Whether you're using a V60 or a Chemex, making Japanese iced coffee is easy and surprisingly fast. Brew directly onto ice for an instantly chilled drink!
Before you do anything else, you need to weigh the coffee, water, and ice. We recommend starting with equal amounts of water and ice. Use the kitchen scale to weigh 1 oz (25 g) of coffee and 7 oz (200 g) each of water and ice.
Boil the water. This recipe requires water fresh off the boil. For the best results, we recommend using a gooseneck kettle like the Hario Buono.
If you have a grinder, grind your coffee to a medium consistency. A good starting point is the grind size you would use for a traditional hot pour-over. If you are using pre-ground coffee, you can skip this step.
Whether you are using V60 or Chemex filters, make sure you rinse the filter before brewing. Rinsing the filter eliminates a papery taste that can otherwise linger and also preheats the brewer for optimal extraction.
Once the filter has been rinsed, add the ice to your carafe. Then place your brewer on top of the carafe (if using a V60).
Add the coffee to your brewer. Start your timer pour about 2 oz (60 g) of water over the grounds in a concentric pattern, spiraling outward as you go. The goal here is to wet the grounds evenly. Wait 45 seconds.
Once 45 seconds have passed, pour the rest of the water – 5 oz (140 g) – over the coffee slowly, again in a circular pattern. Focus on making sure you pour evenly across all of the coffee grounds. You don’t want to linger for too long in the center.
After you’ve poured the rest of the water, you want to give the whole brewer a quick swirl. Some grounds can get stuck to the sides of the filter, and you want to make sure they get knocked back into the water. Grounds that are “high and dry” are wasted and don’t contribute to the coffee’s flavor.
You’re done with the hard parts now, and all you have to do is wait for the water to drain through. Then serve and enjoy!