78 replies to this topic

[splinky]

okay, so i went out yesterday to buy a big cup of iced coffee. on my return as i drank the expensive brown dishwater in the non-eco responsible plastic cup, i realized that i have way better coffee already here in my home, all manner of fancy sweeteners, flavorings and full cream. would love to hear all your favorite methods of mixing up some cold home brew, including those calling for fruit syrups

[porkwah]

what other kinds of stirrups are there, than foot stirrups?

[splinky]

what other kinds of stirrups are there, than foot stirrups?

i'll tell you when you're older

[hollywood]

what other kinds of stirrups are there, than foot stirrups?

i'll tell you when you're older

spoken like a pony owner

[OTB]

Here's what I do.

I have one of the larger Bodum thermal insulated press pots, 1.5 liter, 48 ounce model. I highly recommend the Columbia series if you want a quality press that wont freaking break cause it isn't made out of Pyrex.

http://bit.ly/10tdMR

I have a large electric kettle that I fill with 1.5L water. I turn it on and I boil the water.

I buy inexpensive Latino-brands of coffee, these days I am buying Cafe Bustelo but I also like Pilon and all the other Cuban/Puerto Rican brands. Bustelo is made in Miami and is heavily used for Cuban "cafecitos". I like this style of roast for iced coffee. For 10z it costs like $2.50 a can. In the summertime I load up on the stuff. If you have a local espresso roaster you like to visit just tell him to make you a dark espresso roast for fresh press ground, not for an espresso machine. I also like Community Coffee from Louisiana with the chickory when I can get it. Cafe Du Monde isnt bad eitehr but I think the Community Stuff is packed fresher in the bricks rather than the cans, it doesnt sit on the shelf as long. I know the Bustelo people roast like nonstop and it doesnt sit on the shelf long.

Since iced coffee is served over crushed ice, it's going to dilute, so I brew at around twice the strength. Latino type coffee is already a pretty dark roast, so I do about 5 ounces of coffee (half a can) to the big Bodum press pot. I fill it all the way to the top, cover it with the plunger, and let it brew for like 10 minutes. Then I press it, and pour it into a large deli plastic container, where I let it cool down. Then it goes into the fridge, to be used for ICED COFFEE ONLY. Not to be reheated or it destroys the essential oils and it tastes gross. I usually pour some of this off immediately into a large glass of crushed ice, and drink my first one, and then close the container up and put it in the fridge.

When it cools down you can then drink this for up to a week if you keep it refrigerated. I pour it over ice and hit it with 2 percent milk and Splenda. If you're hardcore go with half and half and turbinado raw sugar

Enjoy the head rush.

[Behemoth]

I think the best iced coffee is cold brewed. You can use one of these toddy deals. Or, you can just dump a lb of coffee into a large jar and leave it on the counter overnight, then filter it. You will get a very concentrated liquid, which you can water down as desired -- about 4:1 or so. I think the sourness of heat-brewed coffee tends to be amplified when it is cold (since the aroma is diminished, maybe) but the cold brewing keeps the coffee from being overextracted.

[OTB]

Cold Brewing sounds like Scientology. I don't like it.

[prasantrin]

I recently bought a Hario Mizudashi Coffee Pot Mini for cold brewing coffee.


You put the coffee in a filter, pour the water in (slowly in a spiral motion to get all the grounds moistened), and let it sit in the fridge for 8 hours.

It produces a lovely brew with little to no acidity.

I like it. A lot. The only problem is that this particular form of coffee brewing seems to give a more caffeinated brew, so even if I drink it early in the morning, I suffer all the side-effects I get from drinking coffee later in the day. And it uses a heck of a lot of coffee (50grams for maybe 1 litre of coffee). The result isn't concentrated coffee like a Toddy produces, but regular-strength coffee.

You don't need a Mizudashi Coffee Pot, but you could buy or make a coffee sock. The important thing is that the coffee should "brew" in the water, more like tea brewing.

[cstuart]

Cold brewing is the way to go.

Blue Bottle has a great "New Orleans style" iced coffee - http://www.bluebottl...etail.bok?no=41

I'll make large batches of cold brewed (sometimes with chicory) and mix it with milk and simple syrup.

[OTB]

I recently bought a Hario Mizudashi Coffee Pot Mini for cold brewing coffee.


You put the coffee in a filter, pour the water in (slowly in a spiral motion to get all the grounds moistened), and let it sit in the fridge for 8 hours.

It produces a lovely brew with little to no acidity.

I like it. A lot. The only problem is that this particular form of coffee brewing seems to give a more caffeinated brew, so even if I drink it early in the morning, I suffer all the side-effects I get from drinking coffee later in the day. And it uses a heck of a lot of coffee (50grams for maybe 1 litre of coffee). The result isn't concentrated coffee like a Toddy produces, but regular-strength coffee.

You don't need a Mizudashi Coffee Pot, but you could buy or make a coffee sock. The important thing is that the coffee should "brew" in the water, more like tea brewing.

8 Hours? That requires quite a bit of advanced planning if you want iced coffee.

[OTB]

Cold brewing is the way to go.

Blue Bottle has a great "New Orleans style" iced coffee - http://www.bluebottl...etail.bok?no=41

I'll make large batches of cold brewed (sometimes with chicory) and mix it with milk and simple syrup.

Good product, but its a concentrate and expensive. There are other companies that make coffee concentrates for the food service industry that effectively do the same thing and don't cost nearly as much.

[joiei]

I will brew up a pot of regular (strong to some, like the maids) coffee the night before and put it in the fridge. Then the next day I have a prechilled jug of coffee to drink from. And with the temps in the 100s right now I do this every day. I use Topeca coffee, a local roaster. He brings the coffee in from his familys plantation in Costa Rica so it is a tree to cup operation.

[prasantrin]

8 Hours? That requires quite a bit of advanced planning if you want iced coffee.

True, but if you're drinking it regularly, all you have to do is make it before you go to bed, and it'll be ready in the morning. If you do that every evening, you'll have coffee ready every morning.

But if you're like me--an irregular coffee drinker--you end up forgetting to make it, and then have no coffee the next day (which isn't such a hardship since you're not a regular coffee drinker, anyway).

The Toddy method requires 12 hours, but then you've got the concentrate at the ready for a longer period of time.

[Jaymes]

I will brew up a pot of regular (strong to some, like the maids) coffee the night before and put it in the fridge. Then the next day I have a prechilled jug of coffee to drink from. And with the temps in the 100s right now I do this every day. I use Topeca coffee, a local roaster. He brings the coffee in from his familys plantation in Costa Rica so it is a tree to cup operation.

Wow. That's pretty cool.

As for "cold brewed coffee" couldn't I just put coffee and cold water into my French press and let it sit overnight in the fridge?

RE the iced coffee thing... I've always just brewed really strong coffee, poured it over ice, added half & half and a spoon of sugar.

Sometimes a little liqueur like Amaretto or Kahlua.

[bigbear]

Toddy Cold Brew System gets my vote.