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.
The biggest problem with brewing over a bed of ice is that it’s difficult to get a full extraction. The best iced pour-overs are light and bright with a lively acidity, but they lack the deep sweetness of a fully extracted coffee. The ability to slow and even stop the flow rate with the December Dripper means you can have longer steep times and fuller extractions, even when brewing iced coffee.
As temperatures continue to rise, we’ve been experimenting with different iced coffee recipes on the December Dripper, and we came up with one we think is worth sharing with the world. We especially love using this recipe with fresh crop Ethiopian coffee, which are just now hitting roaster’s shelves. So give this recipe a try, and let us know what you think in the comments below.
Step 1
Grind 30 grams of coffee. Use a slightly finer grind than you would normally use for this size batch.
Step 2
Place 200 grams of ice cubes in your carafe. Use thick cubes for slower dilution (If you have a metal pitcher, you can stick it in the freezer for 15 minutes to get it even colder.)
Step 3
With the flow shut off, “bloom” the coffee with 60 ml. of water. Wait 45 seconds as the coffee degases.
Step 4
Carefully twist the December Dripper to “1”, the slowest flow rate. Slowly add 240 ml of water, in 3-4 pulses. Your brew should take 3-4 minutes.
Step 5
Most of the ice should melt, but the coffee should still be cold. Stir thoroughly then serve over fresh ice.
The December Dripper is available from our sponsor, Prima Coffee, for $58.
Love the article! Not a fan of the December dripper, though. When you use the thicker cubes for slower dilution, how do you determine how much water the ice turned in to? Or is it not that important as far as it affects the overall ratio. Also, do you measure how much fresh ice you pour the completed brew over? Sorry for rambling- really trying to dial in the Japanese style and not having the best results.
Flash-chilled iced coffee, is really an unknown word to me. I never tried it before taking look in your article. But you wrote the brewing process in this content is awesome.I liked it and hope anybody who loves to drink Iced coffee will be able to brew it after getting your simple and easy preparing process.I will try it when get times with this December Dripper, the awesome Japanese iced coffee maker.
Just fall on the article and I found it very interesting and easy to understand. Specially now, that in Germany is starting the summer, is giving me a very good ideas for having a fresh one :).
Thank yours for this amazing post. I used to be disappointed with the taste of a non-extracted coffee. It is too bland to drink. I believe that the December Dripper will solve this problem and bring us full excitement of enjoying a cup of iced coffee.