Cold Brew Vs Iced Coffee - What’s Your Pick?

With the scorching heat of summer comes the desire to stay cool, refreshed and caffeinated with a cold coffee. Head to a coffee shop and you may see many options like iced latte, iced americano, cold brew, nitro cold brew, and more. While you may be very familiar with iced coffees, cold brew is a comparatively newer trend and a widely accepted one that is here to stay! Though iced coffee and cold brew sounds similar, they are two entirely different concepts. Let’s have a quick look at what the trending cold brew is and how it is different from our much loved iced coffees.

What Is Cold Brew?
Simply put, cold brew is freshly roasted and grounded coffee grounds steeped in cold water for an extended period of time (sometimes over 24 hours) and then filtered.

What Is Iced Coffee?
Iced Coffee is when coffee is brewed using any brewing method like espresso, filter, french press etc and the hot coffee is then chilled by adding ice or by refrigerating it.

Differences Between Cold Brew & Iced Coffee:

1. Flavor
As iced coffees are brewed hot and then chilled, it tastes bitter due to the high temperature, which extracts more coffee solubles than cold brew. But cold brew carries notes of chocolate, with a sweeter taste than traditional coffee due to the brewing process. 

2. Acidity
Cold Brew is made without heat, which creates lower acidity for a smoother and naturally sweet taste. Iced Coffee, nevertheless, is brewed double strength then cooled, which creates a refreshing, lighter body. It is often served sweetened, and with milk.


Cold brew preparation

3. Texture
Cold brew is distinguished for its full bodied, smooth, and heavy texture. It retains more of its flavor and has a thicker mouthfeel. Iced coffee, on the other hand, is medium bodied, well,  and balanced. It falls in-between light and full-bodied, and tends to have a balanced, smooth mouthfeel.

4. Preparation:
While cold brew takes 18-24 hours to soak up the coffee bean's original flavor, iced coffee is made within a few minutes by preparing the traditional coffee and cooling it down with ice.


Ice added to hot coffee to prepare an iced coffee

5. Caffeine:
Cold brew contains more caffeine as it is steeped for hours to absorb all the caffeine from the beans. Iced coffee on the other hand is weakened in taste and caffeine as it is diluted.

A coffee addict you are?

You are definitely in the right place. Check out our latest collection of ready-to-drink cold brews by The Climbing Goat Roastery - more caffeine, and refreshing flavors. Shop the cold brew collection here and see for yourself what all the hype is about!