Table of Contents
Introduction
Can cold brew coffee be heated? This is a very common and curious question that a coffee consumer, especially a cold coffee lover, usually thinks about.
Every coffee lover wants to enjoy the coffee taste by enhancing its overall flavor and profile and due to that, they perform multiple experiments with their beverage to boost coffee’s tone and taste profile. Different kinds of brew methods along with different kinds of additive ingredients offer a variety of flavor combinations and allow drinkers to consume the coffee as per their accurate desired taste.
Cold coffee is one of the most famous and loveable brew types among the coffee lover’s community. Every coffee consumer must be aware of its charm, smooth taste and less acidic taste. But what if a cold coffee lover craves a hot brew?
Either they have only one option left, which is to make a hot brew at that time or they go towards the enhancement of their refrigerated stored cold brew batch. These all are the thoughts that generate a question, can cold brew coffee be heated? In this article we are going to find out the answer and possibilities of that query and explore all necessary information by reading it.
Can cold brew coffee be heated?
The one word answer to that query is YES YOU CAN, but there are so many things you have to understand before going towards heating your cold brew.
People thought that the heating process would completely change the cold brew characteristics, but in actuality, you are just drinking a coffee that is brewed cold instead of hot. Hence, the heating process just create slightly impact on cold brew, but it has no major effect on the overall coffee profile.
There are some basics that you should know about it before going towards the heating process.
Effect of heat over flavor
Cold brew is smooth, less bitter, less acidic and an excellent sweet taste in nature. When you heated it, its flavor characteristics slightly changed in the way that its bitterness and acidity were a little bit enhanced. Generally, the bitterness and acid depend on flavor extraction at the time of brew.
The heating process just breaks down the chemical compounds, which influences its acidic and bitterness profile, which will indirectly reduce the sweetness level but not in a harmful manner. All these changes are done in slight ways so the sweetness level becomes more balanced and the aroma increases after heating.
Effect of heat over concentration
The heating effect depends on the level of concentration that your cold brew has. Usually, cold coffee makers create cold brew as strong in large quantities due to the preserving and multiple time using purpose. But sometimes people make it dilute. So, if you have a concentrated beverage, then heating will change the profile as we mentioned in the above section. But if you want to heat a dilute beverage, then it will not have enough compound to break, although it will not have enough capacity to make it bitter and acidic. Hence, the overall profile is still the same after heating.
Effect of heat over caffeine
Usually, hot brew has less caffeine than cold brew because of the higher coffee to water ratio and longer brewing time of cold brew. Because of that, people thought that the caffeine content in my cold brew may be burned or damaged by heating. This is totally a myth. The hot brewing method is completely different from heating an already brewed coffee. Maximum caffeine extraction occurs at the time of brew, which will be the same after the heating.
How can cold brew coffee be heated?
After understanding the basics of whether can cold brew coffee be heated, it is also important to understand how can cold brew coffee be heated. So, the best possible ways of heating cold brew are as follows
Heat on the stovetop
The first and one of the most common and beneficial methods in our list of how can cold brew coffee be heated is heating on a stovetop. This method provides complete control on beverage temperature. A person can achieve their desired warm beverage with minimum risk of burning.
- If you have a concentrated beverage, then make it as dilute as ready to drink.
- Pour that dilute beverage into a small pot.
- Warm it on low heat and stir it gently to prevent overheating.
- Remember, try not to heat till the beverage is boiled; this will burn the taste.
- Once you feel that the beverage is hot enough to drink, then remove the pot from heat.
Heat in the microwave
The second method is to heat your cold brew by using a microwave. This is the quickest and most convenient method of heating. This method is slightly different from the previous one, it requires a diluted beverage and is based on short intervals of heating sections to avoid overheating. All you have to do is to follow the below-mentioned easy steps.
- First, pour your cold brew into the safe mug and then place it inside the microwave.
- Start heating in a number of bursts, taking 15 to 20 seconds for each.
- Stirring is required between each section for proper heating.
- Stop the process once your cold beverage has reached your desired temperature.
Heat through a hot water bath (by using an electric kettle)
The third and easiest method in our list of how can cold brew coffee be heated is to heat your cold brew through a hot water bath. An electric kettle is the best appliance for that purpose, so if you have it, try to use it for heating your cold brew. The procedures are given as follows.
- First, start your kettle and heat up to 160°F to 175°F (71°C to 80°C). If you don’t have an electric kettle and want to use some other appliance, then it’s ok, just remember that the purpose is to heat the water.
- Take a large bowl and put your cold brew cup in it.
- Pour that hot water in that bowl. The heat of hot water will surround the cold brew cup and start to warm it.
- Once you feel that your cold brew is warm enough, then take out that warm cup of cold brew from the bowl.
Diluting with hot water
This is the last method in our list of how can cold brew coffee be heated. This is the same method as the previous one. In this method, you have to do the following things.
- Take a concentrated cup of cold brew.
- Similar to the previous method, you have to take an electric kettle or some other alternative and heat the limited amount of water that you can use to add to cold brew.
- Once the water is heated, just mix that hot water into the cold brew and gently stir.
- This will not only be diluting your cold brew but also make it warm as per your desire.