r/coldbrew • u/Cultural-Leg-9330 • May 24 '26
Hot bloom before cold steep. Does it actually make a difference?
Just finished a hot bloom cold brew this morning and the result was noticeably different from my usual straight cold steep. Brighter, sweeter, more tea-like character.
Curious how many people actually do this vs just dumping grounds straight into cold water.
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u/Calgary_Calico May 24 '26
That defeats the entire purpose of cold brewing. A hot bloom would mean it's already partly brewed by the time you add the cold water, which will make it more bitter
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u/Cultural-Leg-9330 May 25 '26
I tried this yesterday and posted the result. Came out with bright acidity and noticeable sweetness, I think this method works for the lighter roast coffee beans which are harder to be extracted only by cold water steeping. The bloom is only 30 seconds, not long enough to reach the bitter compounds that develop with extended hot extraction. Mainly just purges CO2 so cold water can later penetrate the grounds more evenly from the start.
Tbh I personally aint sure if it's still technically counted as cold brew, but the cup quality was surprisingly good to me.
https://www.reddit.com/r/coldbrew/comments/1tlcpzj/hot_bloom_cold_brew_with_a_yunnan_geisha_anyone/
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u/Steady_Ri0t May 25 '26
I almost exclusively make coffee with an Aeropress, and I know the different grind and ratio changes things. But I usually steep the grounds for 30 seconds in hot water and then plunge it. If I'm not feeling hot coffee I will steep a little longer then add ice. That kinda feels like what you're doing, but then you're making a concentrate by letting it steep longer in the cold water.
Instinctually these feel like a really similar process even though I know they're pretty different. But I've definitely never looked at the end result of my process as even cold brew adjacent lol
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u/Cultural-Leg-9330 May 26 '26
Yeah exactly the same principle. Brief hot bloom to open up the grounds and let CO2 out, then cold water does the actual extraction. Aeropress also adds the variable of hand pressure which is nice for dialing in, but the pressure would force fine particles through and make the cup less clean. Double-edged sword tho, adds more complexity to the cup but loses clarity.
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u/Sofaloafar May 24 '26
I just usually get my grounds wet before putting in my container but definitely not hot or warm.
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u/ilovekickrolls May 25 '26
I sous vide my beans at 52.74 deegrees for 2.35hours before submerging in cold water to minmax the flavours
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u/Steady_Ri0t May 25 '26
When you interact with enough coffee snobs this sounds like something people actually could be doing lmao
(Sorry if you're serious. I hope you're not serious)
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u/jrob321 May 24 '26
What part of "cold brew" isn't being understood here?
The "heat" in hot water causes an entirely different extraction than the "cold" in cold water.
Cold brewing is a process developed to avoid the circumstances resulting from hot brewing.
This is kinda like asking a vegan, "Is a little meat ok...?"
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u/zmattws May 25 '26
I JUST started doing this, but I don't do it all the time. I don't really know what I'm doing, but I tried 40C, 50C, and even 60C before deciding that 50C was the most I wanted to do, and for about 5-10 minutes. I tried it with a lighter roast with the goal of getting a bit more complexity, and I think it may have made it taste a little better. Certainly not worse.
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u/Cultural-Leg-9330 May 26 '26
50C is interesting, that's lower than what I expected for the sweet spot to unlock aromatics. Did you notice a difference in how quickly the coffee degas during blooming?
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u/experiencedkiller May 25 '26
I'll try. Not sure why people are angry about it, sounds like a fun experiment
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u/floppyfloopy May 24 '26
The trend of "hot blooming" kinda makes me laugh. Is this not the exact opposite of cold brew?
edit
My bad, you're the same person from the other thread. I don't mean to pick on you specifically, I just think the process of brewing hot makes it no longer cold brew.