what brewers brand are you using for the Japanese style?
cheers!

Anybody want to try it?

We’ve played around with your recipe several times, and we’ve gotten some amazing tasting iced coffee!! Thanks!

Peter, we tried the recipe by adding ice before the cloth filter and ran into one problem: not all the ice melts, and it gets left in the filter! Otherwise, though, it worked great and tasted great.

The non-melting ice raised a question in my mind: if not all the ice melts, is the resulting brew the correct strength?

Re: cold brew. We brew c.b. in the fridge in an impermeable container with a small, snap-close, rubber gasket sealed top. Wouldn’t that minimize oxidation (cold temps, limited airflow)? To cut down on mark outs, some cafes cold brew really old coffee; and that cold brew coffee tastes like really old coffee: stale and rancid. I wonder how much of the oxidation is due to old beans rather than the 12-20 hr brew process…

Also, and I may be way off here, wouldn’t coffee brewing in a french press be somewhat immune to oxidation while brewing? If it’s fresh roasted, it should be giving off CO2 and other gases (bloom) that would create something of a barrier; there’s also the crust of grounds on top, which James is scooping off, to create an additional barrier.

Best,
Ben

I’ve had some limited success with a Technivorm following George Howells methodology (http://blog.terroircoffee.com/2010/06/01/technivorm-and-the-art-of-brewing-the-ultimate-iced-coffee/), have been experimenting with Chemex with the resulting challenges of consistent extraction, Aeropress, and am hoping to spend time with the Hario V60 Ice-Coffee Brewer (http://shop.hariousa.com/product.sc?productId=40&categoryId=6).

The problem in each instance above is that I find a consistent astringency to the final brew. I suspect this may be the result of brewing directly over ice. It seems that slightly diluting and cooling the extract prior to introducing ice somewhat avoids this taint.

Either way I’m inspired to pull out the french press and take a new stab at the problem.

I started making ice americano’s by placing my shots into a metal shaker and ice (shaken not stirred). The rapid cool down seems to make the espresso taste a bit sweeter. It reminds me of cold brew, but with more acidity.

Al

As we know, oils- including coffee oils- have a tendency to take on oxygen, creating flavor byproducts we call “rancid”. This is the awful aroma of unclean grinder hoppers and supermarket bins. Oxidation/rancidity is accelerated by heat. I have always felt that one of the benefits of the Japanese process I always talk about is that, since the hot coffee is exposed to air for such a short time, oxidation/rancidity is minimized. I certainly noticed that right away when I was first experimenting with my Japanese method: aromatics and acidity were emphasized, oxidation/rancidity were de-emphasized dramatically.

This was a huge thing for me, as most iced coffee I had tasted up to that point had a pronounced oxidized/rancid note. I believe that in slow-cooling coffee, the longer exposure to air while hot creates lots of these compounds. That’s why I believe that the faster the cooling the better, always. (that’s also why I believe holding hot coffee in thermoses and such is a bad idea, but that’s another post). Also, in cold-brewing coffee, though the water is never hot, the coffee/grounds are exposed to air for a long amount of time. I taste a cold-brew coffee and not only do I miss acidity and aroma, I am confronted with a powerful oxidized/rancid note.

Now perhaps this is a personal sensitivity to this particular note. The worst culinary experience I ever had was when I cooked with slightly rancid lard one time. I once made a pot of beans with a slightly oxidized hamhock and it was awful to me. Others, even food lovers and taste professionals, don’t seem to be as hypersensitive as I to rancid/oxidized flavors. It may very well be one of those personal things. I’ve gotten really weird about buying small amounts of oils because I hate the smell of the oxidized oil, even when only half the bottle is gone. It is possible that the lovers of cold-brewed coffee aren’t as hypersensitive to this note. I have also noticed that I am personally more sensitive to this aroma at cool temperatures- it’s not as noticeable when the brew is hot. I feel like this is why it is particularly important for me with iced coffee.

Anyway, for me the whole thing is cooling as quickly as possible and minimizing exposure to oxygen. When I have tasted coffee from the slow-drip Japanese units I taste the oxidized taste again. In my mania to reduce the “hot time” of the coffee and reducing oxygen exposure, I have even gotten to the point that holding coffee in a french press seems long, and pouring through a second filter might be risky. But then I admit I may be going overboard a bit.

James- here’s a suggested modification. Follow your recipe exactly, except put the ice INSIDE the cloth filter rather than below it. You pour the hot french press coffee over the ice, and then it flows through the filter after it has already cooled. Remember, cold coffee is much less susceptible to oxidation than hot coffee, and it is less likely to be oxidized as it drips down (which is a really dangerous time- that dripping and splashing and bubbling). I’ll try it when I get home myself!

Peter G