Cold Brew Coffee vs Iced Coffee – Any difference?
Yes, there is absolutely a difference between cold brew coffee and iced coffee.
Cold brew coffee is brewed using cold or room temperature water. Ice coffee, on the other hand, is brewed using hot water and is then cooled before serving. Both beverages are often served with ice.
What’s the difference?
Cold brew coffee gives a more sweet, smooth, and less acidic taste. It does not only taste less acidic, it also contains less acid and is, therefore, better for your stomach.
Ice coffee has more of a coffee taste and is more bitter and acidic than cold brew. Because of this, iced coffee is more often than cold brew served with some diary.
Availability
One more big difference is availability. Cold brew is brewed for between 12-24hrs. Therefore, when you go to a coffee shop, and they are out of cold brew, they are really out of cold brew. They can’t just make some more, and you’ll have to wait until tomorrow or go to another place.
However, iced coffee is often easy to make some more of, even to order by brewing some hot coffee and pouring it over ice. Therefore, you should be able to get some iced coffee from almost any coffee shop whenever you want to.
Do it yourself?
My favorite sort of iced coffee is made with espresso. You can, of course, make it using, for example, a mock pot or a french press. But I and many others with me would prefer espresso. Some of us have an espresso machine at home, but most don’t. Therefore, you’ll have to go to a coffee shop if you want the best sort of iced coffee.
Nothing wrong with that. But, it gets quite expensive… and sometimes you might not want to leave home for a glass of iced coffee.
Cold brew, on the other hand, is really easy to make yourself, and it will taste just as good (or probably better) as if you bought it from your local barista. When you buy a glass of cold brew, the price would often be somewhere between $4 and $5, and the quality of the coffee usually is pretty okay. However, if you make it yourself, you could use probably some of the best coffee there is to find and still only pay around $0.5 per glass.
Conclusion
There are differences, mainly in taste where cold brew coffee is sweeter, smoother, and less acidy. While iced coffee is more powerful, bitter, and has more of an acidic taste to it.
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Cold Brew vs Iced Coffee FAQ
Cold Brew and Iced Coffee, any difference?
Yes, there is a difference. The cold brew is brewed with cold water, while the iced coffee is brewed hot, but served cold.
Caffeine in Cold Brew vs. Iced Coffee
The difference in caffeine content varies from glass to glass. But in most cases, cold brew will contain more caffeine.
What's Best, Cold Brew or Iced Coffee
It all depends on your personal preference. Cold brew is smoother and iced coffee is more acidic. This makes cold brew perfect to drink as it is, and iced coffee is great if you want to add a lot of dairy.
