Everything I Learned About Cold Brew Coffee

Yeah sure, release this video right after the end of summer. You really don't want people to drink Cold Brew, huh James?

I just realized why I a non coffee drinker loves watching these videos. James Hoffmann is the "Good Eats" of the coffee world. He is a science communicator for coffee like Alton Brown is for cooking.

I didn't think I needed fish to brew coffee better, but what a journey James takes us on

The coffee waste was the biggest issue for me, and why I haven’t made cold brew for awhile. So I really appreciate that you addressed that issue here. Thanks for this!

I’ve found that using vodka instead of water helps make cold brew substantially better.

As a former commercial brewer, it's always interesting to see other applications of products and methods used in the brewing industry. For beer, clarification can be done without fining agents, because you can use extreme cold and pressure to drive flocculation. Also, because the product has dissolved CO2, and is kept under a CO2 blanket, we generally don't have to worry about oxidation. I would be interested in seeing how cold brew in a small keg would do, with CO2 blanketing to avoid oxidation. I've been using your previous method for "cold brew", using my Clever Dripper with a concentrated brew that I bring to serving strength by mixing in ice. That works great for me, since I tend to like darker roasts. I'll have to try this. For people worried about mixing additives into their coffee, know that all fining agents are very safe, not only because of their composition, but because the whole point is that they settle out, so they don't make it into the thing you're drinking. The one James showed is derived from plants, but the synthetic ones (such as colloidal silica) are also great, though they may be less available to the public in small quantities.

It's a really difficult thing to present something as subjective as taste, without the presenter giving their opinions on taste as if they're the only valid ones, handed down from on high. It's a trap that many (not all) cooking channels fall into, sadly. James never seems to make that mistake - always has an open mind, and explains his opinions with reasoning, not just internet snark. I guess that's why I'm subscribed, despite the fact that my favorite form of coffee is as a flavor of ice cream.

I can not believe I’m about to criticize the Hoffmann but here we go. As a person with experience at laboratory work, I can see flaws on the method used for separating your cold brew (without using a centrifuge). 1. The container matters!, if you want to separate by pouring the upper phase (supernatant), a narrow container will help a lot. If time of extraction doesn’t matter, after 2-4 hours pour over. 2. Once you separate the big particles, this is a good moment to add the sedimenting agent and let it work for another couple of hours, I bet this would improve the clarity and feeling of the final result. I can’t wait to try myself 😅 thanks for the video

Just as the weather is getting nice and chilly

Wow having a separate audio track with the slurps removed seems so insane to me. It’s just a level of detail that is fascinating.