Baristas Share People’s Biggest Mistakes Making Iced Coffee

Brewing iced coffee at home can be a simple and effective way to enjoy the caffeine. However, there are several mistakes that can lead to a weak or sour cup of coffee.

1. Using Too Much Water: The ice in your beverage will inevitably melt, leading to a diluted drink that may taste too weak, too watery, too warm, or a combination of all three. To reduce this unpleasant drinking experience, brew your coffee with a stronger grounds-to-water ratio. The typical recommendation is 1 gram of coffee to 16 grams of water, but when planning to drink your coffee iced, use a slightly stronger ratio of 1:12 or a double-strength 1:8.

2. Pouring Hot Coffee Over Ice: Compounding the dilution problem is the common practice of pouring a freshly brewed cup of joe directly over ice without allowing it to cool first. Instead, chill your coffee in the fridge before you pour it over ice. If you simply can’t wait for your coffee to cool, swap your traditional ice cubes with coffee-based ones; fill an ice cube tray with coffee and freeze. When used, your beverage will stay cold without the risk of it becoming watered down.

3. Storing Your Brewed Coffee Wrong: Don’t just pop a glass filled with java into your fridge and wait an hour or two for it to chill. Coffee stored in an open container will inevitably take on some funky flavors, so instead, pour your brew into a sealed vessel and avoid leaving it on the kitchen counter, where it’s likely to mold more quickly than the cool fridge.

4. Leaving The Coffee In The Fridge Too Long Before Using It: Even if your brewed coffee is stored properly, you’ll want to use it soon after it cools. The longer your brewed coffee sits before you drink it, the more it will acquire stale flavors. The longer your cup of coffee sits, the more natural oils present in your brewed coffee will develop unpleasant and potentially even rancid flavors.

Fresh-brewed coffee is going to have the most intense aromatics, and so the fresher is probably going to result in the better taste. If you don’t want to brew a fresh batch every day, try prepping cold brew instead. The coffee is brewed at a cool temperature, so it doesn’t oxidize as quickly, develops fewer acidic flavors, and can be stored for one to two weeks without a significant change in taste.

The pour-over brewing method produces clearer, lighter coffee, ideal for lighter roasts and fruity flavors. It is suitable for those who prefer a fruitier drink or those who prefer iced coffee black. To avoid unpleasant paper taste, wet the filter before adding grounds and dump the water out of the vessel. The French press produces coffee with a full, heavy body, best suited for darker roasts and chocolatey, intense flavors. This brewing technique can be softened with milk and ice.

For delicious coffee-making, use coffee according to the roast date, brew with filtered water, and stay focused on pulses for pour-overs or plunge the French press or AeroPress. McCarthy suggests making one change at a time to improve your cup and treating it like a science project. Your perfect cup should be enjoyable and reproducible on a daily basis.

Making iced coffee shouldn’t be a stressful experience; experiment and find the perfect method for you. Taste and smell are subjective, so enjoy your iced coffee as you like, and no one can tell you how to enjoy it but you.

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