Imagine it’s a scorching hot summer day and the blistering sun beating down on you. Naturally, a mason jar filled with cold coffee is the only way to cool down. However, this brings a dilemma: do you want cold brew coffee or iced coffee? More importantly, what’s the difference between cold brew and iced coffee?
Well, it’s a good thing that we know a lot about the precious nectar that we know as coffee here at Buzz Beans. This post will touch on everything about cold brew and iced coffee from the brewing methods to the different flavors.
Are you ready to dive into the world of cold brew and iced coffee? Great! Let’s go!
Fast Facts About Cold Brew and Iced Coffee
Cold Brew
- Cold-brewed, no heat involved
- Has twice the caffeine of regular coffee
- Smoother taste
- Less bitterness
- More chocolate flavor than other brews
Iced Coffee
- Brewed hot, iced down, and served cold
- Simply regular coffee served over ice
- Thinner taste profile
- Maintains aroma
- Gets weaker as the ice melts
Two Brewing Methods
The primary difference between cold brew and iced coffee is how each variant is prepared. As the names suggest, one is simply regular coffee with ice, whereas the other is cold the entire time.
Cold brew is made by steeping coarse coffee grounds in cold water for 12 to 24 hours (typically overnight).
Iced coffee is exactly what it sounds like – regularly brewed coffee poured over ice. To make it, you brew hot coffee via the brewing method of your choosing. You can refrigerate the hot coffee or brew it directly over ice.
So what exactly happens in each brewing process, and how does each method yield a different flavor?
Time
The process of drawing flavor from coffee beans is known as “extracting” and numerous factors contribute to the differences in the final product. While the extraction process contributes to the difference in flavor, time plays an even bigger factor. The various flavor compounds in coffee beans are extracted at different speeds. This is why the total time spent brewing can influence what comes out of the beans.
The cold brew method is a lengthy steeping process that lasts anywhere from 12 to 24 hours. Since you leave the coffee grounds in the water for an extended period of time, you want them to be coarsely ground. If you grind them too finely, you can over-extract the beans, which results in a very bitter flavor.
Brewing iced coffee is a much faster process and usually takes just a few minutes, so you’ll want to use finely ground coffee beans. This method also relies on another factor: hot water.
Water Temperature
The second major factor that differentiates cold brew from iced coffee is the temperature of the water. A general rule of thumb is the hotter the water, the faster the extraction. Think about it this way, if you pour cold water through the coffee grounds in a standard drip coffee machine or pour-over, you’d end up with slightly brownish water. However, if you leave your grounds in that cold water for hours, you’ll eventually have a delicious cold brew. This is why you still need hot water to make iced coffee. To make cold brew coffee, you need cold or room temperature water.
Flavor
Both time and water temperature affect the speed at which the flavor is drawn out of the coffee beans. Imagine a spectrum of intensity. On one end you have a cup of espresso (high temperature, high pressure, and a short period of time). Then in the middle of the spectrum, you have traditionally brewed drip coffee (high temperature, low pressure, and a moderate period of time). Lastly, at the very end of the spectrum, we have cold brew.
Cold brew is all about low temperature, low pressure, and an extra-long period of time. This is why the final product can taste so different from other methods of brewing coffee. Since the cold brew method relies on a long and drawn-out extraction period, the coffee grounds are able to release the most stubborn of flavor compounds. There are, of course, the smooth, sweet chocolatey notes as well.
Cold brew coffee is mellow and complex. It’s famous for the sweet, indulgent taste that we all know and love. In addition to its unique taste, cold brew coffee also typically has more caffeine than traditional iced coffee. Due to the longer extraction period, more caffeine emerges from the beans.
So what does iced coffee taste like? Due to the high heat, the extraction period is far shorter and the resulting flavor compounds are bold, bitter, and acidic. You’ll find less of the distinctive mellow flavor of cold brew and will experience a taste similar to that of traditionally brewed drip coffee.
It’s not as unique or smooth, but more coffee drinkers love the intense bitterness of well-brewed iced coffee. If chilled properly, all of these delicious fruity notes can be locked into iced coffee.
The Bottom Line
Next time you are faced with the difficult choice of cold brew or iced coffee, you’ll be adequately prepared to make an educated choice. It couldn’t hurt to explore your options a little and compare the flavors of these two unique beverages. You might find that you genuinely prefer one over the other. Maybe you’ll just know that some days call for cold brew coffee and other days require iced coffee. Regardless of which one you end up consuming, you’ll enjoy a delicious cup (or glass) of coffee.
