Is today the day? That is the question baristas start asking themselves as soon as the trees start blooming, and it refers to when their customers will make the switch from hot coffee to cold. In a regular year that usually doesn't happen until May, but unseasonably warm weather in many parts of the country means the cold coffee season could start early and run a full six months or more. And for high-end coffee shops specializing in cold-brewed coffee, this creates potential problems.
Cold-brewed coffee, as you probably know by now, is its own thing (in other words, it is not simply hot coffee that's been chilled with ice!) and it can cost upwards of a quarter to a dollar more than a cup of hot coffee. Why is that? Higher fixed costs and the unpredictability of iced season. According to New York Magazine's Grub Street:
Like the hot stuff, cold-brewing involves mixing pulverized beans with water, but the latter process requires about twice as much ground coffee. Those grounds infuse filtered water for 12 to 24 hours, creating iced-coffee concentrate. That liquid is cut with water to taste, at a ratio of about one to one. Yet even after all this dilution, a cup of cold-brewed joe can include 62 cents worth of ground coffee. A hot cup might include 35 cents' worth of beans.
The higher cost of cold-brewed coffee is also due to those clear plastic (sometimes compostable) cups, which can cost twice as much as the paper cups for hot beverages. The straw and napkins (for "sweaty" drinks) push the cost up even more, sometimes by as much as 20 percent. And renting an ice machine—a common practice for many cafés—costs about 12 dollars.
All told, these variables, along with the extra coffee required for cold-brewing, add up to a goods cost of about 80 cents, and that doesn't include milk... That means owners must charge at least $3 to keep their margins healthy. Those who charge less are consigning their iced coffee to be much less profitable.
Do you buy cold-brewed coffee? Do you make your own? Or do you just drink hot coffee all year round? (I confess—that's what I do!)
Read More: The Iced-Coffee Economy: Why the Cold Stuff Costs More at New York Magazine's Grub Street
Related: The Toddy Take on Iced Coffee
(Image: Sutsaly/Shutterstock)
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I prefer hot coffee all year round. Occasionally, I'll have leftover coffee and I'll put it in the fridge for later. So yummy, especially on a hot day!
I make my own cold brewed coffee, I started some right before I read this post. I like using Cafe Bustelo (sp?) It's in a yellow vacuum packed bag. It's a fine ground espresso coffee that I absolutely love!
LOVE Bustelo!
What ratio of beans to water do you use during the infusion period? And then after the 12-24 hours you then add more water at a 1:1 ratio or to taste? I'm looking to make a batch that will last a few days, so probably 48-60 ounces of finished coffee. I drink cold-press from Starbucks all year long, but would love to make it at home.
I make my own cold-brewed, too! I like hot coffee, but I think I might like iced coffee even more.
I put the coffee and water in the pot of my French press, stick it in the fridge, and plunge the next morning. Then I decant it into another pitcher (so the grounds don't sit and get bitter). I have a really great Thermos, so I drop in a couple of ice cubes, pour my coffee in and woo! My own iced coffee that stays icy-cold all day!
Say what?
How does 2x the coffee grounds + 1:1 dilution of water to coffee concentrate NOT equal out to the same amount of coffee used per cup (hot or cold), much less end up costing 2x as much in raw coffee beans?
Shame on you Grub Street for not fact checking, and shame on you Kitchn for perpetuating.
Funny, my husband was commenting just this morning on how it's "just about time" for us to switch over to making cold brew!
Very interesting. Thanks. I've noticed the higher price and always grumbled about it. A clear explanation of costs is always helpful.
I cold brew in the summer and, yes, it takes more coffee. The ratio I've heard is 2/3 cup to 3 cups water (or two servings, ish). I typically use about a quarter cup for the same but hot in the French press.
I thought the cost was the added time (albeit passive) and effort to make the coffee concentrate. That's a container and counter-space you are taken up with something static for 24 hours.
I'm with MH330. How does making a concentrate that gets diluted 1:1 w/ water = using twice as much coffee? Why make concentrate in that case? Use the usual amount of coffee, wait the 12 hours or whatever, and then don't dilute it.
Quick note on my own personal process - In a huge mixing bowl on my counter, I miss about 4 or 5 heaping cups of grounds with 12-14 cups of cold water. Mix well and let sit over night, and then strain thru a colander lined with cheesecloth. It takes a few more minutes, but I end up with a huge pitcher of iced coffee concentrate that lasts well over a week. I do NOT dilute this concentrate with water per se, but of course when one pours that coffee over a glass packed with ice cubes, the dilution naturally begins on it's own with melting. The addition of some half and half and a little sweetened condensed milk doesn't hurt to cut the concentrate either, I might add.
It would seem to me that this coffee to water ratio is higher when making cold brew. Not to mention the fact that I would bet that most folks drink a larger amount (glass) of coffee than hot coffee (cup) in general, when they drink coffee.
@MH330 & @schoolijoolie
"Yet even after all this dilution, a cup of cold-brewed joe can include 62 cents of ground coffee. A hot cup might include 35 cents with of beans."
My ratio is 9 cups to 0.5 lb coffee for at least 12 hours. Not diluted afterwards.
ok i love both hot and cold coffee, but there is just something about the sweltering summer of NY that makes me crave cold-brew.
my favorite cold brew is at Black Gold in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. if you are down there, definitely pick up a cup - so good!