It’s Summer. If you’re like most people, drinking a hot cup of coffee on a sweltering 90 degree day sounds less than enticing. So we turn to iced coffee. We’ve been accustomed to the extremely bitter almost sour iced coffee from Starbucks. I honestly thought that’s how iced coffee was supposed to taste. So I would just load it up with cream and sugar, and be on my merry way. But then I went to Crema. Those of you in Nashville know this heavenly place. Their iced coffee wasn’t bitter at all, almost sweet. So I decided to learn how they did it, and documented the process. Below is my first attempt at Iced coffee, it’s not perfect, but it tasted amazing!
First we have to start with a few essentials. A Chemex, Electric Kettle, Burr Grinder, Kitchen Scale, and Freshly Roasted Beans…oh lots of ice too.
You’ll want to fill your kettle, and let it start heating. Then measure out 96 Grams of coffee. If you have a small little grinder like me you’ll have to do this a couple different times because the grinder can’t hold that many beans. I used the standard coarse grind I use when I’m making a hot brewed Chemex.
After all your coffee is ground and ready, cover and set it aside. You’ll then want to add 425 Grams of ice to the Chemex and put in place the Chemex filter, then add the grounds. I also pre-wet the filter before putting it into the Chemex to get rid of some of the papery taste. but putting in place a wet chemex filter is not an easy task. I still need to find a better way to do this.
By now the water should have already boiled. You’ll want to wait for about 60 sec after it boils to let the water cool down to about 200 degrees. Then you brew it just like you would for a normal Chemex, except instead of 715 Grams of water you’re only adding 680 Grams. Pour in a small 1 in circle in center of the grounds.
After 200 Grams of water I stopped and let the coffee bloom for about 60 sec. then continued until I added the full 680 Grams.
Once the dripping stops you’re ready to enjoy.
And if you’re like Jackie you’ll still add cream and sugar despite the fact that it tastes amazing without it : )
Ah, Crema! We are indeed lucky to have that fantastic team of coffee pros here in Tune Town. Curious about your scale. Where didst thou findeth it?
We got it from William Sonoma, but you can also get it on Amazon. The brand is “SALTER”