Posted Sun Nov 23, 2008, 1:55pm Subject: Slow Drip Iced Coffee
I'm not sure what to make of slow drip iced coffee. It seems to be all the rage with some coffee people, and even got the CoffeeGeek bump in one of Mark's recent articles, "Recapping the Summer". So I think I need someone to explain the advantages to brewing this way. It seems to me that it can be summed up as leave some coffee in the filter to go stale while you wait for ice to melt.
I've not heard of the Slow Drip Iced method of brewing but it doesn't sound much different than what I've been reading about lately "Cold Brewing". If it's the same thing but with using ice, the idea behind cold brewing (which is often just room temp water) is to mix a high coffee:water ration slurry (like 1 lb of coffee to 9 cups of water) and let it sit overnight. Some refridgerate it, but apparently that is not required. After the brew has been let to sit overnight the brew is filtered and the end product is a "coffee concentrate". This concentrate can be added to hot water for morning coffee or can be used in cold coffee drinks or other applications that may not react well to pouring in hot coffee. I have seen claims the concentrate can last from a couple weeks to a month or two depending on storage.
I'm not sure I would use it in the hot morning coffee scenario, but I suspect it would be good for iced coffee and other cold/room temp applications.
There are a bunch of videos for cold brewing out on youtube to give ya a better idea.
well, the idea is that the cold processed coffee has less bitterness then regular coffee (and less of a pick-up as well), slightly sweeter and more winey.
Many of my friends who don't like regular espresso, siphon (vac pot coffee) or brewed coffe, just love the ice drip coffee.
Thanks for the post, Tcampbells. I hadn't seen that thread.
I think the part I missed was the adding of water to the ice. It was explained to me that you just let the ice melt (which could take 30 minutes before you even get your first drop). That's why I thought the process consisted of leaving ground coffee laying around.
And, yes, please explain "less pickup". I don't know what that means, either.
I read somewhere that cold brewed coffee/ice drip coffee has approx 33 percent less caffeine than coffee brewed with conventional hot water methods
By slowly brewing your coffee with ice water, the harsher oils in your ground coffee are not brought out. The final brew is quite a bit more mellow than what I would brew in my regular drip machine. Fans of the coffee oils (Press Pot users) may find the flavor weaker and less interesting.
Referring to the Toddy method: "Toddy claims to brew up a third less caffeine than regular coffee; in a side-by side test using Starbucks' regular blend (not a great reference), the Toddy version had a pH of 6.31 and 40 mg of caffeine per 100 grams of coffee, while Starbucks store-brewed clocked in at a pH of 5.48 and 61 mg of caffeine. (Lower numbers on the pH scale, which is measured logarithmically, denote more acid.)"
I don't know how Starbucks ppl do it, but the Taiwanese stuff I had have so much caffeine that I got sick (from caffeine) after drinking more than 8oz of the ice drip. Even a coffee pro I know who have to drink coffee throughout the day felt sick when he drink more than 8oz. Ice drip/brew tastes the mildest (among all coffee brewing methods) but gave you the strongest buzz.
disclaimer: I use 10ml water to 1g coffee ratio which is the common dose on these ice dippers (used in Taiwan).
Actually I am in Taiwan right now. Have been for the past 8 years.
237ml of straight Ice coffee is a lot I agree, at most I have drank 100ml of it at a time. Though I have never had the getting sick problem. Usually with the ice coffee, I served it in a small whiskey glass (1 oz) or in an espresso cup if straight or in a tall glass with lots of ice cubes if more in shops.
10ml of water to 1g. That is a little higher then most shops I have talked to. Usually I find it made with 7g of coffee per 100ml of water.
I usually drinks the "aged" ice drip in 3oz shot glasses with ice cubes. It's very satisfying and I dare not to drink more than 2 "shots" because I will start feeling nauseating from the caffeine (similar to when I had too many espresso shots or inhale too much smokes from roasting...).
The higher dose is to compensate for the ice that will be added to the extracted coffee. Just variation on the method I guess. The group I learn much of the manual methods favors this parameter as it produces a more intense cup.
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