Cold brew has captured a lot of attention recently – as delicious as it is, it can be too strong for some to enjoy as an everyday coffee or afternoon pick-me-up. For those looking for a less caffeinated yet flavorful option, I recommend the flash brew technique.
Also known as Japanese-style iced coffee or an iced pour over, this method is a quicker, less-caffeinated version of cold brew, with more acidity and brighter notes. Refreshing, sweet and clean, the flash brew method results in a more tea-like body, with lingering sweetness throughout. If you’re not in the mood for a heavily bodied cold brew, and you don’t enjoy how flat and watery hot coffee over ice tends to be, iced pour overs are a great alternative.
Flash brewed coffee imparts the same taste and experience of pour overs – but chilled. Using this technique, the hot coffee slowly and steadily pours over the ice, and locks in the flavor (instead of diluting it). This results in a very different taste than if you were to pour an entire cup of hot coffee over ice at once.
Below I’ve included recipes using both the traditional Brim Pour Over Coffee Kit and the automatic Brim 8 Cup Pour Over Coffee Maker. Both are quick methods that will lead to delicious and flavorful iced pour over coffee!
Brim Pour Over Coffee Kit Flash Brew Recipe
- Place the filter in an open “pocket” shape and wet the filter with boiling water just as you would for a hot pour over
- Fill the carafe halfway with ice
- For one serving of flash brewed coffee, use half the amount of water as the recipe for the hot pour over (about 1 cup of hot water), and the same amount of coffee (44 grams ground medium-fine)
- Drag the contact time out to 3-5 minutes with smaller sized pours – this will ensure balance in flavors (too fast will lead to watery, flat flavors).
- Serve over additional ice
Brim 8 Cup Pour Over Maker Flash Brew Recipe
- For 8 cups of flash brewed coffee, use the same weight of coffee (with the grind being slightly finer to give more flavor and slow down the flow) but fill the top to the 4-cup mark with water
- Fill the bottom of the carafe with 4 cups of ice.
- Serve over additional ice
