How Do Iced Coffee And Cold Brew Differ In Taste?
To the uninitiated, sharp scrutiny of a coffee shop's menu might prove confusing. For instance, there's iced coffee and there's cold brew. The first refers to coffee that's brewed hot and then made cold, while the latter is coffee that's brewed cold in the first place.
In general, cold brew has a stronger flavor, and is known for bringing out smooth, fruity, or chocolatey notes without as much of the bitterness of iced coffee. Because of this, many people drink cold brew black, whereas iced coffee is more likely to be paired with milk or creamer. Although this is not a hard and fast rule for the two brew types, it can help you in understanding what your coffee drinking experience will be like, depending on which of the two refreshing summer beverages you choose.
A difference in brew leads to a difference in flavor
The interesting thing about coffee is that both of these drinks could be prepared with the same coffee beans, and still have noticeably different outputs. So, scientifically speaking, how do different preparation methods impact coffee flavor?
The first step is the grind. For iced coffee, the grind is typically much finer, giving the hot water as much exposure to the beans' surface area as possible, leading to a quick infusion of flavor. Meanwhile, cold brew is less "brewed" than it is "steeped," sort of like tea. The best steep time for cold brew is around 12 to 18 hours, meaning that if the grind size is too fine, your cold brew could become unbearably strong. Instead, cold brew leans toward a coarse grind that gets its strength of flavor from the sheer amount of coffee used. Exact ratios of coffee-to-water for cold brew vary, but more coffee is used compared to iced coffee across the board, resulting in what's often described as a more robust or full-bodied flavor (also owed to the long length of steeping time). The strong flavor also sticks around through nearly the whole time you're sipping it, as opposed to iced coffee, which often becomes diluted when the cold ice melts in the process of chilling the hot-brewed drink.
In addition to that, cold brew is known to taste less acidic because fewer acids are extracted in cold water. This smoother flavor is due to the careful filtering process. In other words, cold brew has a lot going for it, but there is one reason you might want to stick to iced coffee. Cold brew can be a lot more caffeinated, making it a poor choice for an afternoon pick-me-up if you're hoping to get to bed at any reasonable hour.