Cold Brewing?

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Cold Brewing?

Postby Gouezeri » Thu May 17, 2007 9:48 am

Having just read a farcical thread on /. (gotta love the Americans for having some of the best and some of the worst coffee in the world, yet everyone is a connoisseur! :D ), I noticed a weird recommendation for the Toddy coffee maker which purportedly recommends cold brewing (for 12 hours!), resulting in a concentrate that "may be refrigerated for up to 14 days without any deterioration in taste or freshness." :? Apparently it's popular in New Orleans, but the exact origins are uncertain.

So. whilst I'm sure that people around here will be surprised to hear that I'm cynical... has anybody actually tried it? I'm sure one of our budding chemist/experimenters will have fiddled with this. Time for us all to dump our PIDS and save on electrical bills? :wink:
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RE: Cold Brewing?

Postby kingseven » Thu May 17, 2007 9:56 am

Yeah - Anette has a toddy lying around somewhere. It just another way to brew coffee. I am not sure I like the cold concentrate you get but it is quite novel. Meant to play with it more but got sidetracked (as usual).

I think an article in the current Barista Mag touches on it as well in a Cold Coffee article.

The whole concetrate in the fridge idea has been around for ages, and certainly has history and tradition in places like Guatemala - Steve may have had some on his recent trip?
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RE: Cold Brewing?

Postby Gouezeri » Thu May 17, 2007 10:10 am

Got to admit I like the irony of the name :D

Personally I'm not that interested in the result for iced/cold coffees, more the effect steeping and brewing temperature have on the cup (when consequently drunk hot).

Had no idea there was an article in the current Barista Mag, bit of a coincidence.
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RE: Cold Brewing?

Postby phil2spill » Thu May 17, 2007 10:55 am

I think cold extraction is often used for food recipes too isn't it, e.g. ice cream and cakes?
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RE: Cold Brewing?

Postby CakeBoy » Thu May 17, 2007 5:00 pm

Sounds a bit like the old 'Camp Coffee' syrup that used to come it bottles and be ever so posh with its hint of chicory .......
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Postby dolcevita » Mon Mar 31, 2008 10:27 pm

Ooooooh, I've tried this! Sorry to drag this from the depths of last year, but I feel quite chuffed that I've tried something a little more esoteric from this forum - saddo me, I'm quite excited!

A chap I know who has a lot of business contacts & friends in the States makes this stuff back here in blighty. I would describe it as the alcopop of the coffee world. It's dead easy to knock back as it's very bland. Some would call it smooth, but it has none of the aromatic 'yum factor' of good fresh coffee, and also none of the bite or complexity of flavour. Whilst it's better than granulated instant, it wouldn't be my regular choice. One of the commercial coffee producers had something a few years ago - caffinesse?? - that was kept in the chiller cabinets of supermarkets. I would say this is the same thing.

Sorry, I'm done now. Really must get some sleep.

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Postby CakeBoy » Mon Mar 31, 2008 10:51 pm

We tried some with a Toddy from HB last year. A good description DolceVita, it is rather lacking in flavour nuances in terms of the type of coffee we are all used too around here, though it did make a nice light refreshing coffee on a hot day :)
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Postby Beanie » Tue Apr 01, 2008 7:32 am

CakeBoy wrote:....it did make a nice light refreshing coffee on a hot day :)
Hmmmm

Makes me wonder what if you were to add a dollop of chocolate ice-cream, crushed blueberries or blueberry jam to it, would it taste like a cold Harrar? :)
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Postby Neo » Tue Apr 01, 2008 7:35 am

I tried it a long time ago. Yirg rocks :D A very intense floral flavour and also a good body.
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Postby zapty » Wed Apr 02, 2008 3:45 pm

It is nice on a superhot day with ice cubes and a shot of kalua or baileys or both, we make some every summer but then again we like homemade ice tea too....
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Postby keepitlikeasecret » Fri Apr 04, 2008 2:03 pm

You don't really need any official equipment to try this brewing method. A cafe i used to work at used to brew this in a big bucket in a large cloth net sealed off at the top with a tie and then steeped in cold water in the fridge for over night / about 10-14 hours. One thing you have to make sure of is to set the ground to coarse, coarser than that for french press, and to make sure they get fully exposed to the water rather than clump together in the sack. I am trying to remember the ratio, but it was almost 2kg of coffee to 14l of water roughly. I am sure it would scale down well to 1litre brew in the fridge.
I can see no reason why you couldnt utilise a french press system with this brew method at home, just leaving the grounds to brew over night in the fridge and plunge the pot in the morning and decant the brew into a fresh bottle. Worth a try at least.

On a further read, this sounds an easier way to have cold coffee:
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