My Cold Brew Coffee Story and Tips for the Best

      I made cold brew coffee for my first time in Japan over 10 years ago. At that time, I used a cold brew coffee maker (pot). When I first tried making cold brew coffee with the pot, I was really surprised at how easy it was! Just put ground coffee into the pot and sit in fridge for 8 hours. Cold brewed coffee completely tastes different from hot brewed coffee. It is considerably less acidic than hot brewed coffee. It tastes pure and smooth. :) In Japan, you can easily find Mizudashi Coffee grounds, which are specially made for cold brew coffee, at any supermarkets. By the way, mizudashi means cold brew in Japanese. With using the cold brew coffee pot and Mizudashi coffee grounds, you can make so delicious cold brew coffee!

KEY COFFEE Mizudashi Coffee Regular Coffee, Ground Coffee Beans for Cold Brew Coffee

Hario Water Brew Coffee Pot

       Right before moving to the U.S., I gave away my cold brew pot to my mother-in-law because I had no space in my suitcase for the pot. After purchasing French Press here in the U.S., I decided to make cold brew coffee for the first time in many years. In order to make this video, I tested many times to find out the best way to make cold brew coffee. I'm going to share two important tips for the best cold brew coffee with you.

1. Extraction Time
      When I went to Seattle last month, I asked a Starbucks Batista who was serving cold brew coffee samples at Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room about how long it takes to extract coffee in cold water . He told me that it usually takes 18 to 24 hours. While Japanese Coffee manufactures recommend 8 to 12 hour extraction time, US coffee masters recommend two times longer. I know that US coffee masters try to make cold brew concentrate coffee. However, the truth is that over extracted coffee doesn't taste good. I tasted cold brewed coffee of 5 different extraction time, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24 hours. The taste of 24-hour extracted cold brew concentrate coffee with water isn't equivalent to 8-hour extracted cold brew coffee. If you would like to make the best cold brew coffee, I recommend 8-hour extraction for it.

2. Dark Roast
       It was easy to find the right ground coffee (Mizudashi ground coffee) in Japan, but this time I tried to find the best coffee roast for cold brew coffee in the U.S. I tried both medium and dark roast grounds, and they tasted very different! Choosing the right roast is very important. Dark roast coffee beans are perfect for cold brew coffee such as French and Italian roast. It's because dark roast tastes body and fullness.


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