Summer Favorites: Iced Coffee

I’m a bit late to this post, but last week I received my new Hario Fretta pour-over iced coffee maker and I’m really happy with it.

It’s very easy to use.  The only difference between it and a normal pour-over is the ice chamber and the recipe you’ll use to brew iced coffee.

hario iced coffee

The thing to remember here is we need to reduce the amount of water we add because the melted ice will contribute water and if we’re not careful, it’ll water down the coffee.  There’s a decent debate among coffee geeks about just how much to reduce your water in order to compensate for the ice.  My experience with the Fretta is to simply fill the ice chamber with ice and use 30% less water.  You don’t have to weigh your ice or count cubes or make a concentrated coffee mixture, just use a bit less water than normal.  Below is the step-by-step guide:

  1. Put the kettle on
  2. As normal, pour hot water through the filter (this helps remove the paper taste from the filter and also warms the apparatus)
  3. Use a medium-fine grind (like table sugar)
  4. Adjust your coffee-to-water ratio so that you use 30% less water.
  5. Once the kettle is ready, pour out the warming water from step #2, fill the ice chamber with ice, and place your ground coffee
  6. From here, treat it like a normal pour-over (great video brew guide here)
  7. Start with the pre-wet; enough water (about 50 grams) to make the coffee bloom
  8. After the bloom drops (about 15 seconds) continue adding water in a slow, circular motion
  9. Fill a glass with ice, serve, and enjoy!

   Brewing

Michael C. Wright

Michael is a licensed Q Grader, licensed Q Processor Pro, an Authorized SCA Trainer (AST), and most recently, a graduate with a degree in horticulture and a concentration in horticultural business management. He has over ten years experience in the coffee industry operating on both the supply and demand sides of the value chain.