Copyright 2010 The San Francisco Chronicle Have you ever been giddy about sharing something treasured with a friend - say, a favorite book or restaurant - only to learn that they've already heard about it from someone else? I had one of those stolen moments over the weekend. For the last year, I've been singing the virtues of cold-brewed iced coffee, trying to convince my Chronicle Food & Wine colleagues that steeping coffee grounds for half a day would deliver the smoothest, cleanest cup of iced coffee they'd ever had. All through winter and spring, I waited to write about my cold-brewed crush. But, before I could put the finishing touches on this story, the Fourth of July beckoned and I was off to New York City for the holiday weekend. It was scorching hot there - iced coffee season if there ever was one - and I was riding in the back of a taxicab when its obnoxious TV screen started blaring. Somewhere between a 'Twilight: Eclipse' commercial and a World Cup update, a voice began booming about the perfect iced coffee. A manicured hand filled the screen, stirring coffee grounds and water in a glass, letting time elapse, then pouring it through a filter. I had to laugh. I'd just been shown up by a Yellow Cab. What can I say? If cold-brewed coffee is showing up in a taxi near you, then there must be a lot of bad iced coffee out there. And that's a shame, because it only takes patience - and a little planning - to make your own cup of cold-brewed perfection. Rich concentrate Cold-brewed coffee relies on time, rather than heat, for extraction. Coffee grounds are steeped in water for about 12 hours at room temperature, then strained. The result is a rich coffee concentrate that lasts for weeks in the refrigerator. The first time I had cold-brewed iced coffee, I did a double-take. Where was all the acidity? That unpleasant tang of over-roasted beans or burnt, then cooled coffee? They were nowhere to be found. This was, without a doubt, the smoothest, purest cup of iced coffee I'd ever had. It was love at first sip. I've since learned that cold-brewed devotees are everywhere, especially in the Bay Area. Blue Bottle, Ritual and Four Barrel in San Francisco all cold-brew their iced coffee, as does Peerless in Oakland. To these coffee specialists, brewing hot coffee, then cooling it, isn't an option. 'It's terrible, ' says Ritual's Eileen Hassi. 'It gives it a funk, for lack of a better word.' James Freeman, Blue Bottle's owner, spent several thousand dollars for the pair of cold-brewers used to make Kyoto-style iced coffee at his Mint Plaza cafe in San Francisco. The towering contraption features globes that are filled with water, which drips down through coffee grounds and into a pitcher below at the rate of about one drop per second. It takes 24 to 30 hours for the drippers to yield a pitcher of coffee. Do it at home It's a super-tech-y, super-expensive way to achieve cold-brewed excellence, but the gist can be approximated at home without any fancy equipment. Perhaps the best-known cold-brewing system is the Toddy, a decidedly low-tech plastic tub with a wool filter that was developed by Cornell University engineering graduate Todd Simpson in 1964. But all you really need is a big pot and a strainer. In fact, this was Chronicle's favorite method of cold brewing in blind tasting we did to accompany this story. (See sidebar for full results). A French press works, too, although you won't be able to make a big batch at once. Whatever method you choose, just use about a pound of coarse-ground coffee for every 10 cups of water. Let the grounds steep for 12 hours, then strain. Once you have the coffee concentrate, you pour out exactly how much you want, when you want, adding water or milk to dilute. I like my coffee black and iced, year-round, worldwide. And while that's meant getting my share of hot coffee poured directly over ice - is anything worse? - I'll still order it time and again when I'm away from home. Why? Because a good cup of cold-brewed coffee never fails to warm the soul, whether it's a damp 50 degrees in San Francisco or an oppressive 95 degrees in Manhattan. -------------------------------------------------- Rich Coffee Soft Serve Serves 2 This dessert from Lynne Char Bennett features the same method as cold-infused coffee concentrate, only using cream. It results in a beverage that's less bitter than one that infuses ground coffee into warm/hot cream. This dessert's texture is reminiscent of soft-serve ice cream albeit with a richer creaminess, so a small portion should amply satisfy. 1/4 cup coarsely ground coffee 3/4 cup heavy cream 2 1/2 to 3 teaspoons Splenda or sugar, or to taste (see Note) Drop or two of vanilla extract (optional) 1/2 cup low-fat yogurt Maldon salt (optional) Instructions: Stir coffee into cream. Cover and refrigerate at least 12 hours, stirring once or twice. Use a double layer of cheesecloth or fine mesh sieve and strain into a mixing bowl (or you can use a press pot). Add Splenda and vanilla, if using. Whip into firm peaks then fold in yogurt. Taste and adjust sweetness. An optional sprinkle of Maldon salt just before serving will perk up the flavors. Note: The amount of sweetness needed will depend on the tanginess of the yogurt. If you don't need to watch carbs, you can easily use sugar instead of Splenda. If that is the case, a garnish of chopped chocolate-covered coffee beans is a great addition. Alternate: For a quick version with intense coffee flavor, dissolve 2 to 3 teaspoons espresso powder in 2 teaspoons of espresso. Thoroughly mix that into 1/2 cup heavy cream along with 2 tablespoons sugar or to taste. Whisk to stiff peaks; fold in 3/4 cup low-fat yogurt. If made very much ahead, this version will need to be refolded since the espresso will eventually settle at the bottom. -------------------------------------------------- Classic Cold-Brewed Iced Coffee Makes 4 to 5 cups coffee concentrate, enough for about 10 cups of iced coffee You've heard the saying: the fresher the beans, the better the coffee. Same goes for the quality of what makes up nearly 99 percent of coffee - water. This concentrate will last for up to two weeks in the refrigerator. 1 pound coffee, coarsely ground 2 1/2 quarts water Instructions: Place coffee and water in a pitcher or other non-reactive vessel. Stir to make sure all the grounds are wet. Let steep at room temperature for 12 hours. Line a fine-mesh sieve with a paper coffee filter or folded-over cheesecloth. Strain coffee by pouring through filter into a pitcher or other glass container. Cover and refrigerate up to 2 weeks. To serve: Unless you're a serious caffeine junkie, you'll want to dilute the concentrate with water or milk. I like a 1:1 ratio of coffee to water, which yields a pretty strong cup. Add more or less depending on your taste, and serve over ice. -------------------------------------------------- Blue Bottle's New Orleans-Style Iced Coffee Makes 4 to 5 cups coffee concentrate, enough for about 8 to 10 cups iced coffee Blue Bottle's most popular iced coffee features chicory for a nutty nuance. The sweetened concentrate will last two days in the refrigerator. To keep the concentrate longer, add simple syrup to each glass as you make it. 1 pound coffee, coarsely ground 1 1/2 ounces dried chicory root (see Note) 2 1/2 quarts water 3 ounces simple syrup (see note) 4 to 5 cups milk Instructions: Combine coffee, chicory and water in a large stockpot. Stir with a spoon to make sure all grounds are wet. Cover and let steep at room temperature for 8 to 12 hours. Strain through a fine mesh sieve into a large glass jar or pitcher. Stir in simple syrup, cover and refrigerate. To serve, fill a tall glass with ice. Add equal parts coffee concentrate and milk, or to taste. Note: Dried chicory root can be found in the spice section of well-stocked supermarkets or specialty grocers. To make simple syrup, bring 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar to a boil and simmer until sugar dissolves. Let mixture cool before using. The leftover syrup can be refrigerated for up to 1 month. -------------------------------------------------- Vietnamese-Style Iced Coffee Makes 1 serving Traditional Vietnamese iced coffee - ca phe sua da - is made by setting individual coffee makers over glasses filled with ice and condensed milk, with the hot espresso dripping down and melting the ice. This recipe, using cold-brewed coffee concentrate, is a quick-and-dirty version that doesn't require anything fancy. Make sure to use condensed milk, not evaporated milk. 4 ounces cold-brewed coffee concentrate (see recipe) 3 tablespoons condensed milk Instructions: Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add coffee concentrate and condensed milk. Shake until ingredients are well-combined and pour into tall glass to serve. -------------------------------------------------- Blended Amaretto Iced Coffee Makes 1 serving If you're looking for a blended, boozy drink that's more dessert than coffee, try this sweet treat from the Toddy folks. 6 ounces cold-brewed coffee concentrate (see recipe) 1/2 ounce Amaretto 1/2 ounce Kahlua 1 scoop chocolate ice cream Whipped cream, for garnish (optional) Instructions: Add coffee, Amaretto, Kahlua, ice cream and two ounces of water in a blender and mix until frothy. Pour into a tall glass; top with whipped cream, if desired. -------------------------------------------------- Coffee Granita Serves 2 Chronicle staff writer and test kitchen director Lynne Char Bennett created this easy-to-make granita, perfect with a couple crisp cookies alongside. Note, however, that it melts quickly, so serve as soon as possible. The flavor intensity (and sweetness) of the liquid becomes muted when frozen, so sweeten the granite more than you would your morning coffee. You can also freeze the coffee mixture in ice cube trays, then pulse briefly in a food processor, which creates finer grains. 3/4 cup cold-brew coffee concentrate (see recipe) 1/2 cup water 2 tablespoons sugar Instructions: Combine concentrate, water and sugar. Pour a shallow layer into a wide container and freeze; the time will depend on the size of the container (more surface area will freeze quicker) and the freezer temperature. You can scrape the edges as they freeze - the more traditional way, though scraping after the mixture has frozen more will also give good results. Coffee con Leche variation: For a creamy, smoother-textured version, use 3/4 cup concentrate, 2 tablespoons heavy cream, 1 tablespoon water and 4 teaspoons sugar, or to taste.-------------------------------------------------- Home-Brew Taste Test: Methods for the Smoothest Brew When in doubt, taste. That's our motto here at The Chronicle's Food & Wine section, so when it came to writing about iced coffee, the buzz of a blind tasting wasn't far behind. We rounded up our three biggest iced coffee aficionados - Wine Editor Jon Bonn?, Wine Cellar Coordinator Sarah Fritsche and myself - and called in Paul Einbund, sommelier at Frances in San Francisco, to do the honors. Up for testing were three different cold-brewing systems: the commercially available Toddy and Hourglass coffee makers, as well as our down-and-dirty method - simply steeping coffee grounds in a cooking pot, then straining the concentrate through a paper coffee filter. We used Allegro's Mocha Java beans and prepared each cold-brew according to its user manual. Total steeping time was 12 hours. And since none of us are known to blink in the face of caffeine, we tried the coffees undiluted to preserve their purity. What we tasted were three rich, smooth and distinct cold-brewed coffees. The coffee made in a pot showed 'great balance with rich cocoa notes.' 'Now that's iced coffee, ' one proclaimed. The Toddy was equally 'dark and robust, ' with hints of 'molasses.' The Hourglass featured a 'floral' nose and a pleasant 'blueberry' taste. Appearance-wise, both the Toddy and potted coffees were sediment and oil-free. The Hourglass coffee was a bit murky and oily, but that didn't appear to affect taste. All three cold-brews were iced coffees we'd happily drink. But we agreed that the ridiculously strong concentrates needed to be tamed a bit, so we decided to add a touch of half-and-half and simple syrup to and see how each responded. Suddenly, the Toddy was spot-on, the half-and-half having cut through the heavy extraction without robbing the coffee of its robust, chocolate-y notes. The Hourglass seemed to lose its verve, while the potted coffee was still brutally strong. We left thinking that while the Toddy and Hourglass were neat systems to have, just using a regular pot or pitcher will have you well on your way to a perfect (and inexpensive) cup of iced coffee. As an aside, I've been asked countless times why I don't just brew strong coffee, then stick it in the refrigerator to make iced coffee. Well, we did just that - hot-brewing two batches using our office's Kitchen Aid coffee maker, one at regular strength and one at double-strength, using twice the amount of Allegro grounds for the same amount of water. We also tried out the Keurig Single-Cup coffee machine, as the company recently released Brew Over Ice K-Cups, which are individual pods of coffee grounds that you hot brew directly into a cup filled with ice. But the results were so poor, they're hardly worth mentioning. All three hot-brewed iced coffees had an oily film on top and tasted weak, yet acidic. The Keurig coffee looked 'like tea' and tasted 'like water.' The regular strength hot-brewed coffee seemed 'flat' and 'burnt.' The double-strength was better and cleaner, but still had a 'hollow and sour undertone.' -- The Toddy Coffee Maker ($37.50) is available at toddyonline.com and select Borders Bookstore Cafes. -- The Hourglass Coffee Maker ($69.95) is available at hourglasscoffee.com. (i(E-mail Janny Hu at jhusfchronicle.com. (/i( 