Iced Coffee Vs. Cold Brew Coffee

Have you ever faced the dilemma of choosing between an Iced Coffee and a Cold Brew Coffee? They are not created equal; flavor, acidity, and caffeine content vary hugely between them. That’s why it’s so important to recognize the differences when deciding between these refreshing caffeinated summer drinks. In this post, you will learn the most important aspects for you to consider when taking such an important decision.

Iced Coffee vs. Cold Brew Coffee: Extraction, time and temperature

Iced Coffee

Iced coffee refers to the temperature of the final drink rather than the temperature of the brewing process. An Iced Coffee is prepared with premium coffee and hot water in around 10 minutes. For starting with the preparation, you can use any of the classic extraction methods like Drip Filtration, French Press, Moka Pot or Espresso Machine. Then, you only have to let the coffee cool down.

Once the coffee is at room temperature, you can start creating your iced coffee. You have two options. You can either pour it over a glass full of ice cubes with a splash of cold milk or you can use a blender to combine all these ingredients. In the first case, you will obtain a classic Iced Coffee. If you go for the second, the result will be a creamy drink with a slushy consistency. You can also fancy up your Iced Coffee with a dash of flavored syrup, cinnamon and cream topping.

Cold Brew coffee

When it comes to Cold Brew Coffee, the logic goes the opposite way. The term Cold Brew Coffee indicates the temperature of the brewing process instead of the temperature of the final drink. A Cold Brew Coffee is extracted by soaking premium ground coffee with room-temperature water. The extraction relies on time and it can take up to 24 hours. You only need a Cold Brew Coffee System for preparing it. They come in any size and budget imaginable.

The result you obtain when cold brewing is a coffee with a smoother flavor profile. You can prepare it with countless recipes, hot or cold… interesting, right? For enjoying a summer drink, though, the best way is to pour the Cold Brew Coffee over a glass filled with ice cubes and add a splash of milk. We recommend you to appreciate your Cold Brew Coffee simple, as it has enough flavor for indulging your palate.

Iced Coffee vs. Cold Brew Coffee: Flavor, Acidity and Caffeine

The extraction method may seem as a minor difference between Iced Coffee and Cold Brew Coffee. However, it affects the final result greatly, and there is science behind that. Besides caffeine, there are thousands of flavor molecules in a coffee bean. These are sweet, acidic and oleic; and the temperature and time of their extraction process affects them directly.

Sweet molecules, for instance, are soluble; which means they can be easily released with hot or cold water. The real game changer here is time. The larger the exposure of coffee to water, the sweeter the coffee. That said, a Cold Brew Coffee will always be sweeter and smoother in flavor than an Iced Coffee.

Conversely, acidic and oleic molecules are not soluble and require high temperatures rather than time to be release. That’s why an Iced Coffee, which is prepared with hot water, will be more bitter and harsh than a Cold Brew Coffee. Some may even argue that Cold Brew Coffee is gentler with their stomachs due to the low levels of acidity and mellow flavor.

We cannot finish this debate without talking about caffeine. Truth is that temperature and time affect the extraction of caffeine, as it is a soluble element. Any hot brewing method used in the preparation of Iced Coffee increases caffeine solubility, however the shorter time of exposure to water limits the levels of caffeine content. In the other hand, Cold Brew Coffee has very long exposure, which makes it a more caffeinated drink.