffee...

I also read that cold brews are naturally sweeter, but I couldn't taste any sweetness at all when I drank it straight up. I had to add some sugar to it to taste some caramel, but honestly, I don't even know if it's caramel or simply the taste of coffee.

I tried the Starbucks VIA Iced Coffee mix a while ago. It's just instant coffee that you dissolve in cold water, and it essentially tasted the same as the 12-hour cold brew...

I think I'm gonna try the Intelligentsia Summer Solstice next. It says there's a pineapple note to it, so I'm really excited about that.

Anybody have a really good suggestion for cold brew? Also, are there cold brewed coffees that taste sweet by themselves, without having the add sugar? I heard some people say that cold brewed coffees are naturally sweet... then again, I've also heard people say espresso should be naturally sweet, but again, no luck on my end.

Do you have a local specialty roaster? Start there, rather than Starbucks or the supermarket.

bigbad wrote:
It says to use a 1:3 ratio for coffee grind to water. I used a 1:4 ratio instead, because I was cold brewing. I assumed they recommended 1:3, because the hot coffee would get diluted by the ice. My cold brew won't get anywhere near as diluted with ice, though...

Anyway, I cold brewed for 12 hours, and the result was alright. It certainly didn't knock my socks off. I'm no expert on coffee, so I couldn't really discern whether there was a difference between cold brewing and just icing hot brewed coffee...

I also read that cold brews are naturally sweeter, but I couldn't taste any sweetness at all when I drank it straight up. I had to add some sugar to it to taste some caramel, but honestly, I don't even know if it's caramel or simply the taste of coffee.

I tried the Starbucks VIA Iced Coffee mix a while ago. It's just instant coffee that you dissolve in cold water, and it essentially tasted the same as the 12-hour cold brew...

I think I'm gonna try the Intelligentsia Summer Solstice next. It says there's a pineapple note to it, so I'm really excited about that.

Anybody have a really good suggestion for cold brew? Also, are there cold brewed coffees that taste sweet by themselves, without having the add sugar? I heard some people say that cold brewed coffees are naturally sweet... then again, I've also heard people say espresso should be naturally sweet, but again, no luck on my end.

I use a Toddy and follow their ratios which is 1 lb of coffee to around 9 cups of water. And I dilute to taste, which varies a lot, at the time I drink it, usually around 1 part brew to 2 parts water.

I only use lighter roasts for cold brew which I'm going to assume the Summer Solstice is. And, yeah, from reading Intelligentsia's description it probably is quite sweet. I've had some amazing cold brew from some Ethiopian, Panamanian, and Guatemalan beans, roasted a touch past city.

And, yeah, cold brew over ice is going to be much nicer than hot brewed coffee over ice.

aecletec wrote:Do you have a local specialty roaster? Start there, rather than Starbucks or the supermarket.

Well, I've read some reviews stating that it doesn't matter what kind of coffee you use for cold brew. I wanted to be my own judge, and that's why I decided to start with Starbucks and take it from there.

the_trystero wrote:I use a Toddy and follow their ratios which is 1 lb of coffee to around 9 cups of water. And I dilute to taste, which varies a lot, at the time I drink it, usually around 1 part brew to 2 parts water.

I only use lighter roasts for cold brew which I'm going to assume the Summer Solstice is. And, yeah, from reading Intelligentsia's description it probably is quite sweet. I've had some amazing cold brew from some Ethiopian, Panamanian, and Guatemalan beans, roasted a touch past city.

And, yeah, cold brew over ice is going to be much nicer than hot brewed coffee over ice.

After I finish up my Starbucks Iced Coffee blend, I'm gonna try cold brewing what I have left of the Intelli Black Cat.

Hoping it's as good as people are saying. As far as espresso goes, I've never noticed "black cherry" in the shots I pulled from Black Cat. Perhaps I'm doing something wrong, and cold brewing will draw out that flavor better, since there's a far greater margin of error for cold brews.

Flavors vary according to extraction method, and also by how you brew it within each method.

IOW, cold brew coffee tastes much different than the same coffee in espresso form. I would never waste money on Charbucks when I could support a small roaster.

The Colombian Social is offering right now is VERY DELICIOUS as a cold brew.

Could you elaborate on that please? What's particularly delicious about it?

I'm still relatively new to coffee, so I don't know how to decipher the little variances between espresso, drip coffee, iced coffee, etc.

I just cold brewed some Black Cat, and honestly, it tasted pretty identical to the espresso version. I always thought I was making Black Cat wrong, 'cause the Americano tasted like an ash tray, but I guess this is a "gourmet" taste, according to the experts.

So far, I haven't had any cold brews, where I thought, "OMG, this was made for cold brew." At this point, I feel like coffee is like pizza. Pretty hard to mess up. Even a bad pizza is edible. For iced coffee, there's nothing a bit of sweetener or syrup or caramel sauce won't redeem.

I've read a lot of stuff on why one type of roast is better qualified as a cold brew than the other, and so forth, but as of right now, coffee is coffee is coffee.

Having said all that, I hope my perspective on this changes soon and I start to truly appreciate the delicacies of coffee.

rennix wrote:Flavors vary according to extraction method, and also by how you brew it within each method.

IOW, cold brew coffee tastes much different than the same coffee in espresso form. I would never waste money on Charbucks when I could support a small roaster.

I tried both Starbucks Iced Coffee blend and Intelli Black Cat as cold brew, and honestly, I can't say I prefer one over the other.

I'd be interested in a blind taste test of the top "gourmet" brands (Intelli, Stumptown, Metropolis, etc) and mainstream/frowned-upon brands (Starbucks, Folgers, etc).

Isn't Black Cat an espresso blend? Wouldn't it be better to use a lighter roast?