The Best Coffee Bean Roast For Cold Brew

Cold brew is a different beast from regular iced coffee since you're using a different method to pull that coffee flavor out of the ground-up beans. Since regular coffee rules don't apply, just know that cold brew changes the flavor of light roasts and dark roasts in different ways than standard brewing. Is there a right kind of roast for cold brew? We asked the coffee expert and ex-barista behind Home Coffee Expert, Matt Woodburn-Simmonds.

According to Woodburn-Simmonds, you ideally want medium to dark roasts for cold brew. "The darker the roast, the easier it is to extract the flavors from the beans as they are less dense," he said. "Until you completely destroy all flavor by roasting them too dark." The benefit of cold brew is that you're steeping the coffee beans in cold water rather than dousing them in hot water (brewing in hot water and then chilling it would be how you get regular iced coffee). This cold method of extracting flavor is less intense and can often lead to smoother, less acidic flavors; you can still over-roast if you're careless, a cold brew mistake which leaves you with a bitter batch.

You'll get "richer, bolder flavors" here from a good dark roast, according to Woodburn-Simmonds. "Cold brewing doesn't tend to bring out the more bitter flavors of coffee, which can be more prevalent in a darker roast, so it makes the coffee taste a little sweeter." Meanwhile, a medium roast will get you fruitier flavors in cold brew.

Different coffee roasts refer to how much the coffee beans were heated prior to being packaged and sold. Darker roasts tend to have heavy, smoky flavors while light roasts tend to taste more fruity and mild. Either works fine when brewed in boiling hot water, but cold brewing may not extract much flavor at all from light roasted coffee, especially when compared to stronger-tasting dark roasts. Woodburn-Simmons says a light roast cold brew can still work, but with a couple of caveats. "If you're using a lighter roast you may need to up the amount of coffee you use or extend the extraction time to get good results," he said. "The coffee will always be lighter, and more 'tea like' due to the roast profile."

No matter what roast you're using, if it doesn't taste right Woodburn-Simmons recommends you only change one thing at a time. Several factors can make or break a cold brew, but while you can't adjust the temperature itself (because you're typically storing cold brew in the fridge when you brew it), you can adjust brewing time. The ideal time for steeping cold brew is 12 to 18 hours, but don't feel confined to that. According to Woodburn-Simmonds, "Pick a recipe, try it, if it's too bitter then reduce the brewing time. If it's too weak and acidic, increase it. That's the easiest way to adjust cold brew until you get that perfect flavor."