How To Make Japanese Style Iced Coffee

How To Make Japanese Style Iced Coffee

Screenshot: Counter Culture Coffee

Nothing livens up a hot afternoon quite like a cup of iced coffee. Trouble is, a lot of the iced coffee out there is just stale, leftover hot brewed coffee that’s been chilled, or cold brewed coffee with a much different taste. Enter Japanese iced coffee – the best of both worlds.

The Japanese iced coffee method, explained in the video above by barista Peter Giuliano, will give you a cold cup of joe that’s aromatic and tastes fresh and sweet. The secret? You make hot brewed pour-over coffee but cool it instantly, dripping the hot coffee directly onto ice.

To do this, you’ll need a pour-over coffee setup, like a Kalita Wave system, Chemex, or Clever Coffee Dripper. Here’s how it’s done:

  1. Grind one ounce (28g) of coffee beans.

  2. Boil a cup of water.

  3. Place a cup of ice cubes into the drip receptacle (where the coffee will drip into).

  4. Place the ground coffee in a filter and into the pour-over dripper, then place it over your ice-filled receptacle.

  5. Pour the hot water over the coffee and let it drip onto the ice.

That’s it! Always remember that it’s two cups of water total (one liquid, one ice cubes) to one ounce (28g) of coffee, and you’ll be good. Most ice cube trays are designed so one cube equals an ounce of water, so go off of that when measuring ice for your receptacle.

The trick to good iced coffee is to not leave the coffee hot for too long, or you’ll get a cardboard-like flavour. Because the coffee drips directly onto ice with this setup, the coffee is hot for less than a second or so. That instant cooling helps lock the aromatics and flavours into the coffee, and reduces oxidation, so there’s no bitterness or off flavours. The ice melts and dilutes the coffee to the perfect strength.

How to Make Japanese Iced Coffee [Counter Culture Coffee via Food52]


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