Cold Brew vs. Cold Drip

The differences between cold brew vs. cold drip coffee.
Cold Brew VS Cold Drip
15 May 2023

To say the very least, cold coffee has become the "it girl" of the coffee world. Some whispers say it's projected to completely take over hot coffee by 2023. Surprising? You tell us.

So, what is it about cold coffee that we love so much? Well besides the fact that it's the refreshment fix we need on a hot day, it's safe to say the benefits go well beyond the product itself, but rather, the experience. In fact, most people believe it's the act of cold drinking that enhances the overall experience and releases nuanced flavours.

Cold Brew vs. Cold Drip

Cold Brew VS Cold Drip 2

As if cold coffee wasn't trendy enough, the words 'hip' and 'trendy' took on a whole new meaning with the introduction of two trendsetters by the names of Cold Brew and Cold Drip. 💧

Aren't they the same thing? 🤔

Uh, no. And here's the first lesson in why: Cold Brew is the process of extracting coffee by immersing it in water and allowing it to infuse. Not to be confused with its friend Cold Drip which is the coffee extraction process by percolation. Cold Brew? Infusion. Cold Drip? Percolation. Lesson one complete. ☑️

A little about Cold Brew:

Now that we understand the main point in difference, let's look at how they're made.

Cold Brew uses time instead of heat to extract the oils and caffeine from the coffee beans. To make it, you'll need a grinder, brewer, and of course, coffee. As the name would suggest, it's made using this fancy little term called an immersion technique - coffee grounds and cold water are left to "brew" over a period of 12-14 hours.

Once the coffee's been left to brew, filter for drinking and generally serve over ice - Voilà!

Cold Drip:

While Cold Brew is an immersion of coffee and cold water, Cold Drip separates the cold water from the grounds completely.

If you've ever seen an almighty Cold Drip Tower, you'll notice it looks exactly like a distilling tower. It usually consists of 3 glass vessels that allow iced water to slowly drip over freshly ground coffee. The coffee absorbs each drip of water, which then drops into a separate vessel at the bottom of the tower.

This is a 4-6 hour process - quicker than Cold Brew. Plus, unlike Cold Brew, there's no need to filter. Once it's ready just pour over ice!

To summarise, the biggest differences are:

  • Time to make
  • Infuse vs. percolation
  • Filter vs. no filter

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