FREE SHIPPING ALL ORDERS $50+

How to Brew: Iced Coffee

We believe that coffee tastes best when it’s brewed fresh, and that goes for coffee served iced as well as hot. That’s why we love using the Kalita 102 to brew iced coffee; by brewing hot coffee directly over ice, we’re able to extract the same sweetness, acidity, and complexity as we normally would. This method allows us to create beautiful and flavorful coffee perfectly suited for hot summer days.

You Will Need

Kalita 102 Dripper
Coffee Grinder
Hot Water Kettle
Scale
Timer
Decanter, or Mug
Coffee   Ice

 a person prewetting coffee filter with hot water

Step 1: Preparation

Fill your kettle with approximately 650 grams of fresh, filtered water. Begin heating your water. Ideally you want to brew with water between 195 – 205 degrees Fahrenheit, or roughly 1 minute off boil. You will use 300 grams of water to brew your coffee. The remainder will be for preheating your Bee House Dripper and filter. Insert your filter in the dripper (you may want to fold the bound edge of the filter beforehand, as it will make the filter fit more easily) and hold it over the sink. Once your water has heated, pour around 250 grams of water through the filter & dripper, making sure to get all of the filter wet. This will heat your dripper, wash away the paper flavor of the filter, and prepare the fibers for filtration.

35 grams of coffee being weighed on in a white cup on a black scale

Step 2: Weigh and Grind Your Coffee

For our Montenero Blend, we recommend using 35 grams of coffee, and 30 grams for any of our Single Origins. The grind setting you use should be a medium grind. Many grinders will retain a small amount of coffee, so your output may be about 1 gram less than your input. Because of this, you may want to grind an extra gram or two of coffee, so make sure you have the correct amount of ground coffee.

a person adding coffee to kalita 102 dripper

Step 3: Add Your Ice and Coffee

Weigh and add approximately 100 grams of ice to your decanter. We’ll be brewing our coffee directly into this ice, which should be almost completely melted by the time you’re done. Place your decanter, and Bee House Dripper & filter on your scale, and tare it out. Take your ground coffee and pour it into the filter. Check the weight on the scale to make sure you added the correct amount. Give the sides of the dripper a few light taps to make sure you have a flat, even bed of coffee.

a person brewing coffee in a kalita 102 dripper

Step 4: Brew Your Coffee

Start your timer and pour approximately 100 grams of hot water onto the coffee. Use a zigzag motion from top to bottom, ensuring you wet all of the coffee (it’s more important to get all the coffee wet than to hit exactly 100 grams). This stage is called the bloom; Allowing the coffee to sit with a small amount of water helps the coffee release some of its natural gases, which in turn helps the coffee brew more readily. At 30 seconds, slowly pour 200 grams of water onto the coffee, spiraling out from the center and then back into the center (continue going in and out until you have used up your 200g of water). Make sure to pour the water directly onto the coffee and not onto the paper filter, as the water will drain directly into your decanter, without brewing any coffee. The water should completely drain out at around 3 minutes.

Discard the coffee grounds, fill a glass with fresh ice, and pour the coffee in. Head outside with your freshly made Iced Coffee and enjoy a beautiful, sunny day.

a person seated in the background with a small glass of iced coffee in the foreground

Notes & Troubleshooting

If the brewing process takes longer than 3:00, it means your grind setting is too fine. Coarsen the grind as much as needed to hit the 3:00 target. Conversely, if the brewing process takes less than 3:00, your grind setting is too coarse. Adjust your grind as finely as needed. Keep in mind that the 3:00 target is an approximate target; if you are over or under by 15 seconds, for example, the coffee will likely still taste delicious.

Search