The Bold Way To Spice Up Cold Brew Coffee For Maximum Flavor

A spiced, souped-up iced latte or cold brew is easy to find, especially during that time of year when Aldi has pumpkin spice cold foam and Starbucks has eggnog cold foam. For homemade cold brew, though, there's something fresher about spicing it yourself. You just need to get your technique right and make sure it all blends well. To that end, we spoke to coffee expert Andrea Allen, the co-founder of Onyx Coffee Lab, the U.S. Barista Champ in 2012 and 2020, and the 2021 World Barista Runner-Up.

When we asked Allen what spices she prefers in cold brew, she said that cinnamon, clove, and vanilla are all amazing flavors for the holiday season — she's also heard of adding red pepper for a genuinely spicy cold brew. Whole spices will be more fresh than pre-ground spices, but whichever you choose, Allen says to prepare the spice and your cold brew separately. "My thought is that spices are best prepared whole or chopped and steeped in hot water. You can boil them and then continue to do so until the water is reduced to a concentrate." You can also add sugar to create a sweeter syrup if you like. In any case, once you steep your spices separately, let them cool down and then add them to individual glasses rather than the whole cold brew batch.

If you're impatient, it's possible to add spices into the coffee grounds before you steep them cold brew-style. However, you have more control over the final taste if you spice your glass of cold brew instead of the batch, because this isn't an exact science. Your spices and spice levels will vary according to your cold brew recipe, the amount you've brewed, and (most importantly) your own personal preferences. To that end, start with small amounts of spice and work your way up.

Allen suggested one other way to spice up cold brew which doesn't involve adding anything new to your coffee. Instead, your choice of coffee beans can play a big role in flavoring the drink. If you're after a certain flavor you want in your cold brew, try switching up what beans you choose. "A natural processed coffee from Ethiopia will inherently contain fruit flavors which translate directly into the cup. Similarly, a co-ferment coffee will do the same." You could use flavored coffee (those bags of grounds labelled with blueberry or chocolate flavors, or that odd watermelon coffee we've investigated), but you may need to experiment with steeping times and techniques to make the flavors shine through how you like. On the other hand, spicing to taste with Allen's trick of concentrating spices in water lets you dial in more quickly.