How Cold Brew Changed the Coffee Business | Hacker News Reader

How Cold Brew Changed the Coffee Business

nytimes.com

39 pointsdavid9052 comments

I'm somewhat of a coffee snob, and have had quite a few _very_ expensive cups of cold brew from both the best locally known shops as well as some of the more "famous" shops in California.

At best, I can't tell the difference between cold brew bought from a shop using "high end" beans and what I make at home with a bag of 12 O'clock Coffee from the grocery store. The end of the article makes it seem like the beans are important in cold brew, but from my experience, that's just not the case - given you aren't using preground coffee, rubusto, or some other truly "bad" coffee. It's the opposite of espresso, where the bean, it's freshness, the grind, and the time all need to be within a fairly tight range to produce something worth drinking.

>It's the opposite of espresso, where the bean, it's freshness, the grind, and the time all need to be within a fairly tight range to produce something worth drinking

If true, it's little wonder coffee companies would love cold brew since it's less expensive to deliver to the end customer --that and that it prolongs the drinking season --but this is no surprise if one recognizes the popularity of cold teas in much of the tropics and semi tropics.

I agree. I'm kind of a coffee snob too, but my coffee expenses went down considerably when I started cold brewing versus hot brewing. Not only can you use a less expensive bean, but you can often use less beans overall.

I've become a huge fan of the Dunkin Donuts cold brew for similar reasons.

my favorite shop would actually use the beans that were about to expire for their cold brew specifically for this reason. they could no longer use the beans for espresso but they still made the best cold brew I have had to date.

As far as taste goes, I've noticed the biggest difference from pour over brewing methods. Now I can't say for certain I would be able to tell in a blind taste test (same beans, different method) but the best coffee I've had has always been pour over. There's a chance it's just the beans, though.

I'm a hobby coffee roaster and anytime I have an off batch (by espresso or pour over standards), I add it to my cold brew bean bin and get very good results. Can't really distinguish the bean beyond the degree of roast, and mixing the beans achieves some consistency. The only times this has failed me was exploring the very darkest or lightest roasts.

On a tangent, but where do you source your beans from?

Usually from: https://www.sweetmarias.com (or their more commercial counterpart http://www.coffeeshrub.com)

i don't consider myself a huge coffee snob (i'm fine with cream and sugar laden starbucks after all) but i dislike the taste of cold brew. it's more astringent and lifeless than just about any regular coffee to me, so maybe that explains it.

plus, i'm just not hipster enough to drink it. =)

Stumptown Coffee Roasters (which sells nitro cold brew, a coffee infused with nitrogen so that it’s slightly fizzy, with the thick, creamy head of a good stout).

Ugh. This is wrong. The whole reason you push cold brew with nitrogen (vs say carbon dioxide) is that nitrogen is nearly insoluble in aqueous solution, and can pressurize the coffee on draft without carbonizing it or changing the nature of the beverage.

We had Stumptown cold brew on tap at the office, and I put together our draft system for us to dispense it. Maybe if you served it with a nitro faucet you might get a bit of head, but with a normal faucet it didn't have any foam on top, and it certainly wasn't slightly fizzy.

Starbucks has bought into the nitro-infused marketing wank for their cold brew too, it's pretty silly. Wine draft systems (like Micromatic's) use nitrogen for the same reason, but you don't hear the same BS about giving the wine a smooth creamy texture because it's not appealing in that context. (And not factual.)

Stumptown cold brew is delicious though - if its available in kegs in your area and you want to put it on tap, design the system for wine (stainless-steel everything and a nitro regulator) and you're in business.

I'm perfectly willing to believe that my own preference is informed by marketing/hokum but I very much prefer the Stumptown in the nitro can to the Stumptown in a bottle with no nitro dongle.

If I were asked why, I'd say "mouthfeel" cause it does seem creamier. Is there an explanation for that other than "magic words on the side of the can?"

Hmmm, good question. Looks like for the nitro can they're using a nitro widget, like canned Guinness uses. They're pretty controversial - were discussed to death when they first came out.

I guess, hypothetically, when the can is opened you're releasing all the nitrogen at once, and it could result in a short-lived physical change.

edit: I'm also seeing some reporting that some of Stumptown's products are pressurized with nitrous oxide, and may not be 100% coffee. (eg, have dairy or emulsifiers.)

Nitrogenating definitely changes the taste--it flattens it out a bit, and it for sure does dissolve into the coffee. The wine systems probably use a low pressure so that they don't dissolve as much.

I love the cold-brew taste, but is there a way to make it taste strong without risking a caffein over dose?

Last time I made some at home my heart kept racing...

Decaf? Probably not at most cafes, but if you're making it at home.

Of course, the better answer is to simply gradually increase your caffeine tolerance until a pint of cold brew has no effect. :)

it's funny because decaffeinate process is basically like cold brew process

Plus, decaf from a good roaster is indistinguishable (at least to my limited palette) from normal coffee. It's definitely no longer the 70s where the only decaf option is watery Sanka.

Additionally, if you can find a caf and a decaf version of the same coffee, you can brew half-caf coffee.

One thing is that you need to use high-end decaf. I've found that decaf using the Mountain Water Process is good.

The percentage of caffeine removed varies widely in "decaf". Some decaf has almost no caffeine remaining, while other varieties basically are already "half-caf".

Does anyone else think that the bitter tastes in the decaf are just all wrong? I've heard that caffeine has a bitter taste and I think that I like it... but it could just be in my head.

You can experiment with grind, brewing time, and water temperature. I drink a lot of coffee that is "cold brewed" with warm to hot tap water for shorter times, then filtered and heated up (I like cold brewed flavor, not cold coffee). Usually if I get that heart racing feeling it is because I brewed too long.

This. Brewing temp and serving temp are often confused. I like hot brewed coffee, but I like cold brewed better. I do not like iced coffee.

I've been given confused glances at coffee shops when I ask for a cold brew coffee hot. :)

I sometimes drink the regular version of this. It is extremely concentrated to the point of being basically undrinkable without dilution. You could mix the decaf version into the regular version and add the same amount of water for a stronger taste.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00V3LRYMW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Tzco...

Try substituting part of the coffee for chicory. It tastes a bit coffee-esque itself, has some great health benefits and imparts a nice oaky finish to your coffee. It's been used historically in times of coffee shortage and is probably due for a renaissance.

plant or flower? edit: root it seems. I wouldn't know where to get that :)

I bought a tin of Chickory Coffee in New Orleans. Looks like you can buy it premixed like that online.

Cafe du Monde is the brand of New Orleans coffee with chicory that you're most likely to see--though there are others. Note that chicory tends to be bitter though. That's one of the reasons (the other being French influence) that cafe au lait was a thing in New Orleans before Starbucks even existed.

These are all just standard ground coffee in cans as well, so I doubt it's great coffee compared to beans you can get these days.

After Cafe du Monde, Community is I think the number two coffee brand in New Orleans. It's what I grew up drinking.

They sell both coffee and chicory [1], as well as straight ground chicory.

[1]: http://www.communitycoffee.com/products/coffee/12-oz-ground-...

[2]: http://www.communitycoffee.com/products/coffee/12-oz-ground-...

thanks. Should have noted to be in the EU (germany)

I think it's used in "Caro" coffee substitute (among other grains though). Maybe that works to stretch coffee?

It's the root, roasted. Skip the premixed brands people are suggesting – the coffee is very low-quality. Get a bag and make your own blend with whatever coffee grounds you like: https://www.amazon.com/Frontier-Natural-Products-Organic-Gra...

Not sure about Germany, sorry.

You could have a real heart problem. Caffeine might be making your symptoms worse. I know I'm just some random person on the internet, but it might be worth checking out before experimenting with larger caffeine doses.

Thanks for the concern. It was the first and only time I had a racing heart like that. I think I'll be fine if I'm careful.

What's the best way to filter the grounds out of cold brew when you make it?

I tried pouring it through a coffee filter and strangest thing. None of the liquid would go through? Do you needy or water to open the "pores" in the filter or something ?

Your grind was probably too fine. If you have a grinder at home try using a more course setting. Some grocery shops have grinders in the coffee aisles with adjustable settings.

Alternatively you can use cheesecloth, a press, or a pour over filter.

I typically use the pour over filter which provides the best results for my grind size + is reusable.

So you use a filter like this? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01K6HTDCC

You don't put a paper filter inside that?

Yup - just like that one.

I use a cold brew "machine," which is just a plastic vat with a felt filter and a cap on the bottom. The instructions has you layer water and beans separately. Don't know its effect, but it works well and the coffee is great.

https://www.amazon.com/Toddy-T2N-Cold-Brew-System/dp/B0006H0...

I've been using this machine for a while and, yes, it is actually very important to add the coffee such that it gets wet but floats undisturbed above the water. If you stir the pot or, worse, put the ground coffee in first, it takes a verrrryy long time for the coffee to drip through the filter after it is brewed. It is literally a drop every few seconds rather than the slow stream you get when you set it up correctly.

I've been making my own cold brew for a while, I found the best method is to first filter through a mesh filter to get rid of the bigger grinds, then do a second filtration using a cloth coffee filter to get rid of the finer ones.

I just use a french press

Don't make cold brew that often but I have fine results with filling a french press with coarsely ground coffee, room temperature water and sticking it in my fridge for 18-24 hours.

When it's done I just use the metal filter in the french press to filter it, but this is all assuming you're OK with a tiny bit of sediment at the bottom of your cup.

I use the french press metal filter to catch the majority of the grounds, but then pour through a paper filter to get the finer sediment out.

Use a Toddy filter[1] or Toddy paper filter bag[2]. They're the standard for cold brew.

[1]: https://toddycafe.com/shop-product/15/Toddy-Filters

[2]: https://toddycafe.com/shop-product/211/Toddy-Paper-Filter-Ba...

A French press works perfect for me. The cold brew has too much silt which instantly fouls the coffee filter.

you can pick up some medium/fine mesh sieves on amazon, i will do a two-pass filtering where i use the mesh sieve to filter out most of the grounds and then run it again through a regular coffee filter. this is basically the same as using a french press, but it's cheaper to reuse old quart containers you get from takeout/yogurt etc than buy a french press.

ideally, it would be easy to find a food-safe coffee filter with the permeability of a plain paper towel (which i have used before, it works fine, it is not ideal, it's almost certainly not "food safe" in that use but whatever).

Stir it while it's going through the filter. The turbulence should keep the filter clear enough.

Failing that, make it in a french press. Or decant it into one for filtering.

Does anybody here know the difference between normal cold brewed coffee and Black Blood of the Earth? BBotE tastes better to me (less bitterness, fewer jitters, more caffeine) but I don't know why.

Iced Americannooos!!

You can actually rush the processes and get great results.

https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/quick-cold-brew-coffee

thank you very much for the link! my favourite coffee roaster here in Germany sells the traditional tools from Hario which is from South Korea. This seems the most coffee crazy country in the world...

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