First iced coffee of the season

So it got up to 84 degrees or so yesterday, and I was hot from picking strawberries earlier—too hot, in fact, to stomach the idea of my usual mid-afternoon coffee. That is, until I remembered the ice in the freezer!

For my first iced coffee of the season, I kind of winged it and ended up scoring…well, if not a home run than maybe a double or triple. It truly hit the spot.

I reached for the Aeropress. Added 5 ice cubes to my glass. Eyeballed an ample dose of Barefoot’s Finca Vista Hermosa Edlyna (which ended up amounting to 24.5 g.). Ground it to a “coarse drip” setting, e.g. 1.5 turns CCW on the LIDO. Brewed inverted using my usual recipe. 200 g. of water, which I added in two stages with a stir in between; good thing, too, as the bloom was BIG. Chose a paper filter. And, just like that, pres(s)to! Japanese-style iced coffee à la Aerobie.

What I enjoy most about brewing hot over ice is the amped-up aromatics relative to cold-brewed coffee. Barefoot’s honey-prep Edlyna micro-lot is described as having “…aromas of nectarine and vanilla. Hints of white peach and sweet malt cascade into a buttery mouth feel. Round and creamy [body].” I get a peach-esque stone fruit from these beans, as described, when brewing them up hot, along with rich pastry notes. As I’d hoped, this flavor profile more or less showed up yesterday as well. About the “round and creamy” bit, I do prefer iced coffee with body. Not sure I’m convinced that the tendency on the part of various shops to favor tea-like African coffees in cold drinks is a good one.

What I enjoy least about brewing hot over ice in the Aeropress specifically is that you can’t put the mug upside down on top of the inverted press and then revert the whole shebang. On account of the ice, you know? ;) Makes the last bit trickier than I’d like, but the results can be worth it. I should probably try going non-inverted with iced coffee.

Staying cool, everyone?