“Japanese-style” Iced Coffee

While we love the Hario’s Mizudashi cold brew pot for the set it and forget it convenience, what to do when you open the fridge and realize you forgot to brew your coffee overnight?  The answer: pour over ice brew.

Also known as Japanese ice brew on account of its popularity in Japan, this method is fast and straight-forward (we promise all of our recipes won’t be Japan-themed, next will be New Orleans-style iced coffee).   It’s exactly the same as making pour over coffee through a cone filter, except half of the water you’d use is placed in the brewing container as ice. The hot water that drips out of the filter instantly melts the ice, lowering the overall temperature of the finished coffee.

You end up with a refreshing cold glass of coffee which sidesteps the oxidized bitterness created by brewing hot coffee and keeping it in the fridge.  Using hot water also unlocks more aromatics than cold brewing, so it is great for highlighting the fruity, floral notes in a coffee.  In contrast, the cold brewing method reduces the acidity and instead focuses on the nutty, chocolate, sweet notes.  We recommend cold brewing if you’re adding milk and this over ice method for people who drink their coffee black!

Here’s how to do it, with inspiration from Counter Culture Coffee’s recipe.

What you need:

–       A pouring kettle (we used a Hario Buono)

–       A pour over cone filter (we used a Hario V60)

–       Filter paper

–       A glass or container to brew into

–       28 grams coffee, medium ground

–       240 ml water (approx. 1 cup) and the same amount of ice

–       Burr Grinder

–       Timer

–       Scale (optional, but helpful for calculating amounts and figuring out if you’ve poured enough).

1. Bring your water to a boil. Use more than 1 cup, as you’ll need it for rinsing the filter.
2. Grind your bean to a medium grind, with an almost sandy feel. Grinding immediately before brewing will immensely improve the quality of your coffee, as beans quickly lose their freshness once ground.
3. Place your filter paper in the pour over filter. Fold over the seam in the filter to ensure an even surface and brew.
4. Once the water has boiled, pour some to wet the filter paper. This will wash out any paper-y tastes and warm up the filter cone.
5. Place the coffee grounds in the filter.
6. Put the ice in the container you’ll be brewing into. 1 cup is 8 oz., and many standard ice cube trays create cubes that weigh an ounce, so 8 cubes will usually do it.
7. Pour a little bit of water into the grounds, just enough to wet all of it. This is ‘blooming,’ getting the coffee ready to brew. Only a little bit of water, if any, should drip out of the filter. Wait 30 to 45 seconds after you first poured before starting again.
8. Pour in a slow, even spiral, wetting all the grounds. Space out your pouring so brewing takes around 3 minutes. As you get towards the end of brewing, focus your pour at the center of the filter, otherwise the water will have to travel through more grounds and will overbrew.
9. Enjoy the coffee! Adjust to your taste, but know that ice brew is excellent black.