Iced Coffee: Hot-Brewed, or The Japanese Method
I promised to play around with making iced coffee, so I did. And here's what I figured out so far.
I've made cold-brewed (steeped overnight) in the distant past, but wanted to try something that I could do by the cup or in bulk, and that I wouldn't have to start 12 hours before I actually wanted some. And this Japanese Method fits the bill nicely. A bit of history from Imbibe Magazine:
"Coffee prepared [in the Japanese tradition] changes the way people think about iced coffee," [Peter Giuliano of Counter Culture Coffee] says. He recalls how he first observed Japanese aisu kohii during a visit to Japan and eventually learned the method from Hidetaka Hayashi of the Hayashi Coffee Institute in Tokyo. He found that Japanese iced coffee, with its pronounced citrus flavors and aromas, is a more refreshing beverage, like Assam or Earl Grey tea with a squeeze of lemon. In the afternoons, one of his Japanese hosts would pair a tall glass of iced coffee with strawberry shortcake. "It changed my perspective. I love a glass of [iced] coffee with a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich-homegrown tomatoes and North Carolina hickory-smoked bacon."
Cold brew is touted for being mellow and less acidic. Hot brew, on the other hand, preserves the acidic character of the beans, and when I'm using single origin for the specific purpose of taste, I want to experience the full profile of the bean rather than something that's been toned down. I've enjoyed what I've had very much!
Equipment used: Electric kettle, Hario Mini hand grinder, kitchen scale, kitchen timer, Hario V60 and #2 filters. Not shown, 125ml of filtered water and 125ml of ice. Bread box optional. XD
I started with a single origin bean within a couple weeks of roast date. This one was a wet processed Tumba from Cocatu Co-op in Rwanda, roasted by Lone Pine Coffee Roasters in Bend, Oregon. Thanks, Craft Coffee, for a great selection every month!
Measure out 17 grams of coffee beans. This is for a single cup, not a batch brew.
Bring water to a boil, then allow to cool to 201F. Again, temps vary for each bean, but somewhere around the 200 mark is where I do most of my pouring. Some sites say "thirty seconds off boil" but I've found that's way too hot, since my kettle takes a good two to three minutes to cool down enough from 212. (Fuzzy picture is fuzzy.)
Grind beans finer than for drip, often described as "table salt" grains. This varies with humidity and freshness of the beans, as well as volume of coffee used. I just used the same setting I've discovered works for regular hot coffee through my V60.
Weigh out about 125g or ml of ice into the receptacle you'll be using. I do mine directly into my mug. Make sure it can handle the temperature difference from hot coffee over ice.
Place filter and V60 on the mug. Pre-rinsing the filter with hot water from the kettle if it's bleached can remove some of the paper taste, if you are so inclined. Or use natural filters.
Pour ground coffee into the filter, keeping it fairly even on top, then make a small indentation in the grounds. This is where you'll do your pre-infusion bloom.
Pour 30-35ml of water slowly into the center of the grounds, allowing the water to saturate the coffee and not the filter. Allow to sit for 30 seconds. The coffee "blooms" from release of gases -- the fresher the coffee, the more bloom! It's pretty to me, and the character of the coffee really comes through in the aroma!
Now add another 125ml of water to the grounds, slowly pouring in concentric circles, keeping the water stream away from the filter and on the grounds. This provides agitation without disturbing the grounds too much. Continue adding all 125ml without pausing. (With regular hot brew coffee, this is done in stages, allowing it to drain down before adding to stretch out the brew time to two minutes. Iced coffee doesn't need this brew time.)
Allow the water to pass through the grounds completely. You'll be able to see how the agitation of the pour created an inverted cone in the filter.
Toss filter, rinse V60, done! Add more ice if you want, depending on the type of cubes you used. I usually do so I have "more" coffee to drink, longer. (Fuzzy picture is fuzzy.)
You can also add milk or whatever if you prefer. But I've found I really enjoy it black, just as refreshing to me as iced tea. I'd almost caution against doing this without fresh beans from a good roaster, but I'd say that regardless. I'm playing around with batch brew on my Chemex but I'm using crap beans at first to get my parameters down.
Next up: making my own syrups! BWEEEEEE!
This entry was originally posted at http://kayjayuu.dreamwidth.org/16630.html. Feel free to comment here, or please comment there using OpenID. Or whatever, I'm flexible. XD
I've made cold-brewed (steeped overnight) in the distant past, but wanted to try something that I could do by the cup or in bulk, and that I wouldn't have to start 12 hours before I actually wanted some. And this Japanese Method fits the bill nicely. A bit of history from Imbibe Magazine:
"Coffee prepared [in the Japanese tradition] changes the way people think about iced coffee," [Peter Giuliano of Counter Culture Coffee] says. He recalls how he first observed Japanese aisu kohii during a visit to Japan and eventually learned the method from Hidetaka Hayashi of the Hayashi Coffee Institute in Tokyo. He found that Japanese iced coffee, with its pronounced citrus flavors and aromas, is a more refreshing beverage, like Assam or Earl Grey tea with a squeeze of lemon. In the afternoons, one of his Japanese hosts would pair a tall glass of iced coffee with strawberry shortcake. "It changed my perspective. I love a glass of [iced] coffee with a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich-homegrown tomatoes and North Carolina hickory-smoked bacon."
Cold brew is touted for being mellow and less acidic. Hot brew, on the other hand, preserves the acidic character of the beans, and when I'm using single origin for the specific purpose of taste, I want to experience the full profile of the bean rather than something that's been toned down. I've enjoyed what I've had very much!
Equipment used: Electric kettle, Hario Mini hand grinder, kitchen scale, kitchen timer, Hario V60 and #2 filters. Not shown, 125ml of filtered water and 125ml of ice. Bread box optional. XD
I started with a single origin bean within a couple weeks of roast date. This one was a wet processed Tumba from Cocatu Co-op in Rwanda, roasted by Lone Pine Coffee Roasters in Bend, Oregon. Thanks, Craft Coffee, for a great selection every month!
Measure out 17 grams of coffee beans. This is for a single cup, not a batch brew.
Bring water to a boil, then allow to cool to 201F. Again, temps vary for each bean, but somewhere around the 200 mark is where I do most of my pouring. Some sites say "thirty seconds off boil" but I've found that's way too hot, since my kettle takes a good two to three minutes to cool down enough from 212. (Fuzzy picture is fuzzy.)
Grind beans finer than for drip, often described as "table salt" grains. This varies with humidity and freshness of the beans, as well as volume of coffee used. I just used the same setting I've discovered works for regular hot coffee through my V60.
Weigh out about 125g or ml of ice into the receptacle you'll be using. I do mine directly into my mug. Make sure it can handle the temperature difference from hot coffee over ice.
Place filter and V60 on the mug. Pre-rinsing the filter with hot water from the kettle if it's bleached can remove some of the paper taste, if you are so inclined. Or use natural filters.
Pour ground coffee into the filter, keeping it fairly even on top, then make a small indentation in the grounds. This is where you'll do your pre-infusion bloom.
Pour 30-35ml of water slowly into the center of the grounds, allowing the water to saturate the coffee and not the filter. Allow to sit for 30 seconds. The coffee "blooms" from release of gases -- the fresher the coffee, the more bloom! It's pretty to me, and the character of the coffee really comes through in the aroma!
Now add another 125ml of water to the grounds, slowly pouring in concentric circles, keeping the water stream away from the filter and on the grounds. This provides agitation without disturbing the grounds too much. Continue adding all 125ml without pausing. (With regular hot brew coffee, this is done in stages, allowing it to drain down before adding to stretch out the brew time to two minutes. Iced coffee doesn't need this brew time.)
Allow the water to pass through the grounds completely. You'll be able to see how the agitation of the pour created an inverted cone in the filter.
Toss filter, rinse V60, done! Add more ice if you want, depending on the type of cubes you used. I usually do so I have "more" coffee to drink, longer. (Fuzzy picture is fuzzy.)
You can also add milk or whatever if you prefer. But I've found I really enjoy it black, just as refreshing to me as iced tea. I'd almost caution against doing this without fresh beans from a good roaster, but I'd say that regardless. I'm playing around with batch brew on my Chemex but I'm using crap beans at first to get my parameters down.
Next up: making my own syrups! BWEEEEEE!
This entry was originally posted at http://kayjayuu.dreamwidth.org/16630.html. Feel free to comment here, or please comment there using OpenID. Or whatever, I'm flexible. XD