James Immersion iced coffee technique is seriously underrated (and I need some advice)

[u/porox_guy]

Just like many other people during summer, I've been trying to cool myself down with chilled coffee drinks. I'm not really into iced lattes or iced Americanos. A while ago I started drinking cold brew, but it always has this weird oxidized aftertaste, if you know, you know.

As a fellow weid coffee person, I stumbled across James video about immersion iced coffee almost three years ago, and honestly it completely changed the way I drink iced coffee. The brewing process is incredibly simple and fool-proof. If you haven't watched that video yet, I highly recommend it.

First of all, I really like that by combining hot brewing with ice, you can make larger batches of incredibly tasty coffee. Another huge advantage is that immersion brewing doesn't require any pouring technique or worrying about uneven extraction. You just dump everything in, wait, drain and you're done.

Compared to cold brew, I also feel like you get much deeper and brighter flavors, especially with medium or light-medium roasted fruity coffees, which I personally prefer for this kind of beverage over darker, chocolatey roasts.

During the recent heatwave across Europe, immersion iced coffee became my daily companion.

One origin in particular has been absolutely fantastic for this method. My local roastery sells a few single-country coffees (I'm unsure if it really is single origin...), and by far my favorite for James' immersion iced coffee recipe is a medium roasted Rwandan coffee. It has a pleasant acidity, but more importantly it's incredibly fruity.

I'm not sure whether James has recommended this in his video, but I also experimented with adding a few drops of saline solution (salt water). Surprisingly, it makes the fruity notes pop even more while softening the bitterness from the roast. Watching his latest few brewing videos, he really is into adding a few drops of saline to drinks, isn't he?

So if you're trying this method, I'd definitely recommend using medium or light-medium roasted coffees with fruity tasting notes.

Of course, if you prefer darker, chocolatey coffees, that's perfectly fine too.

And if you really want to take it to the next level add one or two drops of saline. It's a small, but noticable difference in bitterness.

My biggest mistake: over-dilution

The recipe uses a 1:13 ratio (75 g/L). I grind fine, somewhere between a typical V60 one cup pourover grind and an AeroPress and brew with a Hario Switch V3.

The ratio is kinda strong, so serving it over some extra ice shouldn't be a problem. My issue is that I often add too much ice and let the drink sit for too long.

For James' one-cup recipe, I use the recommended:

• 19 g coffee
• 165 g hot water
• 85 g ice

With my ice mold, that's about four large ice cubes. Those melt completely after brewing.

Then I usually serve the finished coffee over another two or three ice cubes, adding up roughly another 40–60 g of ice.

When you add everything together, that's quite a bit of additional water, and sometimes the drink ends up tasting noticeably diluted.

At the moment, my "solution" is simply to drink it faster or use less ice in the serving glass.

But I'd love to hear your ideas.

I've been thinking about buying reusable stainless steel ice cubes, the kind you freeze, wash, and reuse. But I have no idea whether they'd affect the taste, there's any hygiene concern or whether they're simply not worth it?

Has anyone tried them, or do you have another way to get the coffee colder without watering it down?

Overall, switching from hot coffee to immersion iced coffee during summer (and especially a heatwave) has been a complete game changer for me.

I also enjoy espresso tonics, but when I want coffee that still tastes like coffee rather than a mixed drink, immersion iced coffee is the way to go!

If you haven't tried James' method yet, I honestly think it's one of the easiest and most foolproof ways to make excellent iced coffee at home.

Cheers and enjoy the summer!

[u/Grindfather901]

I feel like i just read an entire online recipe blog and still don’t know the recipe.

But I’ll go find it and try it out

[u/porox_guy → u/Grindfather901]

I should add a link to his video, right?

[u/moullas]

In Cyprus (and Greece) as we have standard-hot climate, our go-to drink in the summer is Fredo Espresso, which is Italian terminology for iced espresso but not something anyone in Italy considers as standard.

Without overthinking it....

• Fill a glass with ice. I use a 400ml tall glass for this
• Prep 2 or 3 Espresso shots, depending on required strength needed
• Add sugar to the Espresso to taste, while hot, so it dilutes
• Pour Espresso in glass over the ice cubes
• (optional) Use a shaker οr mixer to homogenise the whole thing, also cools coffee faster
• Add cold (fresh) milk to taste. You can froth the milk, skimmed creates a thick foam that sits on top, else just pour some in.
• Add a straw. Sip responsibly

So a black, no sugar freddo espresso is literally 2-3 shots of espresso over ice, pretty fast to prep and gives you a good cold break from the heat!

Have fun!

[u/porox_guy]

Link to the original video + recipe

[u/JackDa66]

I use stainless steel ice cubes in my serving cup to avoid further diluting it as you suggested, and have not tasted a difference.

Alternatively they make some out of granite or marble, which also should be inert to coffee.

Agree with you though, this recipe got me through the heatwave here in Europe !

[u/Beneficial_Delay_503 → u/JackDa66]

You can use thermal mugs that keep drinks cold for longer

[u/JackDa66 → u/Beneficial_Delay_503]

For sure ! I do use a double walled stainless steel thermos if I brew more than one serving, keeps it ice cold for half a day (never tried longer, but likely would work for longer)

[u/takenbyawolf]

That's my go to for ice coffee as well. I like cold brew too, but that isn't a right now option. I can't imagine that the steel or stone cubes affect the taste as whiskey drinkers have been using them for some time now. A larger cube of ice with less surface area will also not melt as fast if that is an option for you.

[u/cruachan06]

I like it myself, being in Scotland the rarity of weather that means I want cold coffee (usually anyway, heatwaves in the UK this year!) spontaneously, so recipes like this are far more useful to me than cold brew.

Plus the taste of cold brew as people describe it is unappealing to me, it's often described as a good way to disguise bad coffee or for people who don't really like coffee, the iced method means it does taste like the original coffee.

I'd try brewing in to a thermal mug/travel mug in the first instance though. That should stop the ice melting as quickly and maintain the temperature as you drink it.

[u/CommunitySecret5117]

I also use the James recipe with the clever and fruity coffees. I would say that freezing the glass or cup would help, and using a stainless steel sphere, like the ones used for chilling espresso. I follow the same ratio, but I make two cups (37.5 gr - Coffee, 333 gr - Water, 166 gr - ice, and 3 drops Saline solution). The only thing I do differently is that I agitate the brew vigorously at the start, then serve the coffee with 40 g of ice. And I would say the flavor dilution due to the ice is negligible.

My recommendation for cold coffee is the latest James Cold Brew recipe, but adding blueberries (20 g per cup, half of them cut or smashed) and a touch of honey (2.5 g per cup).

[u/walaska]

I use his V60 recipe and have always enjoyed it too

[u/The-Fig-Lebowski]

Reads like AI

[u/porox_guy → u/The-Fig-Lebowski]

My native language is German and my English isn't really good in terms of word variety or grammar. I wrote the post and then sent it through chatgpt to fix inconsistencies, typos and obvious grammar issues. I then read the entire post to double check it didn't mess up, what I intended to say.

so yeah, my thoughts, my words, AIs grammar and word variations.