Wanting an iced coffee, but cold brew just doesn’t do it for you? You’re not alone. Cold brew has its benefits, but one thing lost are the volatile aromatics that require hotter brew temperatures to fully extract. Enter the Japanese style Iced coffee method, a style that captures the flavors and nuances of hot brewed coffee, but delivers them iced.
What you need
- Clever Coffee Dripper
- #4 Filter papers
- Grinder
- Scale
- Kettle
- 26g ground coffee
- Hot water just off the boil (195-205F)
- Timer
- 120g ice cubes, the larger the better
- Carafe or mason jar
Let’s get started
It's Grind Time
Set your water to boil and measure out your coffee. Grind this one slightly finer than you would for your normal pour over method (think the texture of fine sand). This finer grind in concert with the high ratio of coffee to water (1:10) will give us a higher extraction level (or, in other words, a stronger brew). We want our brew to be more concentrated since our final cup will be slightly diluted by the melted ice.
Prep for Success
Place filter in the clever dripper and rinse with hot water (to avoid paper taste). Discard the water used for rinsing. Fill the glass or carafe you’re using with your ice cubes. Once the Brew is complete, the ice will be melted by the hot brewed coffee. Place the Clever dripper on the scales, pour in 250g of water just off the boil, then pour your ground coffee on top.
Tare your scales, start your stopwatch, and gently stir in the coffee.
Wait to break!
Now we wait to break. Once we reach 1min 30 seconds, stir in the crust of coffee that’s formed at the top. Give the clever dripper a gentle swirl to flatten the coffee bed. Don’t walk away! We’re almost done.
What's cooler than being cool?
Wait until you reach 4 minutes then place the clever dripper on your glass/ carafe of ice.
Brewing directly on to the ice will chill the coffee instantly, and lock in some of those volatile aromatics that we so love talking about (admit it, it’s a pretty legit sounding phrase). Let the water drain through which should take about a minute.
Ice Cold
Remove the filter here and give the cone a good rinse. You should have about 300g (10oz) of room temperature coffee remaining in your vessel (some water will have been absorbed by the coffee grounds). Simply add ice or pour over fresh ice, and enjoy a delicious cup of hot-brewed cold coffee!
Now you’re the brew master!
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