What the popularity of cold brew coffee really means.

Many years ago, in the late 60's and early 70's, coffee consumption was declining in America. It had been declining for some time in fact. The coffee industry had come up with several reasons for the decline: the rise in popularity of soft drinks, the perception that coffee was an old person's drink, increased interest in healthy foods and beverages, and so on. The International Coffee Organization performed an annual "Winter Drinking Study" to analyze the trends of coffee drinkers and for years consumption had been on the decline. Moreover, those who were drinking coffee were using more sweeteners and "whitening" agents. This was the era of mass marketed RPG coffee driven primarily by couponing. Coffee brands were largely indistinguishable as each attempted to be cheaper than their competitors. Flavor had denigrated to a thin, soury, insipid brew.

Into this arena arrived an apt solution for dealing with such low quality coffee: cold brewing via the Toddy Maker. The Toddy Maker allowed users to soak cheap grocery coffee grounds overnight in the fridge and the thick filter extracted out the soury acids that dominated the taste in regular brew. Since it soaked for a number of hours, the resulting solution would have some semblance of body, making the coffee more palatable. Naturally, there was no aroma to the resulting solution since it was merely soaked and not brewed with hot water. This was no loss since the coffee was stale anyway and had long ago lost any aroma. So, all in all, it was an excellent way to make poor coffee drinkable. 

We have come a long way from those days of little choice in the grocery store aisles. These days one can find any number of small, craft, quality-focused coffee roasters in most any town. Along with the rise in these roasters has been the drastic improvement in brewing technology. Programmable, pulse-controlled coffee brewers are capable of producing outstandingly flavorful coffee, with brewing profiles to bring out the best aroma and taste. These brewers can be set up to make excellent iced coffee as well, retaining all the delicious aromas and flavor in an iced version. With all these technical innovations and access to fresh roasted coffee one would think that there would be a corresponding improvement in coffee flavor. Sadly, I would argue, that we have gone backwards. Somehow it has become fashionable to only offer thin, soury coffee made from manual pour-over brewers.

It comes with little surprise then that there has been a resurgence in cold brew coffee with hip new roasters extolling the virtues of cold brew. Some are even bottling said cold brew coffee for the ready-to-drink market. Compared to regular brewed coffee they promote cold brew's smoothness and rich body. It's the latest thing. And like so much in our modern coffee industry, nostalgia and novelty trumps critical observation. The simple fact remains, if your coffee improves through cold brewing it is an indictment of the coffee, not a validation of the brew. As stated earlier, the great thing about cold brewing is it makes poor coffee drinkable. The downside is that it makes great coffee merely drinkable. 

Cold brewing is an oxymoron, there is no "brewing" of coffee in cold water. One only soaks the grounds in cold water. Brewing, and brewing at the correct temperature and timing, releases the aromas of the coffee and extracts the flavors. That is why there is no aroma to cold brew, only a swamp gas smell from the grounds soaking overlong. It saddens me to see enthusiastic coffee people preaching this over-hyped method. The popularity of cold brew says a lot about the current state of coffee quality. The tide of quality seems to be going out with the third wave.


At this rate, the next big thing to come along in third-wave coffee will be the "discovery" of instant coffee.


22 comments:

Unknown said...

Great comments as always Mark (as I sip my delicious morning Rwanda and think about my afternoon Bolivia Caranavi). When will we see you on Broadway?

The Retro Dad said...

Very insightful. I've yet to try cold brew. I'm assuming it's safe to say that Dunkin's new Cold Brew is but a mere shadow of what you can get in the smaller independent shops?

John R. Dixon said...

Hey Mark. Just read your another superb piece of content. I was always curious about what cold brew coffee really means. You made my concept pretty clear on this topic. By the way can I share it as a reference in my blog: Kitchenfolks.com

Mark Overly said...

Richard: you are welcomed to share my blog on yours, thanks!

generousmedium said...

"Artisan" instant is already here. Saw an ad for it the other day.

generousmedium said...

"Artisan" instant is already here. Saw an ad for it the other day.

Unknown said...

Nice to read with Drink The Coffee

Brooke said...

Thanks for the post Mark and explaining cold brew coffee. Really appreciate the post. Coming from one coffee fanatic to another, I saw some intriguing coffee sayings that I wanted to share with you and your readers here if you don't mind: Coffee Slogans

Jimy said...

nice post

Unknown said...

A Dutch cold coffee contraption, where a slow drip of ice water seeps through coarse grounds and drips (optionally through a pigtail tube for effect) into a flask below produces incredible coffee, when allowed to mature for 24 hours. The coffee does matter - I like a smokey far roast mixed with a brighter light roast to give chocolately caramel notes with some complexity.

The soaking-the-grinds-for-24-hours-in-a-big-tub method produces muddy dishwater, just like it looks.

The former is a cold "brew", with the best features highlighted of that roast...the latter is a room temp soak, and just as sexy as it sounds.

timgen said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
timgen said...

Cold Brew is a FANTASTIC idea! Especially in Australia! Sometimes, a hot cup just doesn't sit well when you're in summer heat. http://espresseur.com.au/

Pasti Info said...

nice man, i love coffee

CoffeeLover said...

Thanks for sharing the article with us .popularity of cold brew coffee is increasing day by day.brewing at the correct temperature releases the aromas of the coffee and extracts the flavors which give richness to the coffee. To know more about best Nespresso machine visit now.

Madonaldo said...

Why are everyone looking for ways online to get help solving their pregnancy and infertility problems when most of every native American is talking online about the help of Dr Mandaker Alamun. I checked him out when my husband who could not get me pregnant for over 9 years of marriage as a result of low sperm count became fertile and now, I am 5 months pregnant and it is this man known as Dr Mandaker who helped my husband solve his problem. My name is Alecia Maldonado from CA USA. I would advise anyone and everyone who needs the help of any spell caster in love marriage,finance, job promotion,lottery spell,poker spell,golf spell,Law & Court case Spells,money spell,weigh loss spell,diabetic spell,hypertensive spell,high cholesterol spell,Trouble in marriage,Barrenness(need spiritual marriage separation),good Luck, Money Spells,he also heal HIV and AID and Autistic and it's all he does or looking for breakthrough in your political career to meet this Dr Mandaker the link to his website copy this link (witch-doctor.page4.me)His email contact witchhealing@outlook.com for He is a Reliable and trustworthy. I and my husband have gone to different hospitals having the thinking that I was at fault for not getting pregnant. But at the Federal hospital, they examined him too and his sperm count was low and unable to get a woman pregnant as a result of male infertility. It was then I sort out,thanks to Dr Mandaker.

3nod maka said...

الان احصل علي اقوي العروض المقدمه من شركة تنظيف منازل مكه المكرمه اي انهم يعملون علي توفير افضل فريق متخصص في شركة تنظيف سجاد الذين يعملون علي تنظيف السجاد المفروشات باعلي جوده ممكن من خلال كبري شركات التنظيف الكبري ويمكنكم التمتع بتلك الخدمات من خلال كبري شركة تنظيف خزانات مكه المكرمه  

Shasa said...

This is fantastically educative coffee content with rich background that greatly helpful for the coffee lovers and even learner who is studding on this topic. I am also very surprised thinking that in old days this kind of health beneficial drinking was only for the old persons. Thankful to the International Coffee Organization for its annual performance on it. Simply i enjoyed this read profusely. commercial coffee machines

Teroes.com said...

Thanks for your information. Please accept my comments to still connect with your blog. How Much Caffeine in a Cup of Coffee? A Detailed Guide

Nino Nurmadi , S.Kom said...

ninonurmadi.com
ninonurmadi.com
ninonurmadi.com
ninonurmadi.com
ninonurmadi.com
ninonurmadi.com
ninonurmadi.com
ninonurmadi.com
ninonurmadi.com

shane lee said...

CBD is non-addictive and the body does not build up a tolerance to it. whole bean coffee

haseeb ali said...



Found your website through Daniel of Arabica - very interesting, never really considered the science of coffee! Just thought about the taste... There's alot that goes into it... coffee extraction

plantaion blue said...

Plantation Blue Best 100% original Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Beans– Our goal is to provide you with simply amazing tasty coffee at manageable prices without sacrificing the quality. Certified by the (JACRA).