Coffee fanatics previously seen sipping their chocolate-dusted skinny cappuccino with two teaspoons of sugar or a dirty chai with almond milk served in a warmed latte glass can now be heard all over the country requesting cold drip coffee. For those of us yet to join in the hype, this can sound like another fast trend that too shall pass, when in reality; cold drip or cold brew is an age-old method and thought to have origins in South-East Asia.
Cold drip has been rising in popularity again as it produces a sweeter flavour rather than the acidic taste usually associated with coffee. The cold drip or cold brew method highlights the natural and exotic flavours of chocolate, caramel and even hints of fruit and gives further importance to sourcing high quality and increasingly single origin more so than bean blends from coffee growing regions around the world. So what exactly defines cold drip coffee from a regular coffee brewed hot?
Cold Drip Coffee Apparatus.
Cold drip is a process of steeping coarsely ground coffee in room temperature or cold water for a certain time, usually more than 10 hours. For many specialised boutique cafes proudly boasting their cold drip, this is done using water of the purest and highly filtered kind. The cold drip can then be used straight up as an espresso or diluted with either hot or cold water or milk, or simply poured over ice. Chemically, a hot coffee is high in chlorogenic acid and as it cools, it forms quinic acid and the bitter flavour associated with coffee that we have come to love today.
Although it may take considerable time and look like a mad scientist performing outrageous clinical experiments, brewing coffee cold decreases the acidic taste and enhances natural elements which may explain this fast ascent to today’s trend. Just quietly, it also makes for a fantastic espresso martini, as cold brewed coffee works well when mixed with liquor.
Your next morning routine?
For adventurous coffee drinkers, try creating your own cold brew at home by experimenting with beans and the rate of water dripping through a specialty filter. For some quick tips to achieve the best cold brew coffee for you, try single origin beans with a roast date of less than two weeks and if possible, already ground somewhere between the granule sizes of raw sugar and refined sugar. For those shorter on time or who simply enjoy the convenience of being handed a coffee in all its ready-made and caffeinated perfection, wrap your hands around a cold brew at the following locations:
Pure Boutique Coffee Bar - Glenelg, SA
Haven - Tailoring Coffee Joyously – Surry Hills NSW
Deedot Coffee house – Holland Park, QLD
Studio 37 Coffee Bar – Fremantle, WA
If you're still not feeling adventurous with the Cold Drip Trend, Two Little Pigs Charcuterie and Grind have a delicious hot blend on Brunswick's Sydney Road as well as Heritage Coffee Brewers in Sydney's Summer Hill.
