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Cold brew coffee beans
It is important to note that not all beans are produced or created the same. Some are favored by cold brew, espresso, French press, paper filter or pour over method. Before we decide on the best beans for a cold coffee brew it is important to understand what really a cold coffee drink is. Sometime iced coffees brew is considered a cold brew in some countries.
Primarily cold brew is coffee made with no use of heat at all. Normally, some ground coffee beans are put in water and allowed to steeping for 12 to about 24 hours at most. Within this period, the water extracts coffee bean flavor by dissolving the contents of the beans. Use of no heat in the brewing process gives the brew special and distinguishable characteristics though more coffee is required than the hot brewing method.
It is important to note that some contents of coffee beans like the acids and oils can only be absorbed by water at particular temperature such that cold coffee brew consist of a number of muted flavors and low acidity.
Factors to consider when choosing the right beans for a cold brew
Making a good flavored coffee is a bit complex but at the same easy with the right beans. Some factors to consider include;
How the bean was produced in this case conditions for growth, whether organic or not, elevation at which it was grown which relates to the quality and how the dense a bean is, how the bean was harvested, processing method, roasting process, storage of the bean and so on.
However, though a cold brew will still rely on such factors, the fact that is soaked in water for longer periods the factors may as well be forgotten. The key things you got always to remember while making a cold coffee brew is the coarseness of the beans (should be at least the size of raw sugar particles), the ratio to water and also the length of time you steep them in water.
How to roast coffee beans for a cold brew
There is no well-defined roast for a cold coffee brew however most people will go with the dark roast as compared to medium and light roast. Dark roasted coffee gives rich and dark flavors which can either be earthy, chocolaty, a bit syrupy and also nutty. Floral notes can also be extracted but they are not really major.
Dark roast are also not too much costly thus many people afford them. Though the light roasts can highlight the fruity flavors and floral better they are very expensive and plus you can get this flavors with a dark roast cold brewing. Something else to note is that light roast requires more time to extract the flavors thus steeping method may be increased.
How to get your beans ground for a cold brew
Choosing the right type of coffee beans for your coffee is as important as getting the right grounds for your coffee beans. It is preferred you ground this beans for you own. Coarse ground coffee beans are the best for a cold brew since they can begin dripping faster than fine ground. Water does not allow easy flow of water. The water can be trapped above the grounds in case of dripping method.
Something else is that the fine grounds are tightly packed. Something else is that the fine grounds can allow over extraction of flavor sometimes leading to bitter unpleasant taste.
Self-ground versus pre-ground bought coffee beans
Pre-ground
Like anything else, pre ground coffee has got some advantages over the self-ground beans. One of this is that they are convenient and save on time without hovering over the stress of dealing with the coffee grinder. They are also available than the whole coffee beans.
Since the ground coffees have got a large surface area than the whole bean they lose the flavor and other original characteristics rather quickly. For this reason with this ready ground beans the rich and fresh flavors cannot be achieved. Not only that they lose aroma within minutes after being ground. Above all this, the oils in the ground beans once ground can easily pick odors from the objects around them and also lose the CO2 gained during the roasting method.
Something else important to note is that ground coffee beans since the oil in the coffee are soluble in water. For this reason the coffee grounds may lose the oils to the surrounding moisture.
Self- ground coffee
Freshly grid coffee makes the best outline of the flavors since a whole bean got little exposure of air and the surrounding. Not only should you practice the grounding of your own coffee beans but also use the right size of the grounds and the right machine. The coffee beans should not be Powderly grinded nor super coarse ground. Fine grounds will over extract the flavors especially the bitterness while the over coarsely ground coffee beans will have under developed weak flavor.
One of the major draw backs of self-ground coffee is the high cost of purchasing the whole beans. Something else is that roasted beans do not stay fresh if they stay for more than two weeks so you have to consume them faster so as to enjoy a full flavor profile. Moreover, again to enjoy the fresh aromas and flavors you have to grid only what you can brew and consumer at a time.
Best coffee beans for cold brew
Cold buzz (hazelnut coffee)
Pre ground coffee beans usually sold in tea like bags and ready for a cold brew. These beans are sourced from Europe and southern America and are one hundred percent organic. Since cold brewing is expensive (more coffee grounds are required than in making a hot brews) the Cold Buzz makes some arrangement with wholesalers and roasters to make sure that the coffee in not overly expensive.
Though the hazelnut is most preferred, there are other flavors offered by cold buzz like the dark roast being enhanced with buttery sweet flavor.
One of its major drawbacks is that they are expensively packaged and also pre ground such that the coffee beans actually comprise the quality of the coffee.
Metropolis coffee- blend for cold brew
Metropolis is a coffee company based in Chicago coffee is actually roasted with order here. The advantage of this coffee is that is freshly roasted and the user can grid the beans freshly or get fresh pre-grounds such that maximum freshness is achieved. The coffee is roasted dark such that walnut, melted chocolate and toast hint are the final flavors.
The drawback of these coffees is that they are very expensive, not delivered worldwide, the toast flavor is similar to the unpleasant burnt taste and no description of the coffee beans source.
Stone street- cold coffee brew (supremo coffee from Colombia)
These beans are made especially for cold coffee brewing by a small roaster company in America. The company source high end coffee beans from world’s best farms. Colombian supremo is the single origin and premium beans used for producing a bold, mild sweet, well-balanced and smooth cold brew and are dark roasted. Note that they freshly have fruit and chocolate notes with caramel. They can be found as either whole for freshness purpose or pre ground
Other best coffees for cold brewing include the organic beans (Elixir cold press) from tiny foot print US based roaster, monde coffee- cafe Du (with chicory), Peet’s baridi (East Africa blends) and El Encino costa Rican green natural coffee beans.
Additional Products to View
Coffee Beans – Whole
Peaberry Coffee
Fair Trade Coffee
Light Roast Coffee
Organic Coffee
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