Why We Love Cold Brew
The Cold Brew Controversy
People in the specialty coffee industry love to hate cold brew. Well-known coffee professionals and influencers alike love to challenge cold brew’s validity as a specialty coffee beverage, and often advocate for iced coffee over cold brew. Although specialty coffee over the last decade has slowly embraced the merits of cold brew, there was a time when cold brew was a specialty faux pas. That was about the time when we opened Tala, and unashamedly planted our flag on the team cold brew.
Why? Because it’s soooooo good. And other reasons. Dig a little deeper with me on the pros and cons of cold brew and iced coffee, and decide for yourself what cold coffee brewing method is right for you.
First, a caveat. At Tala, we stand firmly in camp cold brew in large part because we stand firmly in camp do-whatever-tastes-best-to-you. See my blog, The Right Way to Drink Coffee is the Way You Like It, for more on our philosophy. We’re by no means against iced coffee–it’s delicious! We love and embrace them both.
First things first: what’s the actual difference?
The biggest difference comes down to temperature.
Cold brew is made by steeping coffee grounds in cool or room-temperature water. Because it isn’t brewed with hot water, the steeping process takes much longer, usually for anywhere from 12–24 hours. After the steep is done, it's filtered, and the grounds are removed.
Iced coffee, on the other hand, is simply coffee that was brewed hot and then cooled down. In specialty coffee circles, this often means Japanese-style iced coffee (sometimes called flash-brewed coffee), where hot coffee is brewed directly over ice.
Even though they’re both served cold, these two methods extract completely different compounds from the coffee. Researchers working with the Specialty Coffee Association and the UC Davis Coffee Center have found measurable differences in both flavor and chemistry between cold brew and chilled hot coffee.
Why do they taste so different?
Hot water is really good at pulling flavor out of coffee.
When you brew coffee hot, you extract acids, sugars, aromatics, and oils quickly and efficiently. Cold water can still extract many of those compounds—it just does so much more slowly and less completely.
Meanwhile, iced coffee tends to be:
Brighter
Fruitier
More aromatic
More complex
Slightly more acidic
That’s why cold brew is often described as:
Smooth
Chocolatey
Sweet
Low-acid
Full-bodied
UC Davis sensory studies, summarized and shared here by the Specialty Coffee Association, found that people consistently perceived cold brew as smoother and less acidic, while hot-brewed coffee retained more bitterness, acidity, and floral characteristics.
What cold brew haters say
James Hoffmann—former World Barista Champion and one of coffee’s most respected educators—has famously argued that cold brew leaves a lot of flavor behind. In his video “Better Than Cold Brew: How to Make Iced Filter Coffee,” he makes the case that brewing hot coffee directly over ice produces a cup with much more clarity and complexity.
Many coffee professionals agree, and frankly the science backs this up. But I would argue that that is just part of the story.
It can flatten interesting coffees.
Cold brew has a leveling impact on coffee, in large part due to its long extraction process. The notable smoothness of cold brew also literally smooths over taste, dulling the peaks in flavor. To some, like Hoffman, this means it’s always bad. I would argue that it isn’t at all bad, just different. If, for instance, you have an expensive single origin coffee you are absolutely in love with when you brew it hot, but you want a cold version for a hot day, brewing it as an iced coffee will change the flavor less than cold brew would. But maybe you aren’t in love with how complex it is, or you are interested in a smoother flavor–cold brew will absolutely change the perceived flavor of your coffee. But it’s not like cold brew takes a super fruit-bomb floral Ethiopian and replaces it with a deep, chocolatey, and nutty Colombian coffee. You will still taste the inherent flavors of the coffee.
It takes forever.
There’s no getting around it: cold brew is slow. Our cold brew steeps for twelve hours and, honestly, it can be a pain! However, I find this argument silly. Discounting cold brew for its length in brewing is slippery slope logic–you’d have to categorically get rid of smoked meats, fermented goods, and all distilled alcohol (to name a few), and I don’t think any of us are ready for that kind of leap. Cold brew takes a long time, but by definition, no one is brewing it in a hurry. Cold brew is the kind of thing you brew ahead of time to enjoy later, just like a slow-roasted brisket.
It uses a lot of coffee.
Most cold brew recipes require significantly more coffee than a standard batch of iced coffee, which can make it a less economical option. This is definitely something to consider, but I think when combined with other factors, it can really serve to save money.
Cold brew is one of those few brewing methods that performs better with aged-out coffee. If you’ve just cleaned out your coffee cabinet to find an old bag from six months ago, I guarantee it would taste much better as cold brew than any other method. Plus, thanks to its taste-smoothing properties, it also holds up great to various blends. Meaning if you find two bags of random coffee in the back of your cabinet from different origins and mix them together as cold brew, they will probably still taste great as long as they are similar in quality and roast profile.
Cold brew also lasts much longer than most coffees–easily two weeks in the fridge–meaning you don’t have to worry about wasting the end product if you don’t get around to drinking it all right away.
We <3 Cold Brew
The merits of cold brew and iced coffee ultimately don’t matter as much as your personal taste preferences. If you enjoy cold brew, don’t let anyone talk you out of it.
Feeling some cold brew right about now?
If you want to enjoy more cold brew, we can help.
We recently launched Cold Brew Cans, a take-anywhere solution for all your cold brew needs. Available at any of our cafes or for Neighborly Delivery.
Learn to make cold brew at home with our Toddy Cold Brew brew guide.
If you–like us–are really serious about your cold brew addiction, inquire about getting a kegerator of Tala cold brew set up in your house (yes, seriously).
Joanna Tong
Joanna is one of the owners here at Tala, heading up Operations and Strategy. Born and raised in Minnesota, she moved to Illinois in 2014 with no intention of staying long-term until the idea of Tala came to light. When not in the office or the cafe, you can find her in a forest preserve enjoying the outdoors or at home hanging out with her cat.
