There is crack, and then there is iced coffee
I rather enjoy coffee. But where most people rush to the pot first thing in the morning in search of that jolting cup of liquid sunshine, I do not and often wait three hours before I have my first cup. That, however, is hot coffee, and sometimes I will brew an extra large pot and chill the rest in the refrigerator to drink on ice or with milk early in the morning when I didn’t get enough sleep.
This hot brew > chill method of cold coffee production, while an effective method for delivering the needed caffeine kick, does not offer much in the way of deliciousness. It’s pretty acidic and generally necesitates the use of milk to make it more than simply passable.
Cold brewing is the solution to that conundrum and recently Deb gave me one of Goshen’s iced coffees. It’s basically a cold toddy method of brewing and, describing how they brew it, I’d basically sum it up by saying they grind up a couple pounds of coffee, put it in giant tea bags, and steep it at room temperature in a container full of water overnight. The resulting mixture is apparently so powerful and viscous that they then cut it in half with water before serving it to customers.
And that’s a good thing because half strength or not this is like one notch down from crack. I felt like someone had wedged toothpicks into my eyelids to keep them WIDE open, and my heart began racing almost immediately. I was totally ripped for hours.
…but I kind of like that and so I had to give this a shot myself. Not having giant tea bags of my own, I figured I’d simply grind up some coffee, put it in a jar overnight and just strain out the solids with coffee filters in the morning. Of course I had no idea how much coffee and water to use and so I turned to Google and found some guy who devised his own method for iced coffee after reading this New York Times article.
His method sucks. It is weak and offers none of the superhero style energy of Goshen’s. And so I too shot off on my own in a quest for cold coffee nirvana and in the end used approximately 3 cups of water and about 2/3 cups of ground coffee, put it in the jar, shook it up, left it out on my fridge overnight, and strained it in the morning.
Not looking particularly viscous to me, like a jack ass, I just went ahead and drank it a couple days ago and felt pretty much like I was going to die when my heart exploded from my chest and splatted against my cubicle walls.
Like an even bigger jack ass I tempted fate and did it again today. Do not do this!
Note: Caffeine, by the way, is a laxative, so brace yourself for that possibility if you drink one of these.
6 Responses to “There is crack, and then there is iced coffee”
The resulting mixture is apparently so powerful and viscous that they then cut it in half with water before serving it to customers.
I have cold brewed coffee a few times, and it’s very important to complete this step. I’m normally a very laid back person, but I was so hopped up on caffeine that day, I was vibrating.
A French press is a great way to make this too. I think I’ll restart making this, since I have had four cups of hot coffee this morning, so I am sweating.
By Dan D. on May 16, 2008
I found this article last year and remembered that I had posted it in another forum:
http://scott.mcgerik.com/2004/01/09/cold-press-coffee/
I also found that I used 32 ounces of filtered water and 8 ounces of coarse ground coffee, stirred it, and let it sit in the French press overnight. The next morning I strained it, and added a splash of milk and honey. If I do it again, I will brew the same way, but cut it with water.
I’m not terribly finicky about coffee at all, but I really liked how rich this tasted, and although I like the acidity in coffee, I liked this way, even though I tasted less of it.
By Dan D. on May 16, 2008
I’ve been cold brewing since that briefly mentioned NY Times article. Love it. I get lazy sometimes and don’t do it, then I have to brew the normal way in the morning. The best thing about cold brewing is the taste, so smooth! Another little trick, is if you want your coffee hot, just cold brew and when you add water add hot water. Voila!
By Rachel on May 17, 2008
I sincerely don’t mean to laugh at your pain, but I know what you mean about this stuff. A good friend of mine in New Orleans is addicted and having a conversation with him after 2 glasses is a serious practice in patience. I can’t drink that shit - it gives me heart palpitations.
By sweet.ideas on May 28, 2008
Well, I tried the cold brew last night and am drinking about a cup or so cut with equal amounts of milk. If you see a person in a Beatles t-shirt running maniacally up and down Arsenal, you know it worked.
By KBO on Jun 5, 2008
I had Goshen’s iced coffee on Saturday. Debbie warned me that they call it “iced crack”. She was right. I loved every drop of it. Luckily, I don’t have it at my disposal daily. I wouldn’t be sleeping. And to top it off…it tasted really good.
By Annie on Jun 5, 2008