Cold Coffee: Types, Recipes & Brewing Tips

Cold coffee is much more varied than simply letting a hot cup cool down.

From freshly brewed coffee poured over ice to slow-steeped cold brew and frothy frappés, there are plenty of ways to enjoy coffee chilled. Different preparation methods can also produce noticeably different flavours, strengths and textures.

Whether you want something quick on a warm afternoon or a batch of cold brew waiting in the fridge, this guide covers the main types of cold coffee and how to make them at home.

What is cold coffee?

Cold coffee is a broad term for coffee drinks served cold or chilled.

That means several quite different drinks can fall under the same description.

The main styles include:

• Iced coffee
• Cold brew
• Iced espresso
• Frappé
• Iced latte
• Coffee served with ice cream
• Blended coffee drinks

The important distinction is how they’re prepared.

Iced coffee is generally brewed hot before being chilled or served over ice. Cold brew, on the other hand, extracts coffee using cool or room-temperature water over a much longer period.

Both are cold, but they aren’t the same drink.

Where did cold coffee come from?

There isn’t one simple origin story.

Coffee has been served cold in different forms around the world for a long time, and individual countries have developed their own traditions.

One frequently cited early example is mazagran, a cold coffee drink associated with 19th-century Algeria that later became known in France and elsewhere.

Over time, other distinctive chilled coffee drinks appeared around the world.

Greece became famous for its frothy frappé, while Vietnamese iced coffee developed its own distinctive combination of strong coffee, ice and sweetened condensed milk.

Modern café culture has expanded the category even further.

Today you can find everything from straightforward iced Americanos to cold brew, iced flat whites and elaborate blended drinks.

Iced coffee

Iced coffee is probably the simplest place to start.

Coffee is brewed using hot water and then chilled or poured over ice.

Because the ice melts, it’s worth brewing slightly stronger than you would for an ordinary hot cup.

A basic method is:

1. Brew your coffee.
2. Fill a glass with ice.
3. Pour the coffee over the ice.
4. Add milk or sweetener if desired.
5. Stir and serve.

You can use several brewing methods, although filter coffee and espresso are particularly convenient.

The result retains many characteristics of conventionally brewed coffee while providing the refreshing experience of a cold drink.

Cold brew coffee

Cold brew uses an entirely different extraction method.

Rather than brewing coffee hot and cooling it afterwards, ground coffee is steeped in cool or room-temperature water for several hours before being filtered.

The longer extraction and lower temperature produce a different flavour profile from hot brewing.

Recipes vary considerably in coffee-to-water ratio and steeping time, so there isn’t one universal cold brew formula.

Some recipes create a concentrated drink intended to be diluted, while others produce coffee ready to drink immediately after filtering.

Our complete cold brew guide explains the process in detail.

Is cold brew less acidic?

You’ll often hear that cold brew is simply “less acidic” than hot coffee, but the science is more nuanced.

Research published in Scientific Reports compared hot and cold brewing and found comparable pH values in the coffees studied, although hot-brewed samples contained higher levels of total titratable acids.

Other research has also shown that factors including the beans, roast, grind and extraction conditions influence the chemistry of the finished drink.

So while cold brew can taste different and may be perceived as smoother by some drinkers, describing every cold brew as universally lower in acidity oversimplifies what is happening.

Iced espresso

If you own an espresso machine, iced espresso provides a quick way to make cold coffee.

Prepare one or two shots of espresso and pour them over ice.

You can drink it as it is or use it as the foundation for another drink.

Adding cold water creates an iced Americano-style coffee, while milk transforms it into an iced latte.

Because espresso is concentrated, its flavour can remain noticeable even after some of the ice melts.

If you’re still learning the basics, our guide to making espresso will help you get started.

Iced latte

An iced latte is one of the easiest milk-based cold coffee drinks to make.

You’ll need:

• Espresso
• Ice
• Cold milk or a milk alternative

Fill a glass with ice, add the milk and pour in your espresso.

You can adjust the proportions depending on how strong and creamy you want the finished drink.

Flavoured syrup can also be added, but it’s completely optional.

Vanilla, caramel and hazelnut are familiar choices, while fruit flavours can create something more unusual.

For an example, try our blueberry iced latte recipe.

What is a frappé?

The word frappé can describe different chilled or blended drinks depending on where you are.

The famous Greek version is traditionally associated with instant coffee, water, sugar if desired and ice, shaken or blended to create its characteristic foam.

Modern cafés also use terms such as frappé or frappuccino-style drinks for blended combinations containing coffee, milk, ice, syrups and toppings.

These richer versions are quite different from traditional Greek frappé.

That’s part of what makes cold coffee interesting: similar names can describe noticeably different drinks around the world.

Try Vietnamese-style iced coffee

Vietnamese iced coffee offers another distinctive approach.

Traditionally associated with coffee brewed using a phin filter, it is often combined with sweetened condensed milk and served over ice.

The result is rich, sweet and strongly flavoured.

It’s a good example of how coffee culture has developed differently around the world rather than every country simply adopting the same modern iced-coffee recipe.

If you’re interested in the wider story of how coffee travelled between countries and cultures, explore our history of coffee.

Choosing beans for cold coffee

You can make cold coffee with many different beans.

The best choice depends on the flavours you enjoy and the brewing method you’re using.

If you like chocolate, caramel and nut characteristics, you might enjoy experimenting with Brazilian or Colombian coffee.

For brighter fruit and floral characteristics, try beans from Ethiopia or Kenya.

Explore our guides to coffee from Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia and Kenya to learn more about these origins.

Roast level matters too.

There’s no rule saying cold drinks require dark-roasted coffee. Light, medium and dark beans can all work depending on the result you want.

Our coffee roast levels guide explains how roasting influences flavour.

How to stop iced coffee becoming watery

Melting ice is one of the most common problems when making cold coffee.

There are several ways to manage it.

First, brew the coffee slightly stronger so that some dilution doesn’t ruin the drink.

You can also allow freshly brewed coffee to cool before pouring it over ice.

Another option is making coffee ice cubes.

Simply pour brewed coffee into an ice-cube tray and freeze it. Use those cubes instead of ordinary ice and your drink gains more coffee as they melt rather than becoming increasingly diluted.

This works particularly well for iced lattes.

Milk and dairy-free alternatives

Milk can completely change the texture and flavour of cold coffee.

Regular dairy milk is an obvious choice, but plant-based alternatives can work well too.

Oat, almond, soya and coconut drinks all have different flavours and textures.

There’s no single best option, so choose according to the coffee and your preferences.

Our guide to the best milk alternatives for coffee explores the options in more detail.

Add flavour without overwhelming the coffee

Part of the appeal of cold coffee is how easy it is to customise.

Popular additions include:

• Vanilla
• Caramel
• Hazelnut
• Chocolate
• Cinnamon
• Condensed milk

Start with a small amount.

If you’re using freshly roasted beans with an interesting flavour profile, too much syrup can quickly hide what makes the coffee distinctive.

You can also skip flavourings entirely and let the beans provide the character.

Make cold coffee recipes at home

Once you’ve mastered the basics, it’s easy to experiment.

Cold brew can be combined with milk, tonic-style mixers or flavoured syrups, while espresso provides the foundation for countless iced drinks.

You can also use coffee in smoothies, desserts and cocktails.

Our cold brew recipes provide more ideas if you already know how to prepare cold brew and want to do something different with it.

For a coffee cocktail, you could also try our espresso martini recipe.

Cold coffee vs hot coffee

Neither is inherently better.

Hot brewing is ideal when you want a warm drink and can produce an enormous range of flavours depending on the method.

Cold coffee provides a refreshing alternative and creates opportunities for recipes that don’t work quite the same way when served hot.

The choice may simply come down to mood and weather.

Our hot vs iced coffee guide compares the two styles in more detail without treating either as the universal winner.

Is cold coffee only for summer?

Not at all.

Although demand naturally increases during warmer weather, there’s nothing stopping you drinking iced coffee or cold brew throughout the year.

Some people simply prefer the flavour and texture of chilled drinks.

Others alternate between hot and cold depending on the time of day.

The growing variety of iced drinks available in cafés has also made cold coffee much less seasonal than it once was.

Find your favourite cold coffee

There’s no single correct way to enjoy coffee cold.

If you want something quick, brew iced coffee or make an iced espresso.

For a slower method with a different extraction profile, prepare cold brew.

If you prefer creamy drinks, make an iced latte. And if you’re looking for something sweeter, experiment with frappés, condensed milk or flavoured recipes.

The best approach is to start with good beans and experiment with brewing, strength, ice and milk until you find the combination you enjoy.

At CoffeeHype, our coffee is freshly roasted to order and available as whole beans or ground for different brewing methods.

Browse our range of freshly roasted coffee beans and find the right beans for your next cold coffee.