With summer approaching, we thought it was the perfect time to give you a little reminder about your iced coffee!
There are different types of cold coffees. Despite their similarity, their difference lies in the way they are prepared and extracted. Hot coffee uses heat to extract the caffeine, while cold coffee uses time. All are served cold, but the similarities end there. Consider this your guide to the difference.
Find the unique recipe of the Cold Brew in the way of the Coffee Tree.
What is Cold Brew?
More than a simple cold coffee, the Cold Brew follows a preparation method whose infusion is much slower than the classic coffees since it lasts approximately 20 hours. By letting the ground coffee brew in cold water, the slow extraction at room temperature allows to keep the coffee's aroma, but especially to be very concentrated in caffeine. Add a few ice cubes and you're done!
Close to the Cold Brew, the iced coffee :
The iced coffee will make you appreciate the cold coffee: very appreciated by the Greeks, the iced coffee is prepared in a shaker by mixing a dose of soluble coffee, water and ice cubes, with a little sugar according to your preferences. You just have to shake the shaker to obtain a mixture, then pour it in a glass. It is therefore very similar to cold brew, but requires a much shorter brewing time. Also called cold brew, the term "frappé" refers to the icy aspect of the drink: it is therefore an ideal energy drink on a summer day!
A very original cold coffee, the Nitro:
Popularized by the worldwide Starbucks chain, the Nitro Coffee, coming out of a beer machine, is in fact a "pressure" coffee that is served in the same way as a beer. Based on nitrogen, formerly called Nitrogen, hence the name of this coffee), this coffee can at first sight be confused with a Guiness style draught beer, by its color and its light foam on the surface ... but obviously to the taste it has a real coffee flavor! The coffee becomes sweeter and slightly fizzy.
The Cold Drip, a gentle extraction:
The Cold Drip is a cold coffee extracted in the filter coffee way. In fact, the ground coffee is inserted into a filter and then brewed in cold water. Yes, it is cold water. A cold filter coffee completely separates the cold water from the coffee grounds. The preparation requires a cold drip device usually consisting of three glass containers that allows the ice water to slowly drip from the freshly ground coffee. The ground coffee absorbs each drop of water, which then falls into a separate container at the bottom of the tower. The process of making a cold filter coffee can take anywhere from 3 to 12 hours, depending on the amount desired.
Each of these preparations, except for the Nitro which requires a special pressure machine, can be made at home, in a more or less long time, with equipment that most coffee lovers have, or that is not very expensive. Enough to stay awake and refreshed all summer long!
