Not everyone is a fan of a hot cup of coffee and a recent trend of cold brews has started to hit the homes of coffee lovers. There most certainly is a difference between mixing hot and cold water for your morning cup of coffee. Anyone who says otherwise needs to pay close attention to this article, as we are going to uncover if cold brewed coffee is worth the hype.
It’s no secret that coffee can be made with eighter hot or cold water. But only a small percentage of coffee lovers practice the latter or the two. People drink cold brewed coffee mostly outside, as making it demands more patience.
The perfect cold brew cup of coffee should sit for 12 to 24 hours, and this is the reason no one has the time to do it. Cold brew coffee lovers tend to mix large amounts of ground coffee with cold water and leave them for hours in a mason jar. Cold brews require more coffee to water ratio. The general ratio for hot coffee is 8 to 1, while for cold is 4 to 1. This means 4 tbsp of ground coffee to 1 cup of water. Once the mix is properly filtered, we add more water or milk before the coffee is being served.
According to coffee-brewing-methods.com, hot water produces fragrant coffee, which is acidic, while cold water produces a sweeter and smoother taste. This is the ultimate reward that cold coffee lovers are so desperate for.
Is the Difference in Flavor That Important?
The flavor of coffee is due to a variety of volatile compounds and other components found in ground coffee. These components are aromatic oils, acids, and various organic molecules. Through brewing, we extract the bad compounds in ground coffee and the result is a cup of aromatic compounds and water. The flavor of the coffee depends on the water temperature and of course, the brewing time.
To put things briefly, hot water accelerates the release of aromatic compounds but causes oxidation and degradation of the volatile coffee compounds, which makes your drink bitter and sour.
On the other hand, cold water doesn’t accelerate the release of aromatic compounds and doesn’t cause oxidation and degradation. Subsequently, cold water gives you coffee a completely different taste, one that is smooth and sweet.
Why is Cold Brew Coffee Better?
Hot coffee lovers will categorically state that a hot cup of coffee contains more caffeine than cold brews. But we would like to say that caffeine is water-soluble and that ground coffee will leak during a lengthy extraction method. If you want higher concentrations of caffeine, then you should add more coffee grounds.
However, that completely contradicts the point made previously. Cold brews use more coffee grounds than the traditional hot cup of coffee. This means that cold brews contain more caffeine than hot brews. But the amount of caffeine is somewhat suppressed due to the fact that most people add milk or extra water to their coffee.
Below we will state some of the Pros of cold brews:
• Less Acidic
• This method is easier and more selective
• Cold water doesn’t alter the chemical structure of aromatic compounds
• Sweeter and smoother taste
• You can drink it without fear of degradation; the taste is the same even if you drink it after 24 hours
• Higher amounts of caffeine
• Perfectly mixed taste when added milk
