Why Making Iced Coffee at Home Is Such a Grind

The Wall Street Journal

Is caffeine, like revenge, best served cold? It certainly seems so in August, when even people who adore their hot morning coffee often take it over ice.

But in a nation overrun with frozen latte drinks, shockingly few people know how to make a respectable iced coffee at home. And with good reason: It's hard to get it right. Simply refrigerating a pot of hot coffee will certainly produce cold coffee, but you probably won't want to drink it.

The ideal iced coffee is both strong and smooth—rich enough to stand up to ice, milk and maybe a sweetener, yet also somewhat thirst-quenching, without any jarring bitter tastes.

Some 1.2 billion cups of iced coffee were served outside the home in the 12 months that ended in May, a 6% increase over the previous 12 months, according to NPD Group, a Port Washington, N.Y. market-research firm. Yet only 1% of all coffee consumed at home is iced. "We don't have a clue" how to make good iced coffee at home, says Harry Balzer, NPD's chief industry analyst. Only restaurants can do it, he says.

Seeing the potential for a better do-it-yourself brew, manufacturers are selling several new iced-coffee systems and gadgets for home use. "The U.S. market for iced coffee is bigger than any other market in the world," says Thomas Perez, president of Bodum USA Inc., a unit of Bodum AG of Switzerland, which released a cold-brew iced-coffee maker in May. "The taste and demand for iced coffee is already there. We want to be in this niche."

To step up your home-brew technique, first you must first decide: Hot-brewed or cold? Traditionally, most specialty coffee shops have used the hot-brew method, which involves pouring extra-strong hot coffee over ice. But energy-efficient cold-brewing, where ground coffee steeps for 12 hours in water at room temperature, is gaining ground, already in coffee chains such as Caribou Coffee and Seattle's Best.

Several cold-brew systems for home use have come on the market, including the Hourglass Coffee system, with a distinctive blue-plastic brewing vessel. Bean Logik, of Vancouver, Wash., which introduced the product nationally last year, says it produces coffee that is "69.9% less acidic" than hot-brewed coffee. "A lot of our customers have sensitive stomachs, and they understand the low-acid benefits of cold brewing," says Kim Kapp, Bean Logik president.

We tried four ways to brew iced coffee at home, including three cold-brew systems and one old-school, hot-brew appliance, all using Illy medium-grind coffee. And for comparison, we included a fifth way, one we hoped would be idiot-proof—Starbucks Via, the instant iced coffee that has been available since June in Starbucks shops and online.

For tasting, we enlisted two experts with sophisticated palates, both from the New York specialty grocer Dean & Deluca in Soho (which brews about five gallons of coffee, hot or iced, every half hour). Michelle Aleman, manager of the coffee department, and Queenie Fok, espresso-bar manager, say they both prefer hot-brewed, the method Dean & Deluca uses, but allow it's a matter of taste.

They were agnostic on the questions of coffee-bean type, roast and origin. But they said a coarser grind works better for cold-brewed coffee. And one thing we learned about iced coffee is that quantity is critical: Less is definitely not more. Ms. Aleman suggests doubling the amount you'd use for hot coffee.

For our first batch we used the Bodum Bean ($39.95 at bodumusa.com), which works just like a French press, only with cold water: Ground coffee and water go into the glass beaker; stick it in the refrigerator overnight, and depress the plunger when you take it out the next morning. The instructions recommend doubling the usual proportion of coffee—so instead of one tablespoon per cup, we used six or seven for three cups of water. That wasn't enough, though. "It's a little on the light side," Ms. Fok said, sipping the coffee poured over ice. Ms. Aleman concurred. "I think it has a good coffee flavor, but it's not very strong." She added, "I also feel like the coffee needs to be exposed to the water a little bit more."

This revealed a potential downside to cold-brewing's claims about low acidity. Removing acidity also takes away some more-desirable flavor notes. "The different flavor notes including brightness—which means acidity—really add to the complexity of the coffee and to the flavor," Ms. Aleman said.

Next up was the Toddy cold-brew system ($37.50 at toddycafe.com), around since 1964 and the method used in Seattle's Best shops. Julia Leach, co-owner of Toddy, based in Fort Collins, Colo., calls it "deceptively simple, excessively delicious." We found it simple, but also a bit awkward. We put 12 ounces of coffee and seven cups of water into a bucket-type container (following directions to add them in layers) and let it sit overnight. In the morning, we removed a stopper from the bottom of the bucket, and the coffee dripped through a filter into a glass carafe.

Our experts were impressed. "Sweeter," Ms. Fok said, taking her first sip. "More complex than the other one for sure." "I think you get more of the coffee notes," Ms. Aleman added.

Hourglass ($59.95 at hourglasscoffee.com) looks like a science project. It's a big, blue hourglass-shaped bottle that houses a metal coffee-filter basket in one end. At night, you put coffee in the filter basket, fit it into the brew chamber, add water and let it steep overnight. In the morning, you flip it over, and the coffee concentrate filters down into the hourglass's other chamber. There's a small carafe that you can use to store the concentrate in the fridge. We used the suggested proportions—two-and-1/4 cups of coffee and three-and-1/2 cups of water. "It's dark," said Ms. Aleman. "It's a lot stronger."

The Hourglass iced coffee also looked different than the others, with an oily sheen. "I think it's letting more of the oil of the coffee bean come through," Ms. Aleman said.

And then there was the taste. "These are the sour notes you don't want," said Ms. Fok, adding that a coarser grind of coffee might have produced better results. (Ms. Kapp, of Bean Logik, said a coarser grind is recommended; she said Hourglass coffee has 82% less cafestol, an oil-producing substance in coffee.)

Our next contestant was the Mr. Coffee Iced Tea Maker ($19.99 at Target); it also works with coffee. Following the instructions for making one quart, we poured water into the gadget's reservoir, put ice in the pitcher and measured six tablespoons of coffee into the filter.

"It looks really light," Ms. Aleman said, when the brewing was done. "Tea-like," Ms. Fok chimed in. Fortunately, the solution is easy. "I think definitely more coffee," Ms. Aleman said.

This batch highlighted the importance of an unexpected variable in iced coffee: ice-cube size. Especially with hot-brewing, "the ice cubes can't be too small," Ms. Aleman cautioned. She recommends cubes the size of those found in home-freezer trays. "They won't melt as fast and will lower the temperature of the coffee faster," she said.

As for sweetener, granulated sugar may not be best. "Since the coffee is cold, and the ice is making it even colder, it's going to take a lot longer for the sugar crystals to melt." Ms. Aleman said. She likes agave nectar, simple syrup or even an artificial sweetener, if it will be added to cold coffee. Or measure the sugar in with the ground coffee before hot-brewing in coffee and espresso makers.

Starbucks Via instant iced-coffee was by far the easiest method—and the most expensive (a box of five servings cost $5.95). We added one packet to 16-ounces of water and stirred; ice is optional. The coffee is lightly presweetened; milk or cream is up to the user, just like at a Starbucks shop.

Our experts thought Via was easy—and they also thought it tasted like instant coffee. "It has a really granulated mouth feel to me," Ms. Aleman said. "This is sugar sweet," Ms. Fok said. (Lara Wyss, a Starbucks spokeswoman, says Via dissolves well in cold water, and research showed people wanted some sweetness. "We think it's a great and innovative new product," she said.)

So what was the verdict? Ms. Aleman voted for the Toddy iced coffee maker. "I thought it was very nice. But I would like to have tasted the hot brew done properly," she said. Ms. Fok chose Mr. Coffee. "Despite the watered down version, I do love the hot-brew," she said. When done correctly, she said, "it definitely brings out the full characteristics of notes you have in a good coffee bean."

Coffee Pros and Cons

Wisconsin Rapids Tribune

Nik Karpinsky's favorite coffee drink is a caffeine-bomb called the red eye.

"It's coffee from a drip coffee maker with a shot of espresso in it," he explained, while his knee bounced up and down.

Karpinsky, a Schofield native, estimates he drinks eight to 12 cups of coffee a day. Karpinsky now lives in Ames, Iowa, where he's a graduate student studying human-computer interaction at Iowa State University. He was sitting in front of the downtown coffee shop Allister Deacon's last week, sipping espresso and visiting with friend Melissa Will, 23, of Schofield.

While his coffee consumption might be on the extreme side, Karpinsky is among 56 percent of American adults who drink coffee regularly, the National Coffee Association said.

Karpinsky will be the first to admit he might overdo it, but he can't bring himself to stop drinking coffee. "No, I enjoy it too much," he said. "I consider it one of my vices."

Though, like Karpinsky, many refer to their java habit as an unhealthy indulgence, experts say that in moderation, a cup or two of joe a day actually has numerous health perks.

"People always talk about it as if it's a little bad for you. That's not necessarily true," said Donald Hensrud, associate professor of Preventive Medicine and Nutrition at the Mayo Clinic. "Coffee contains over 2,000 different chemical components, including cancer-fighting anti-oxidants."

Some studies suggest coffee can boost vision and heart health, said registered dietitian Elisa Zied, author of "Nutrition at Your Fingertips." Research also has suggested coffee helps people with liver disease, but it has had mixed results when it comes to diabetes.

The studies that highlight the health benefits of coffee make Karpinsky "feel a little better" about his caffeine habit, but he's still not convinced that drinking coffee is a good thing.

He's right about that. There is conflicting news about the impact of coffee.

Will, who graduated from Ripon College with a degree in psychology and is weighing graduate school options, also loves coffee, but limits her consumption to four to six cups a day.

"Everything in moderation," Will said. "There's research on both sides (about the benefits and ill effects of caffeine) ... I think it's a better habit than (others) I could have. Probably, it's not the most beneficial."

Be aware of how much caffeine you're consuming, because it varies among coffee drinks, said Mary Rosser, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, N.Y.

Loading up on cream and sugar is a bad idea, Hensrud said. A Starbucks venti 24-ounce double chocolate chip frappucino has 520 calories, 14 grams of saturated fat and 75 grams of carbohydrates. Pregnant women and people with anxiety and sleep problems should especially watch their intake, he said.

Also, people metabolize caffeine differently -- the result of genetic differences, Hensrud said.

Caffeine's influence can last for 10 hours or more, said researcher Jim Lane, a professor of medical psychology at Duke. He recommends pacing yourself throughout the day: "It's nice to have places to meet friends that aren't alcohol-related, but it does sort of encourage people to ignore the drug effects of caffeine."

Java's perks, pitfalls

Aging: Recent research suggests caffeine could help protect against cognitive decline, including Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia, said Donald Hensrud, associate professor of Preventive Medicine and Nutrition at the Mayo Clinic.

Large clinical trials still are needed, though, said Duke aging expert Murali Doraiswamy. “We still don’t know the right dose for seniors,” Doraiswamy said. “Bottom line: I would not recommend caffeine solely as a preventive strategy for dementia.”

Wakefulness/performance: Convinced you need a morning cup to wake up? Research online this month in Neuropsychopharmacology suggests frequent coffee drinkers develop a tolerance to the anxiety-producing and stimulatory effects of caffeine. A study last month suggests those who consume caffeine via coffee and espresso makers perform better on the job.

Dental: Coffee exacerbates bad breath, said registered dietitian Elisa Zied, author of “Nutrition at Your Fingertips.” It also can give teeth a yellow tinge.

Diabetes: Although research suggests drinking five or six cups a day might reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, other studies show caffeine can exaggerate blood sugar problems in people who already have it, said Jim Lane, a professor of medical psychology at Duke University.

Gastrointestinal: High levels of caffeine can exert a laxative effect in some people but constipate others, Zied said. Heartburn and peptic ulcer patients should steer clear, too.

Heart: Too much coffee at once can increase blood pressure, but a cup or two a day generally does no harm to heart health, said Carl Lavie, medical director of Cardiac Rehabilitation and Prevention at John Ochsner Heart and Vascular Institute in New Orleans. Rarely, overindulgence can increase heart rate and cause heart rhythm disturbances, he said.

Liver: “Coffee intake is associated with a reduced risk of cirrhosis and liver cancer,” Hensrud said.

Migraine: Hensrud said coffee can ease migraines in some people. Coffee lovers who use espresso makers at work each day should keep up the habit on weekends, because skipping coffee can lead to withdrawal headaches, he said.

Coffee Planet Introduces Fastest Espresso System in the World

AME Info

Coffee Planet LLC, the region's leading provider of automated self-serve espresso systems, announced today the launch of the Concordia "Integrated Beverage System 6+" (IBS6+), the fastest commercial espresso system available on the market.

On exhibition for the first time at Gulfood 2010 in Dubai, Concordia's latest innovation was developed specifically for applications where consistent café quality and speed of service are critical. In a single step, the IBS6+ pumps milk from the integrated refrigerator, steams and foams it to the perfect consistency, and infuses flavours all at the rate of one ounce per second.

Richard Jones, Managing Director of Coffee Planet, said:

    "Customers want to purchase café quality espresso drinks in locations other than the traditional café. Speed of service, beverage quality, and equipment reliability are critical. The new IBS6+ gives the operator the speed of service that they demand. We have been using Concordia coffee systems for 5 years and know them to be the best in the world, so this is a great new addition to our portfolio and a great pleasure for us to be the launch market for Concordia's latest machine. They are light years ahead of anyone else."

The technical aspects of the machine were explained by David Isset, President of Concordia Coffee Systems USA, "At the same time, we have simplified the milk preparation process, and that leads to increased reliability, provides additional control over drink temperatures and milk foam, and provides whisper quiet operation. We are really looking forward to people's reaction at Gulfood 2010."

The IBS6+ features two fresh espresso bean choices stored in high-capacity hoppers; and a solid-state, on-board refrigerator that holds two standard one-gallon containers of fresh milk. The system uses six, all-naturally flavored Torani syrups and sauces that are infused into the beverage during the milk preparation process. The infusion process is accomplished using the company's proprietary, patented EspressJet Flavor System. The microprocessor controlled IBS6+ manages portion control and the precision brewing process, and provides an automated cleaning system to deliver predictably consistent product and complete process control. The IBS6+ creates both hot and cold beverages at the touch of a button.

"Ten thousand people every day are drinking Coffee Planet coffees through the Concordia coffee and espresso makers in the UAE - with the additional flavour and cold coffee options from the new IBS6+, Coffee Planet continues to lead the market of self-service in premium fresh bean, fresh milk coffee," added Richard Jones.

Matthew Yorke Smith, Operations Director at Coffee Planet said, "Our customers continuously comment on the high quality and consistency of the drinks from Concordia machines. At the same time the amazing speed of the IBS6+ will provide staff increased opportunities to interact with customers and to sell add-ons."

To experience the IBS6+, visit the Coffee Planet stand at the Gulfood 2010, Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre Show from the 21 -24 February in Hall 2, Stand B2.

Dreams, Books, and Blowtorches

from the Wall Street Journal

Thomas Keller is widely regarded not only as the top chef in the country but as the food world's reigning perfectionist. His restaurants, The French Laundry and Per Se, are among the country's most expensive and exclusive temples of haute cuisine.

Now the chef has written a cookbook for regular folks, with recipes for "everyday staples" such as hamburgers, chicken-and-dumpling soup, and creamed corn, using ordinary kitchen appliances like coffee makers, blenders and slow-cookers. The book, "Ad Hoc at Home," is Mr. Keller's "most accessible," says publisher Ann Bramson of Artisan Books, with the words "family-style recipes" emblazoned on the cover.

The concept is tantalizing: four-star flavor in the comfort of home and with less expense (the prix fixe dinner at Manhattan's Per Se is $275 per person without wine). There's just one problem: After one spends the time and money to buy the ingredients and equipment and then cook through the multiple steps in some of the recipes, dinner at Per Se starts looking like the cheap and easy route.

It's a frustration food fans are likely to encounter as more cookbooks are published that celebrate the unfettered complexity that the world's top chefs bring to their cuisine. These chefs include New York's David Chang, whose book "Momofuku" was released earlier this week, and British star Heston Blumenthal, who this month is publishing a $50, 528-page version of a $250 cookbook released last year. While Julia Child made her career by breaking down classic French cuisine into steps the average cook could execute, these top chefs don't make concessions for home cooks. Instead, they write recipes that require the equipment, ingredients and techniques they use in their restaurants.

"It's my point of view that cooking is a process and something you should enjoy doing. You have to embrace and enjoy that process if you want to become a good cook," Mr. Keller says.

Recognizing that chefs often write recipes over the heads of average people, the Food Network says it no longer seeks out well-known restaurant chefs and has instead changed its business model to promoting home cooks with good personalities, says Michael Smith, Food Network's senior vice president of marketing. Cookbooks from Food Network stars are hugely popular: Of 38 cookbook best sellers last year, five were from Paula Deen, Giada de Laurentiis and Rachael Ray, all Food Network stars, says Simba Information, a media researcher in Stamford, Conn.

But there remains an audience that craves teaching from the industry's top masters. Mr. Keller's books are Artisan's biggest sellers, Ms. Bramson says. Nearly 400,000 copies of "The French Laundry Cookbook" have been printed; the company has ordered 100,000 copies of "Ad Hoc at Home" for its initial run. Overall, cookbook sales have been strong relative to the book market overall, and publishers released nearly 14% more cookbooks in 2008 than the year before.

The recipes in "Ad Hoc" are mostly homey staples, such as chicken pot pie, that are cooked with four-star-restaurant techniques. Mr. Keller's take on a hamburger involves buying sirloin, brisket and chuck and grinding it. "Blowtorch rib roast" is exactly as it sounds: a roast that is browned with a small propane blowtorch, which he suggests buying at a hardware store, before being cooked in the roaster oven. Several recipes require expensive machines such as a Vita-Mix Blender (starting at about $450) or a standing mixer (about $300) and don't offer alternative methods. Mr. Keller definitely prefers other techniques to deep fryers.

One particularly challenging recipe comes with a deceptively comforting title: Chicken Soup with Dumplings. The picture of a thick broth poured over bright green celery and carrots and perfectly shaped dumplings is motivating.

But the recipe takes about two hours of active labor and dirties about 10 pans and bowls and food choppers. It involves such diverse skills as making a parchment lid for a pot, thickening broth with a roux, and making cream puff dough (for the dumplings). That celery is bright green because it is separately cooked in boiling water, then quickly chilled in ice water and later incorporated into the soup. Also, using two spoons to form the torpedo-shaped dumplings known as quenelles might be a challenge for novices.

The Easiest Recipe

Mr. Keller says that people using his cookbook should choose recipes within their skill level. The easiest recipe in the book is probably the grilled-cheese sandwich, Mr. Keller says. The chicken soup is fairly complex, he says. "I always recommend that any cook start with something that you feel you can be successful with," Mr. Keller says. As readers attain more skill and make a deeper commitment to cooking, they can graduate to trickier recipes.

Mr. Keller is part of an industrywide trend in which chefs known for fine dining are migrating into more casual cuisine. The recipes in the book are from food served at Ad Hoc, a three-year-old restaurant in Yountville, Calif. Mr. Keller is opening a third branch of his Bouchon bistro in Beverly Hills around mid-November, and his future plans include opening a hamburger restaurant, if he can ever find the right location, he says.

Elsewhere, Daniel Boulud, of Manhattan's tony Daniel, recently opened a sausage restaurant in the Bowery, once New York's skid row. Marcus Samuelsson, known for cooking at Aquavit, an exclusive Scandinavian restaurant in Manhattan, wrote "New American Table," a tour of American food traditions out this month that includes recipes for breakfast burritos and turkey meatloaf.

The push into more casual fare is a significant shift for Mr. Keller, a chef known for uncompromising standards. He is widely credited with luring American diners to restaurants in which they have no choice of what they eat—they must order the tasting menu.

'Be Warned'

His previous cookbooks, "The French Laundry Cookbook" and "Under Pressure: Cooking Sous Vide," are notorious for including some of the most laborious recipes in print, spawning daredevil blogs on which people attempt to make the recipes and Amazon reviews such as "Be warned." Most recipes, such as "Butter-Poached Maine Lobster, Tomato Pain Perdu, Celery and 'Russian Dressing'" are in fact a series of recipes, often involving complicated techniques. Simply putting the ingredients together on a plate properly can be an architectural challenge.

Mr. Keller says he has time to make dinner at home only about six times a year. His favorite meal: grilled steak, corn on the cob and a salad from his garden, preferably with ripe tomatoes.

Judging "Ad Hoc" purely on the basis of difficulty misses the point, says Ms. Bramson. The book is a compendium of cooking knowledge, from how to properly truss, or tie, a chicken for roasting to an essay on kosher salt (different brands have different weights), Ms. Bramson says.

"We're grown-ups. If the recipe looks too hard, you don't make it," she says.