cold coffee
Did anyone else try the cold-brewed ice coffee recipe from the Times? I thought it was incredibly weak, even when I diluted it less than the 1:1 that they suggested. Bleah.
Half Changed World
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For WhyMommy
June 30th, 2007 at 12:23 am
Why spend 4 minutes making good coffee in a French press and then pouring it over ice or storing it in a fridge when you can take 12 hours to do the same thing, right?
June 30th, 2007 at 4:55 pm
I made this one: http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=FA0812FD3F5A0C758CDDAC0894DF404482
New Orleans cold drip coffee (May 6) and it wasn’t strong enough, either, despite using a pound of coffee. So at least you only wasted 1/3 of a cup!
July 1st, 2007 at 11:32 am
Like John, I make my coffee, hot and iced, in a French press. French press coffee is so good that I can’t imagine using a drip coffee maker (I have one, but it’s only used when my parents visit, because my mother finds the French press coffee to have too much body). French press iced coffee is good even when you have to pour it hot over ice (if I plan ahead I use a larger press and refrigerate the coffee).
July 1st, 2007 at 8:04 pm
I make cold-brew all the time, in a Toddy “coffeemaker” (which is basically a plastic bucket – but a fairly well engineered one). I use nine cups of water for one pound of coffee, and steep it for at least 12 hours. I mix it 2 parts water to 1 part coffee syrup.
Part of what tastes “weak” may just be that you’re used to the taste of acid in your coffee. You can try brewing it longer – but cold-brew will always taste smoother, which may translate to your tongue as weaker. But the main reason I see to make cold-brew coffee is so that you can make a lot of it, and thereby avoid making a whole pot of coffee every morning, so I thought the Times recipe was pretty pointless.
July 2nd, 2007 at 12:48 pm
I thought it lacked depth. I didn’t even dilute it–just poured it over ice, and it was horrible. Also, the business of filtering it twice took a lot longer than it takes me to do the French press or stovetop espresso method. Admittedly, I grew up in Portland, worked for Starbucks for 3 years and like my coffee strong, but still.
The only thing it has going for it is that you don’t have to use the stove on a hot summer’s day.
July 3rd, 2007 at 6:21 pm
Bleah is right. I was disappointed because an online pal of mine had just been raving about her results with the Toddy, and I thought the Times recipe would be a way to get the same kind of coffee without the equipment outlay.
After I put the coffee in to steep, I looked in Corby Kummer’s coffee book to see what he had to say about cold brewing. I’m paraphrasing, since there’s a toddler in my lap, but it was something scornful like, “Every few years cold brewing gets hyped as a great way to make coffee. It makes a mild and inoffensive drink but it’s not worth the trouble.” He hits it on the head, as usual.