Best Coffee For Cold Brew: Top 8 Picks
On a hot summer’s day, it’s hard to beat the refreshing jolt of a cold brew coffee. Known for being smooth and mild with low acidity and minimal bitterness, cold brewing can be the perfect way to bring out a coffee bean’s most subtle flavors.
Of course, not all beans are created equal and some benefit from this treatment more than others. Read on to learn all about how cold brewing affects the taste and aroma of your beverage and which beans make the best coffee for tasty cold brew.
They look like ordinary coffee beans…
FOR NEXT LEVEL COLD BREWING
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Best Cold Brew Coffee Beans
So now that you know everything to expect from cold brew, here are 8 beans that you can use to make your own at home. We consider these the best coffee for cold brew.
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Lifeboost Organic Light Roast |
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CHECK PRICE |
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Coffee Bros. Cold Brew Blend |
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SEE ON AMAZON |
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Tiny Footprint Coffee Organic Cold Press Elixir |
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SEE ON AMAZON
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Cafe Du Monde Coffee With Chicory |
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SEE ON AMAZON
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Stone Street Coffee Cold Brew Reserve Colombian Supremo Coffee |
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SEE ON AMAZON
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Cold Buzz Coffee Hazelnut |
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SEE ON AMAZON
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Metropolis Coffee Cold Brew Blend |
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SEE ON AMAZON
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Peet’s Baridi Blend |
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CHECK PRICE |
And here are the details of each of these 8 beans, starting with our favourite choice:
1. Lifeboost Organic Light Roast Beans – Healthiest option
Things we liked
- Hand Picked, Spring Water Washed & Sun Dried.
- Mycotoxin and Pesticide Free
- 100% Arabica Single-Origin
- Amazing Flavours when cold Brewed
Things we didn’t like
- Ugly Packaging
- Limited Availability
The Lifeboost Coffee Company has recently started offering this Light-roast Nicaraguan single-origin bean. If you read through the specifications you’ll see that environmentally friendly, ethically produced and healthy. But what most people haven’t realized yet is that it makes a superb cold brew.
Light roast coffee’s can be highly acidic, which is why we are suggesting this one for cold brew. Cold brewing it for 16+ hours will reduce the acidity and leave you with a smooth and flavor-bursting cold brew.
If you’re looking for something with low acidity, you want something healthy, or are just interested in brewing some exotic tasting central-American cold brew consider trying this bean by Lifeboost.
2. Coffee Bros. Cold Brew Blend
Things we liked
- Quality sourcing and small-natch roasting
- Naturally processed beans
- 100% Arabica
Things we didn’t like
- Intense smell
Coffee Bros. is a young coffee company founded by two brothers with a passion for high-quality coffee. They distinguish themselves with their commitment to quality sourcing and small-batch roasting, which ensures that each roast gets the care and attention it deserves.
Their medium roast Cold Brew Blend is perfectly crafted to emphasize the sweet and juicy flavors you want in a refreshing cold brew.
It starts with a blend of 100% Arabica beans sourced from two of the world’s premier growing regions, Minas Gerais, Brazil, and Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia. They opt for naturally processed beans, which have greater inherent sweetness, and then roast them carefully to highlight this character. The result is a smooth brew with flavors of chocolate, berry, and brown sugar.
3. Tiny Footprint Coffee Organic Cold Press Elixir
Things we liked
- Environmentally-friendly roastery.
- High-altitude, shade-grown, and 100% Arabica.
- Available ground or whole.
Things we didn’t like
- This is a blend rather than a single-origin product.
Tiny Footprint Coffee is a small roastery based in the U.S. that is focused as much on producing great beans as making healthy decisions for the planet. They have partnered with the non-profit Mindo Cloudforest Foundation and tout themselves as the world’s first ‘carbon negative’ coffee.
For every pound of coffee they sell, they offset the carbon used in its production and distribution by planting trees in the Ecuadorian cloud forest.
Their Cold Press Elixir is produced specifically with cold brewing in mind. It is a mix of light and dark roasts highlighted with some high-end Ethiopian beans.
The result is a silky richness and sweet taste with subtle bright fruit and floral tones infused in a cocoa-like body.
4. Cafe Du Monde Coffee (With Chicory)
Things we liked
- Inexpensive and readily available.
- The resultant coffee is extremely low in bitterness and very smooth.
- These beans are equivalently good whether brewed hot or cold.
- If you like dairy in your coffee, these take well to the addition of milk or cream.
Things we didn’t like
- The distinctive chicory taste will not be enjoyed by everyone.
- These beans have less caffeine due to dilution with chicory.
Cafe du Monde is a french coffee shop that has been operating in New Orleans since 1862. Popular among tourists, many say that its famed chicory coffee makes for an excellent cold brew. The chicory root is softened, ground and added to coffee to limit the bitterness of a dark roast.
It adds a sweet tobacco-smoke aroma enhances much of what is already appealing about cold brew — low bitterness, smooth and light body, and mellow flavors.
5. Stone Street Coffee Cold Brew Reserve Colombian Supremo Coffee
Things we liked
- Single-origin beans from one of the world’s premier growing regions.
- Selected specifically for their bold flavour to be highlighted by cold brewing.
- Available either pre-ground or in whole bean form to ensure freshness.
Things we didn’t like
- Relatively expensive compared to other options.
Stone Street Coffee is another American small-batch roastery offering beans designated specifically for cold brew. They pride themselves on their ethical and intimate sourcing relationships with the best coffee farms and growing regions around the world.
The premium single-origin arabica Colombian Supremo beans are dark roasted to produce a slightly sweet, smooth, well balanced, and bold coffee flavor.
Colombian Supremo beans are characterized by notes of fruit, chocolate, and caramel and are widely considered to be among the best in the world.
6. Cold Buzz Coffee Hazelnut
Things we liked
- Very convenient thanks to the pre-bagged ground.
- The clean-up process is also easy with no filtering required.
Things we didn’t like
- Limited flexibility when it comes to other brewing methods.
- This is not a roastery and the beans only come pre-ground, so freshness is probably compromised.
Cold Buzz Coffee makes cold brewing as easy as possible by selling pre-ground beans already in bags, like tea bags. All you need to do is add water and soak overnight.
They source their 100% arabica beans from Central and South America and Europe. They are aware that cold brew is expensive because it requires many more grounds than hot coffee, so they work with roasters and wholesalers to try and keep costs down.
Cold Buzz Coffee offers a number of flavors, but the hazelnut is highly recommended. The sweet, buttery flavor is enhanced with a dark roast that makes it perfect for cold brewing.
7. Metropolis Coffee Cold Brew Blend
Things we liked
- Each bag is roasted to order for maximum freshness.
- Beans are available pre-ground or whole.
Things we didn’t like
- These beans are relatively expensive compared with others on the list.
- They do not ship worldwide.
- There is no information as to what beans make up the blend.
Metropolis (1) is a Chicago-based coffee company with a commitment to sourcing the finest coffees through developing sound relationships with farmers. Most notably, from Monday to Thursday, they roast each bag of beans to order.
This commitment to freshness suggests an appreciation for fine coffee that seems to be lacking among other purveyors of cold brew specialty coffee blends.
The Metropolis Coffee Cold Brew Blend is another offering that is blended and roasted with cold brewing in mind. The roast is atypically dark, giving a final product with flavors of dark melted chocolate, walnut and a hint of toast.
8. Peets ‘Baridi Blend’
Things we liked
- Peet’s beans are widely available.
- This blend is not confined to cold coffees alone; it is also excellent brewed hot.
- Beans are available pre-ground or whole.
Things we didn’t like
- This is a blend, rather than a single-origin offering.
Peet’s is one of largest and the most trusted roasters and distributors of quality coffees. Baridi (the Swahili word for cold) is a specialty blend designed for both iced coffee and cold brew. Though not single-origin coffee, the beans making up the blend are all sourced from East Africa: Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Rwanda.
Products from these nations were chosen to maximize aroma, a feature that is frequently lacking in cold coffee.
The fruity, juiciness of beans from this region makes this a particularly refreshing cold beverage. After experimentation, a medium roast was settled upon to best deliver a bold, smooth and slightly sweet flavor.
What Is Cold Brew?
To understand which beans make the best cold brew, it is important to first understand cold brew itself. Namely, the distinction between cold brew and iced coffee. Cold brew coffee is made without any heat at all.
Most often, ground coffee beans are steeped in cold filtered water for a long period of time in order to extract the flavor of the beans. In contrast, iced coffee is made from regular brewed coffee that has been cooled and poured over ice cubes.
The Effects Of Temperature on taste
Hot coffee is extracted between 91 and 96 degrees Celsius (195 – 205 F) whereas cold brew is extracted between 2 and 21 degrees Celsius (35 – 70 F). The absence of heat from the brewing process gives cold brew its unique and prized characteristics, but also means it requires twice as many grounds and many additional hours of brewing time compared with hot methods.
Many of the acids and solubles responsible for light and floral notes in coffee are only extracted above certain temperatures. For this reason, cold brew is low in acid and easy on the stomach, but also tends to have more muted flavors. Choosing the right beans is the best way to ensure a cup that is both smooth and flavorful.
When choosing the best beans for cold brew, there are a few factors you need to consider.
Immersion vs Cold Drip Cold Brewing
There are two primary ways to make cold brew coffee – immersion and slow drip. The immersion method is usually favored by home brewers for its simplicity.
Ground beans are steeped in cold water for 12 – 24 hours before being filtered out. In the slow drip process, ice water is slowly dripped onto ground beans and collected in a carafe below. The main advantage of this method is its relative speed, though it still takes 3 to 5 hours to yield a cup of cold brew.
However, the specialized equipment requires investment.
From a flavor standpoint, the immersion method results in a full-bodied concentrated brew whereas the drip method yields a more dilute medium-bodied beverage. Brewing method can be an important consideration when choosing beans for cold brew.
The Grind size Matters (a lot)
Whether buying pre-ground beans for cold brew or grinding them yourself, be aware that grind matters.
A coarse grind is always preferable for a cold brew. Fine grounds often produce more harsh or bitter flavors as a result of being over-extracted.
If using the slow drip method, the grind size is particularly important. A coarse grind is quicker to begin dripping, while a finer grind can sometimes become too dense and restrict the flow of water. Just make sure to use a good coffee grinder for cold brew coffee.
Dark Or Light Roast?
Choosing between a dark roast or a light roast coffee is largely a matter of personal preference. Your best bet is to experiment. Don’t assume that your roast preference for hot coffee will hold true for cold coffee.
Experts are divided on the question. Some suggest light to medium roasts, which are naturally more acidic, because the cold brewing process eliminates much of the acidity of the beans. Other cold brewers recommend dark roasts because cold brew has a tendency to taste of darker, richer flavors, like chocolate, nuts and earthiness.
The bright acidity that characterizes light roasts may be difficult to extract through cold brewing and result in overall muted flavors. Whichever you choose, bear in mind that lighter roasts will require a longer extraction time because the cellular structure of the beans has been less damaged by the roasting process.
Single-Origin Or Blend?
While the question as to light or dark roasts seems to divide experts, most agree that single-origin beans are the best option for cold brew. Learn more about single origin beans in this post. The cold brewing process allows the taster to experience the more subtle notes of a bean and truly appreciate the single-origin product.
While blends make sense for something like espresso or regular coffee, where a barista needs to balance acidity, sweetness, and bitterness, the absence of bitterness and acidity in a cold brew renders this process unnecessary.
We are about to show you a whole list of the best option for cold brew, but here’s some of the best coffee beans in the world you should try (hot or cold).
To Milk Or Not To Milk?
This is again a matter of personal taste. Many experts recommend drinking cold brew coffee black because its flavors are already so subtle that it would be a disservice to further dilute them with dairy.
If you always add a little milk or cream to your coffee, consider sampling the cold brew without first. You may be pleasantly surprised.
If you find it lacking, try mixing three parts cold brew with one part milk. Or, get creative with one of our delicious cold brew recipes.
THE VERDICT: Your Cold Brew Is Up To You..but…
As I’ve already stated, the best coffee for cold brew is probably the one that tastes the best to you.
Dark or light roast, milk or cream, slow drip or infusion are all personal preferences that can influence your decision and any of the options reviewed above might appeal.
That said; Stone Street Colombian Supremo is a great place to start.
This single-origin offering uses world class beans to deliver a delicious bold flavor that is wonderful served hot or cold.
We’d love to hear what you thought of this article in the comments along with your recommendations for the best beans for cold brew.
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References
- Metropolis Coffee: Great Coffee for Everyone! Retrieved from https://www.metropoliscoffee.com/
