Great iced coffee without specialized gear

Coffee preparation techniques besides espresso like pourover.
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TomC
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#1: Post by TomC »

I'm moving this post I put in the home roasting thread where someone asked how I make my iced coffee. It wasn't brain surgery and I can't claim much credit for the proportions, just the gear I used and that keeping agitation of the coffee bed to a minimum seems to be a must for sweet clean results. Here goes:


I just used a recipe I found linked thru HB, and played with it a lot until I found the best method to naturally enhance sweetness and varietal character without tasting too toddy. The only critical factor I found is to minimize agitating the wet slurry as much as possible. To do that, you need a shishkabab skewer too. Also, I found a $1.99 replacement filter basket at my local grocery store that works perfectly, fitting in the top of my Technivorm carafe for decanting. It takes 12 hours to extract overnight, so I like to make it in the evening when I get home ( it takes only 3 minutes and is quite simple) that way, the iced coffee is ready for me in the morning to either take to work or enjoy that day. It makes 3 very large undiluted servings over ice, or if you add milk, like 5-6. Any sweet coffee that has a berry note makes a wonderful iced coffee that needs no sugar. But it's only good for about one day before it goes more towards sour.


100g medium to medium coarse ground coffee ( this was just a tad past a 7 on my Ditting) You don't want a fine grind, because this is a 12 hour extraction. This isn't supposed to end up tasting like a typical toddy iced coffee. I tasted absolutely no caramels in my very light ( just past cinnamon) roast. Just boat loads of bright, juicy sweet berries.


200g of just off the boil water, I actually started with more in the kettle, then quickly measure out 200g on the scale, which allows the temp to drop slightly, more towards my target range of 200-205.


The 100g of coffee is waiting at the bottom of a transparent Rubbermaid style pitcher.


200g of H20 is CAREFULLY poured, gently along the side of the pitcher, allowing the water to trickle down and gently soak the grounds.


3 very short simple stirs with a shishkabab skewer. It helps tremendously to use a transparent pitcher, because all you want to do is eliminate big dry pockets of grounds. You'll be able to see these pockets easily if you use a transparent pitcher. You're not looking to stir the coffee up, the addition of the rest of the ice cold water will provide all the agitation you'll need.


Adding 800ml of H20 with between 6-8 large ice cubes making up the mix into the pitcher about 1.5 minutes after you put the hot H20 in. It seems to follow just a natural timing progression, I don't bother to explicitly time it.


Again, adding it to the pitcher very carefully by pouring while the pitcher is tilted and carefully rotating the pitcher on axis to gently incorporate the ice cold water around all the sides. You'll likely be left with a large bloom of coffee on top. But, if you're timing is right, the 6-8 large ice cubes have melted together into a large clump or two. These aren't allowed to plunk down into the pitcher, but are just gently added after you've carefully poured the water out. Their weight submerges a sufficient quantity ( most of it) of the large bloom. I don't care about the ice cubes floating on top. DONT STIR!


Into the fridge for 12 hours (covered of course).


When I grab the pitcher in the morning, I carefully decant it thru the cheapo basket filter into my carafe.



At this point in the morning, when I grab the Rubbermaid pitcher, all the grinds have carefully settled to the bottom.


Try not to disturb as much of the coffee bed as best as you can. I can get likely 95% of my volume out, before I see the muddy silty coffee making its way towards the filter, I cut it off before it gets there. A person might encounter more if there grinder is prone to making more fines.

The coarse grind, combination of hot and cold extraction, along with the very gentle non agitated extraction greatly enhances the sweetness and most importantly, varietal character! I don't notice any bitterness. It's complex and layered.

I know I typed a ton, but it's only to describe it thoroughly, it's actually extremely fast, easy and uses the stuff most of us already have, without having to specialize in extra gear. Plus it makes a lot!
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Spitz.me
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Joined: 14 years ago

#2: Post by Spitz.me »

Always appreciate different methods. Thanks!
LMWDP #670

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TheSunInsideYou
Posts: 253
Joined: 12 years ago

#3: Post by TheSunInsideYou »

This is great. I've been experimenting with a couple different iced coffee methods, and this one really interests me. It sounds like you've found a great way to work the coffee just right. I can't wait to try it, Thanks!

-Dave-
Caffeine is proof that God loves us.