One of the summer’s most popular coffee beverages is also the easiest to make, provided you have some time on your hands. Cafe-quality cold brew requires very little technique and can be made with just about anything, like a Mason jar or French press. In fact, you probably already own one of our favorite devices to make cold brew with: the Chemex.
Peter Schlumbohm’s iconic brewing device has been the go-to brewing device of aesthetically-minded coffee enthusiasts since the 1930s. It’s even featured in the MoMA’s permanent collection.
Although the device is designed for brewing hot filter coffee, the hourglass shape of the Chemex makes it a perfect vessel for steeping and decanting cold brew….
I recently bought a bag of coffee from one of my favorite European roasters. When I opened the bag I was surprised to discover the coffee was quite a bit darker than I expected. Brewing the coffee revealed a flavor profile to match the color: bitter chocolate, roasted nuts, and — dare I say — ash.
Last year we published an Aeropress guide with a rather presumptuous title: “
Last year, the December Dripper emerged on the scene with a simple but revolutionary design. The brewing device uses a silicon gasket to adjust the flow rate with a simple twist. One of the more interesting applications of this design feature is making flash-chilled iced coffee– sometimes called Japanese iced coffee or an iced pour-over.
Iced coffee has never been hotter, but a crowded market place often leads to product confusion, and it seems one needs a degree in coffee studies from UC Davis to navigate all of the iced coffee options on the market these days. While we’re certainly not here to tell anyone how to enjoy their coffee, it helps to know the difference between cold brew and iced coffee before you get an unsolicited lecture from an overzealous barista. More so, each way of making iced coffee has its pros and cons, which is helpful to know before you drop your hard earned cash on that next brewing device.
