Who invented cold brew?

Includes: our cold brew recipe

There is this urban legend that cold coffee is not good. That leftover left in the coffee pot in the morning or that cup forgotten for hours on a table, is considered to have a repugnant taste. But this happens, simply, if the coffee is not good. In fact, to taste coffee well, it is advisable to drink it almost lukewarm, and for some years now, a new, even colder coffee drink has arrived to refresh our summers: the cold brew.

And you will say that cold coffee is nothing new, that iced coffee already existed (even if that, in Italy, is still a rarity). But you know it yourself: it is not the same thing. Because in iced coffee, the extraction of the coffee is that of an espresso to which an ice is added that dilutes its water in it as it heats up. And in the cold brew, the extraction works by a cold and slow infusion of the coffee, a drop by drop of more than 12 hours, which results in an aromatic and smooth drink, not bitter at all.

Who came up with this wonderful idea of using cold water instead of hot water to make coffee? The history goes back several centuries. Different sources self-refer to explain that its origin is in the Dutch, although this information is not conclusive. However, it is possible that the idea was generated by accident when using a coffee machine widespread in the Netherlands: the siphon coffee machine.

Made of glass and invented in 1830 by the Berliner Loeff, it has three parts: the first, at the base, is the heat source; the second, a water tank; the third, a tank for the ground coffee. The water, when heated, passes into the coffee compartment where it infuses, and creates a siphon or vacuum effect. It would not be strange to think that for some reason someone had inverted the pieces or had run out of a heat source, and in need of coffee (we all know what that sensation is) had decided to make coffee in a different way, without hot water.

Another hypothesis in which the Dutch are also involved speaks of the method of cold infusion of tea that the Japanese were already practicing when the first ships from the Netherlands arrived in their lands. Coincidences of life, the Dutch had been drinking coffee on their ships and to prevent any possible fire they also prepared it this way, without fire. Be that as it may, cold brew today is called 'Dutch coffee' in many Asian countries, and 'Kyoto drip coffee' for its perfection in Japan, where it takes more than 24 hours to brew a single batch. Later, in the year 2000, the Blue Bottle coffee company popularized it, and the coffee multinationals followed suit.

At home, at NOMAD, we brew liters and liters of our cold brew from Burundi Gahahe coffee for our event kegs, coffee shop carafes and cans for everyone, both cold brew and iced latte. Our recipe for making it at home is as follows:

Ingredients/utensils

1 l of bottled or filtered water

80 g coffee (Burundi Gahahe Washed process)

A container that can be covered

One filter bag

Steps

We place the ground coffee inside the filter bag or any system that allows separating the liquid coffee from the insoluble solids at the end of the extraction process.

2. Add the water.

3. Allow to infuse for 8 hours at room temperature or 12 hours in the refrigerator.

4. Remove the bag.

5. We filter the cold brew again.

6. Refrigerate the cold brew for about 2 hours.

7. Serve in a glass with a couple of ice cubes.

If, on the other hand, you prefer something quicker and just as refreshing, we leave you our Iced Coffee ready to drink, either on its own or in its version with oat drink.