For me it's a toss up I love cold brew in the summer Monday through Friday as a change up to the process that is espresso. But my other reason is I work in a lot of non air conditioned rooms doing cabling and computer work and do not enjoy drinking a hot beverage while sweating to death lol.

But i do find cold brew to be very flavor generic so much so that I make it with coffee from the shopping club where as the espresso is specialty coffees or home roasted.

Now nitro cold brew on the other hand is fantastic still muted but the sweetness and richness added from the nitro is fantastic, still can't hold a candle to espresso but wonderful in its own right.

Chris

Best description I've read of cold brew: "If cold brewing improves the taste of your coffee, it's more of an indictment of your coffee, than a validation of the brewing process."

Cold brewing makes bad coffee drinkable; it also makes great coffee, just drinkable.

I was cold brewing for two years when I was doing farmers markets. I had to start the process the night before and "brew" over night. I used a nut milk bag like a big tea bag to sieve the grounds. What a pain.

One morning I had a mishap and the dispenser of cold brew fell out of the back of my SUV and spilled all over the driveway. No time to cold brew another batch, I made a quick 1-1/2 gallons of hot brew over ice and was on my way. Every single one of my regular cold brew customers liked it better. Even the ones that I didn't tell asked me if something was different. I have never looked back.

Today I make iced coffee on my Fetco brewer filling the dispenser 1/2 full of ice, using a full batch dose of coffee and a 1/2 batch amount of brew water. I've been told I have the best iced coffee ever.

I voted "I don't care". It's not that cold brewing sucks, it's coffee that tastes better when cold brewed that sucks.

I had made a few batches in the "Cold Bruer," slow drip device. Made a very drinkable brew. I also used the coffee it makes to create a Kaluah style beverage with vodka, homemade chocolate syrup and sugar which was excellent. I never made any 'full immersion' cold brew so cannot compare that to the slow drip.

Would you post the recipe? Sounds delicious.

By itself the cold brew didn't work out. Too concentrated even on ice and further with cream. Believe issue had to do with roast level being notch too dark. Filtering via Chemex did help but the real fix was to add on top of vanilla ice cream. When all else fails affogato is the answer.

Pictured here before ice cream with just ice cubes and 10% cream.

I like my cold brew a lot, but only with a medium-dark roast with a ton of chocolate flavor, for example Cafe Cristina medium roast from Costa Rica (a real crowd pleaser cold brew), or Zeke's Chiapas. I brew room temp for 16-24 hours at 10:1 ratio by weight, and I do not dilute. I use a brewista for big batches, or a large jar with nut bag. This yields a super strong brew and you really need to be careful about drinking it after noon if you plan to sleep.

Before you write off all cold brew, try Cafe Cristina medium roast fresh (not previously frozen). It's definitely does not suck according to me and the feedback I have received from many people who have tried it.

kc2hje wrote:Would you post the recipe? Sounds delicious.

If I actually used one I do not remember. But on my website (which you might want to check out), I have a blog and in Chapter 150
Cold Brew Homemade Kahlua it goes over the basics. But I do remember adding some chocolate to it. I think I dissolved the sugar in a saucepan in a little water and added chocolate syrup which was cocoa powder in just enough water to make a syrup. Additionally, we have found a very nice organic vodka which is nor our go-it is "Prairie Organic Vodka." Very nice mouthfeel without the additives like mineral oil which lesser vodkas reportedly use.

The actual quantities can just be adjusted to taste.

I think it depends on the beans. I had a lot of leftover beans and did 120g of grounds with 700g of water in a french press. It was a light roasted Ethiopian that tastes like peaches when brewed as a pour over. As a cold brew it retained some of that acidity and when diluted with 1/2 part water led to like a peachy black tea taste which was pleasant to enjoy on a hot afternoon. It's easy to make and hard to go wrong and many can enjoy it.

yakster wrote:Question for the collective: I want to try making nitro cold coffee after trying it at work, should I start with flash brew or cold brew as a base. I'm not sure a bright flash brew would make a good nitro.

I prefer flash-chilled myself, but you could go either way. The nitrogen bubbles add some creaminess to the mouthfeel, but are entirely flavorless, so I typically recommend trying out a coffee that you already enjoy cold. I think cold brew remains popular for nitro because it's easy to keg in large batches with simple equipment, and the viscosity tends to be higher which will support more of a head.

I keg nitro in 5 gallon batches. As far as cold coffee goes it is the way to go. Very simple to make and it will keep fresh for at least a month or 2.