< Back to Blog

Cold Brew COFFEE BAGS

Just Cold Coffee or a Coffee Revelation?

September 10th 2021

By Savannah Coombe / 5 min read time

Iced lattes, Iced Americanos, Frappuccino’s, Cold Drip…they’re all pretty great! There’s always been one major flaw with the iced coffee industry however - you can’t quite capture the deliciousness at home.

At New Kings Coffee we have set out to change this. One of the hardest parts of making iced coffee is that it either requires a fancy barista set up or a lot of preparation. Our new Cold Brew Coffee Bags aim to cut out the need for both.

Although time is still an important element, this cuts the process down to as few steps as possible.

Here’s how it works:
1. Place one coffee bag in a large container such as a jug or pitcher
2. Add 700ml of cold water
3. Leave in the fridge for 18 to 24 hours (Top tip: make it in the afternoon and leave it overnight)
4. Take out the coffee bag 5. Serve over ice

in the fridge for up to two weeks, but the intense flavour will start to fade after the first week. If you dilute your cold brew any further the life span will be reduced to 2-3 days.

We’re proud of our new Cold Brew Coffee Bags and what’s even cooler is that they’re pretty much the first of their kind. The coffee itself has notes of chocolate and raisins, with a refreshing juicy finish. We’ve even specially redesigned our coffee bags to make sure they’re perfect for brewing cold brew. The bags are bigger than our standard coffee bags to allow for a bigger yield. The coffee grounds themselves are also courser. With cold brew, if your grind is too fine the coffee will clump together and stop the cold water from circulating freely. A courser grind will lead to optimal extraction.

Just like all our other products, you can then simply add your coffee bag to your food waste bin. Our bags are made from Bioweb which is a completely renewable and sustainable source of corn starch. That means it’s 100% biodegradable! On top of this, it requires significantly less energy in the production process of the coffee bags than traditional cellulose products. It’s even taste neutral so that you only get the purest flavour from our coffee bags. Sustainability is a big focus here at New Kings Coffee. Our packaging is 100% recyclable, and our products are organic, vegan and Fairtrade.

Not sold yet? Well maybe we need to explain what cold brew actually is. Cold brew is just one form of iced coffee. It’s easy to group all iced coffee together but there are actually plenty of differences between them. Let’s break down what a few of the most common types are.

Types of Cold Coffee

Iced Latte – Exactly what it sounds like, a regular latte over ice. Lattes are made with a 1/3 espresso to 2/3 steamed milk ratio. They’re made hot and then added to a glass full of ice to cool down.

Iced Americano – The same as above but made with water rather than milk. Sometimes milk can be added on top to make a white americano.

Frappuccino – Popularised by coffee chains such as Starbucks and Costa, this drink features coffee and ice blended to a milkshake consistency. They’ll often be blended with flavoured syrup and topped with whipped cream.

Cold brew – Cold brew is a purer form of coffee than other types of iced coffee. Heating and then cooling the coffee causes a lot of flavour to be lost. Cold brew uses TIME rather than heat to extract flavour from the beans. Traditionally cold brew will be made hours in advance and left to allow the flavour to diffuse with the water. It will then be served over ice (with or without milk). But more on this later…

Cold drip – This is a similar idea to cold brew but is far more complicated. Cold drip uses a tower apparatus and time to extract flavour. Water is dripped onto a central container of ground coffee. This then seeps down below to a third container which captures the coffee. It’s a lot of fun but takes a long time and doesn’t yield a large amount of coffee.

Having assessed all the above we decided that cold brew was the best approach for us. It can be enjoyed in hot and cold weather (real iced coffee fans drink it all year round). Cold brew can be traced back to Japan in the early 1600s. At the time it was called ‘Kyoto’ due to being popular in the city of Kyoto. This used a method similar to the cold drip method described above. It’s unclear where the concept originated however, and some think it was introduced to Japan by Dutch traders from Indonesia.

Cold brew has exploded in modern times. The US revealed it had a 370% increase in cold brew coffee sales in 2017. The massive popularity of this drink came with the favour for iced coffee generally. It has a more flavoursome taste and often contains less sugar than some iced coffees, especially the Frappuccino. Cold brew is customisable, you can do a couple of unique things with it. Here are a couple of ways to enjoy your cold brew that we love (other than just drinking it straight).

Cold Brew Soda – This is popular in a couple of chains now, including Café Nero. Fill half a glass with cold brew and ice and top it up with soda or tonic water. Some variations also add sugar syrup for a touch of sweetness.

Espresso Martini (or other coffee-based cocktails) – Instead of espresso use cold brew. It’ll give a slightly milder flavour but will allow other flavours to come through, especially if you’re using premium spirits.

Coconut Cold Brew – Instead of using water, why not try coconut water? This creates a even healthier and more refreshing alternative to your usual cold brew.

Coffee milkshake – A classic! Just blend vanilla ice cream and our cold brew.

Affogato – A deliciously simple dessert. Traditionally it’s a single scoop of vanilla ice cream with fresh espresso poured over. Why not try swap the espresso for cold brew?

Vietnamese Iced Coffee – Mix a teaspoon or two of condense milk into your cold brew for our take on this Vietnamese classic.

Products talked about in the blog post

Curious Reads On Our Blog

Cold Brew Coffee Bags

Just Cold Coffee or a Coffee Revelation? Could our new Cold Brew Coffee Bags be the easiest way to make cold brew coffee with barista grade fresh ground coffee?

THE MISSING LINK: ECO-FRIENDLY PRACTICES AND OUR FOIL SACHET

How to send our foil sachets back to us and all the ways we’re trying to offset our environmental impact.