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Author:
Franco Salzillo
If you’re a cold brew fan, then the Japanese-style iced coffee is what you were looking for. Think of the most aromatic, refreshing, but still robust cup of coffee — the best part? It’s ready in minutes!
But let’s start from the beginning. Cold brew is a lovely style of coffee made by steeping coffee beans in water for a day or so, and the result is a neat cup of Joe with the fruitiest scents.
People started talking about a different type of cold coffee back in 2012, the Japanese cold coffee. Experts assured the style gave the cold brew a run for its money. Well they were right.
This coffee has the fruitiness and intensity of a pour-over, for which you pour hot water over ground coffee beans on a filter and let it drip into a vase below.
What’s interesting here is that the coffee drips over a cup of ice cubes. The ice dilutes the coffee, fixes its aromatics and cools it instantly — the result is fantastic! Somewhere between a robust iced coffee and cold brew. Besides, watching steaming coffee dripping over ice is immensely satisfying!
Okay, you’ve got yourself a glass of ice-cold coffee, now what? Well, now you treat it like any other nice iced coffee, add a splash of cream and sweeten it to taste with sugar or your favorite sweetener.
And since this is a Japanese specialty, you might want to pair it with some fluffy mochi rice cakes — they’re heavenly!
For a refreshing cup of coffee with the best of both worlds, freshly brewed and cold brew, there’s nothing better than the Japanese-style iced coffee. Make your own, and you’ll never go back to regular coffee; that’s guaranteed.
Boil the water. While it boils, grind the coffee beans.
Place the ice cubes into a Chemex coffee pot or pour-over.
If using a paper filter, rinse it with hot water (not the one you’re using for the coffee). If using a metallic filter, just set it in place.
Place the ground coffee in the filter and pour the hot water slowly in circular motions letting the coffee bloom (it should take around 3 minutes).
The hot coffee will melt the ice as it drips. You can swirl the vase to make sure it’s all melted.
Sweeten to taste, add milk or cream if desired, pour and enjoy!
