Article

Cold brew coffee finds some mainstream success

While some argue the cold-brew process makes better-tasting beverages, it does pose some operational challenges.

July 11, 2010

By Lisa Bertagnoli

In late June, Bread Alone, a fast-casual bakery/café concept with locations in Boiceville, Woodstock and Rhinebeck, N.Y., began using a cold-brew process for drinks.

To cold-brew coffee, Bread Alone puts ground coffee in a mesh bag, then submerges it in cold water and refrigerates it overnight. Before straining the liquid, staffers “massage” the bag to make sure all of the essential flavors and oils are extracted. The result is a syrup that’s diluted with water and kept in a carafe. The staff uses that dilution to make cold coffee drinks. Fountain said the syrup holds for about four days; after that, staff discards leftovers and makes a fresh batch.

Claire Fountain, the company’s pastry chef, said switching to the cold brew method was a business decision. The cafes have been improving their coffee program, including sourcing a new roaster, and decided that cold brew was a better way to showcase the new beans.

While the method produces a better-tasting coffee, she noted two drawbacks: Cold brew costs more because the ratio of beans to water is higher, and storage of the large cold-brew container is an issue in smaller cafes.

To compensate for the decrease in hold time, the café raised the prices of its cold drinks by about 20 cents, making a 16-ounce iced coffee now $2.05.

The cold brew process has historically been used by just a handful of brands although it has gained some recent popularity as a brewing method.

Even though the hot method remains prevalent -- proponents say it’s faster, easier to manage operationally, and produces a good cold beverage -- cold-brew fans say that method produces a smoother-tasting coffee more suitable for cold beverages. The downsides: Cold brew takes longer to make and is more labor-intensive.

To cold-brew coffee, coarse-ground coffee is combined with water in a French press (or in a mesh bag suspended in a container of cold water), and left in the refrigerator for eight to 24 hours, depending on the strength of the coffee desired.

The resulting liquid is - again depending on the strength - either a ready-to-use coffee or a concentrate that’s diluted with cold water, which is used to make iced-coffee drinks. The key phrase is iced coffee; the cold brew is not used to make iced espresso-based drinks, such as iced mocha.

A smooth move

Seattle’s Best Coffee has always used cold brew to make iced-coffee drinks and milkshakes, said Steve Hayter, director of beverage, food, merchandise categories and R&D at the 600-unit, Seattle-based concept.

Hayter said the only drawback is the brewing time - 18 to 24 hours to produce the cold-brew concentrate Seattle’s Best uses - but he feels the resulting quality is worth it. Cold brewing extracts the flavors of the coffee and leaves behind undesirable acids and oils, resulting in a smooth, slightly sweet coffee that is half as acidic as that made using other methods, Hayter said.

Minneapolis-based Caribou Coffee is also a longtime cold-brew user. “It’s a very different method that yields very different results,” said Chad Trewick, senior director of coffee and tea at the 563-unit concept. “It is a delicious, smooth, silky-bodied extraction,” he said.

Caribou uses a coarse grind and brews the coffee for 12 to 14 hours, a method that produces a ready-to-drink coffee. For Trewick, the only drawback is the mess: The coffee is brewed in a container with a spigot, and after the brew is drained from the container, it leaves behind a mass of spent grounds. “It’s a bit more on the labor side - it’s sitting there, then someone has to drain it,” he explained. “But the extra effort is worth it.”

Cold not hot for everyone

Although that extra effort is worth the operational challenge for concepts such as Caribou, not every café has had a positive user experience.

Café Java, a seven-unit coffee and bakery chain based in Morristown, N.J., switched to hot brew after an unsuccessful experiment with cold brew. Guests simply didn’t like the resulting drink, said Suhail Sara, director of operations. “They said it tasted like concentrate,” he said.

Guests also missed the theatrical aspect of making a cold drink. “They want to see the espresso coming out of the machine, nice and creamy, with that smell and nice taste,” Sara said.

Los Angeles-based Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf also switched to hot when cold brew became an operational issue, said Jay Isais, senior director of coffee and manufacturing for the 250-unit chain. With cold brew, “if you don’t make enough, you run out,” he said. Because the chain is known for its cold drinks, “it’s not feasible for us to run out.”

Cold brew also is volatile: “It degrades really quickly,” he said, losing flavor and character after 12 hours in the fridge. A final concern was food safety: If the containers in which the coffee was cold-brewed were not completely sterile, there was a chance that harmful bacteria could brew along with the coffee.

Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf spent five years preparing for the switch to hot brew, which took place in January. The process included specifying a blend of five different coffees and different roast levels. And the variety gives the hot brew a broader spectrum of flavors, Isais said.

Hot brew also allows staff to make drinks “absolutely fresh,” and returns beverage ownership to the baristas, he said. But for him, the bottom line is quality. “A very good drink can be achieved with either hot or cold brew,” Isais said.