Can any Coffee Beans be Used for Cold Brew?
As anyone who enjoys trying different types of coffee. I tried cold brew and fell in love with it directly because it feels completely different from any other coffee I have tried, including ice coffee. But I ran into this strange problem, and it is my sense that cold brew is not what it should be and that it needs improvement. After several experiments that took a long time, due to the long period of preparing cold brew, I reached a convincing answer for me, which is the coffee beans.
For several months, I used different coffee beans to brew cold coffee. Some of these coffee beans I bought recently, some of them old, and many of them I got in small quantities from friends and the like. I used many well-known and unknown brands of coffee beans until I reached my final result. Later I will talk about the brands of coffee beans that I used. My conclusion is that the type and quality of coffee beans is very important to get great cold brew.
The quality and the type of coffee beans affects the final product of the cold brew coffee. There are coffee beans that are suitable for making cold brew, and there are coffee beans that are completely unsuitable for making cold brew. After several experiments with different types of coffee beans, I concluded that Arabica coffee is the undisputed best for cold coffee, especially Ethiopian coffee.
What Type of Coffee Beans for Cold Brew? Arabica or Robusta
Without a doubt, you can use any types of coffee beans, whether good, bad, old, or whatever. But after a while, and you will remember my words, you will feel that the cold brew is not okay and that you need something deficient. Bad or stale coffee beans are never best suited for making cold brew. Bad coffee beans will be bad for any type of coffee drinks, whether it is cold brew or espresso. And old coffee will never be better than new coffee beans that still retain the flavor of the coffee.
Cold brew needs coffee beans that are rich in the natural sweet coffee flavor and antioxidants, and it also needs coffee beans that contain less amounts of caffeine and acids. That is why I found that Arabica coffee beans, especially Ethiopian coffee beans, because it contain all the previous specifications.
By the way, that doesn’t mean that other coffee beans like Robusta are bad. On the contrary, it may suit you perfectly, but we are talking about the most suitable for cold brew.
Not all Arabica coffee is good for making cold coffee. Use Arabica coffee beans of high quality and distinctive features such as the date of picking and the place of cultivation. It may take some time to find the right coffee beans for your cold brew.
Why Arabica is an excellent coffee for cold coffee?
Because Arabica coffee offers all that cold brew needs to become better flavored. I will talk in detail about the strengths that make Arabica coffee beans so suitable for cold coffee.
- Rich taste and aroma: Although Arabica beans are somewhat fragile and require more attention than Robusta beans, they are distinguished by being rich in flavor, and when you steep them in water in order to prepare for making cold brew, you will be surprised by the strength of the resulting flavor. Some claim that it is even stronger than espresso.
- Variety of flavor: The presence of Arabica beans for a long time in different places of the world and in a completely different weather conditions, has given distinction and diversity to Arabica flavors. This variety will open up new avenues for you to explore a new taste for your cold coffee.
- Sweet flavor: You do not have to add any sweetness flavors to your cold brew. Arabica coffee is naturally sweet, and when you roast it for dark roast for example, you will get a very nice chocolate taste.
- Less caffeine: As a result of steeping the coffee in water for more than 24 hours, the flavor of the coffee becomes stronger. This is the biggest reason that made me prefer Arabica coffee beans over Robusta coffee beans when preparing cold coffee. Robusta contains caffeine up to 3%, while Arabica coffee does not exceed 1.7% in the best case.
- Less bitterness: This is one of the most important advantages of Arabica coffee when preparing cold coffee with it. Little bitterness and little sourness give cold brew an amazing flavor that is just difficult to describe.
- Low acidity: In fact, when preparing any type of coffee, it is good for coffee beans to have a low acidity, neither too low nor too high. For me, the lower the acidity, the better. Currently, almost all coffee beans have a low acidity.
- Antioxidants: Coffee beans are one of the richest sources of antioxidants. Therefore, you do not need specific advice in this area.
You Should not Use old/bad Coffee Beans for Cold brew
Many are surprised when I express my opinion not to use old and bad coffee beans for cold brewing. I have tried a lot of old and bad coffees from various types of coffee, including cold brew. The result is always the same, which is that old coffee beans and bad coffee beans are never suitable for preparing wonderful, refreshing and delicious cold brew coffee.
But I remember what I said earlier that you may be able to make cold brew acceptable taste by using old or bad coffee beans. But it will never be promoted as a long-serving coffee drink. Some say that cold brew is tolerant to some extent. But your inner feeling and your craving for a distinctive and wonderful coffee drink will never be forgiven.
Coffee Bean Brands I have Tested
During my simple research on how to improve my cold brew. I noticed that coffee beans have a direct effect on the flavor and quality of cold brew. So I started changing the brand of coffee beans every time I plan to make cold brew. I’ll use my humble memory and give you a list of the coffee bean brands I used to test:
- Colombian roast from Costco.
- Starbucks breakfast mix and Starbucks winter blend.
- Coffee Beans Kick Horse Kickassز
- I wish death a coffee.
- Mount Elephant.
- Elevation coffee.
- Texas Turtle Coffee.
- Sumatran beans roasted medium.
- Hawaiian macadamia coffee.
- Eight O’clock Coffee.
I’m not going to tell you now which brand of coffee beans above is the undisputed best for brewing cold coffee. But I’ll make the answer much better, which type of coffee bean is suitable for cold brewing. There are two types of coffee beans, they are Arabica and Robusta. After you know what type of coffee bean is suitable for brewing a cold drink, and why this type. All you have to do is buy any fresh coffee beans from any brand and you will undoubtedly be great for making cold coffee.
With Cold Brew: Whichever You Prefer The Ground Coffee or The Whole Beans
Personally, I don’t prefer pre-ground coffee. I prefer coffee beans that I grind myself. And I had previously talked in an article entitled The difference between ground coffee and whole beans, in this article I explained in more detail the advantages of ground coffee and the advantages of whole coffee beans.
Is Using Pre-Roasted Coffee Beans Better for Preparing Cold Brew
If a lot of time has passed since roasting the coffee beans, I think it is better to get rid of it and get freshly roasted coffee beans. To know the reason behind this, you can read this article entitled Roasted or Unroasted Coffee Beans, where you will learn more about the advantages of each type of roasting coffee beans.
Is There Instant Coffee to Make Cold Brew?
Currently there is no instant coffee that makes cold coffee of the highest quality. If you are interested in instant coffee and its available types. I advise you to read this article about instant coffee.
Are There Coffee Capsules or Pods for Making Cold Brew?
Coffee capsules and Pods are not significantly different from instant coffee. Currently, there are no coffee capsules or pods that serve cold coffee. I already did an article about coffee capsules and bots explaining the main difference between them.
