Highwire has always favored the complexity and brightness of iced coffee made in a flash brewed style. Besides being delicious, it is quick and easy to make.
With the arrival of hot weather, we asked Highwire trainer, Jeremy Stone to walk us through how to make delicious Flash brewed iced coffee at home. He chose our current coffee of the week, Refisa from Ethiopia; a coffee that makes one of the lightest and most refreshing cups I've had this year!
You can use whatever coffee gear you have at home, and if you're missing any key equipment, we've got you. Shop the look.
First the recipe:
Use 35g coffee, 200ml Ice, 300ml hot water. The idea is we will make a strong concentrate of hot coffee that will dilute when it hits the ice to finish at a perfect brew strength. Flash brewing will retain the detail and origin character you'd find in a cup of the the same coffee when it's hot, but perhaps with a bit more sweetness.
You'll need a dripper, a coffee filter, a scale, a vessel to brew into, and a good pour kettle.
First, rinse your filter with cold water from tap. Here I'm using the Origami Medium Sized dripper and their paper filters, which have almost no taste. The rinse ensures you'll only taste coffee and not paper. If you use brown paper filters, be sure to rinse them A LOT.
Then, grind your coffee, use a slightly finer grind for this. (a bit finer than table salt for instance). Here, I went with 16 clicks on the Timemore Chestnut C2 Max. Fun fact, this grinder has a 30g capacity, but the Ethiopia Refisa fits nicely. This is one of the best hand grinders we have found. It grinds more consistently and efficiently than many others we have tried.
When water is hot, pour your bloom, 3x the coffee dose, I used 90 ml of water and let bloom for 45 seconds.
Once the water is poured, a stir, and a shake help ensure saturation.
At the 45 second mark, pour the rest of your water slowly in concentric circles, focusing on the middle of the coffee bed/slurry finishing the pour by about 2:00, and full drawdown by about 3:00.
Once coffee has brewed stir to melt the remaining ice, and pour into favorite vessel with a couple cubes for enjoyment.
Now you are ready to keep cooly caffeinated all Summer and Fall.