Ultimate Iced Coffee

While it has not exactly been iced coffee weather in New England so far, we can bet on hotter times coming soon. Here is a method for making iced coffee that really rocks. The sweet fruit flavors locked in really fine coffees simply sing; there is no more refreshing drink! We printed this last year and it is time to roll it back out!

Enjoy -
George Howell

Iced Coffee Like You've Never had Before

I have always brewed hot coffee and then let it cool before adding ice. Never again; the aromatics and special fruit qualities of fine coffee are long gone. I have learned that the secret to making a great iced coffee is all in the FRESHNESS OF THE BREW. It must be captured then and there. The key is to brew a concentrated coffee beverage of exactly the right strength and extraction directly over ice. Some of you who try this may never go back to hot coffee.

Items needed (recommended)

1. Drip Brewer, ideally a Technivorm brewer, and filter.
2. Burr Grinder: Setting = medium drip (grind = 28 on a Baratza Virtuoso).
3. Kitchen scale to weigh coffee and ice in grams or ounces
4. Fresh roasted coffee
5. Timer to measure in seconds

Preparation:

1. Weigh, then grind 102 Grams (3.6 oz) of coffee and place in filter basket.


2. Fill Technivorm brewer to 6 "cups" (= ¾ Liters or 25 fl. oz.) on the reservoir scale.


3. Set the filter basket flow control to STOP.

4. Weigh 480 Grams (17.0 oz) of ICE and place in brewer carafe.

5. Place all covers on brewer. Start brewer (with filter basket OFF)

6. When reservoir reaches the 4 "cup" setting (17 fl. oz. or ½ liter) switch brewer OFF and start timer. This provides a pre-wet period for the coffee.

7. At 1:30 minutes restart the brewer and open filter holder to open; this allows the extracted coffee to flow out of basket). Liquid coffee concentrate begins to enter the ice filled carafe. Allow the brewer to complete normally.

When brewing has finished, stir the contents briefly: just about all the remaining ice will melt. You will have approximately 1.1 liters, a bit over a quart, of fresh ICED coffee concentrate. The total Brew time required for full extraction is about 5 minutes.

Fill your chilled glasses about 2/3 with ICE, and then pour your fresh-brewed concentrate and serve immediately. The cubes will melt very slowly because the coffee concentrate is already iced and cold.

© 2009 George Howell Coffee Company