Since many folks feel like cold coffee is better than lukewarm, it’s a popular beverage to enjoy on a hot day. Coffee companies have even doubled down on selling iced coffee in freezers in stores for those that still want their drinks cold.
Coffee is big business. In fact, the coffee industry is worth over $100 billion worldwide. Around 54 percent of Americans drink a cup of coffee every day… and that number is growing steadily every year.
Cold coffee is the next frontier for coffee drinkers and coffee shop owners alike. Cold coffee is cold brewed coffee that has been chilled for a long period of time and is slowly infused through a fine mesh filter. The result is a smooth, creamy coffee that is great for iced coffee and iced lattes.
It doesn’t matter if you are a coffee drinker or not: cold coffee is trending and it’s here to stay.
Here are ten reasons to love cold coffee:
1) A Coffee Drink With No Added Sugar
Cold-brewed coffee doesn’t have added sugars, flavorings, or chemicals. The result is a refreshing cold brew that is chock full of your money’s worth of antioxidants and vitamins but still only has about 60 calories in a tall glass.
2) Refrigerate Your Coffee In An Overnight Bottle And Enjoy It At Work For Less Than $1
There are a few tricks to making your cold brew at home taste great and one of them is to use freshly roasted coffee beans. The fresher the coffee, the more natural sugars and oils it has which make for a tastier cup of cold coffee. It also costs much less than it would in a coffee shop or cafe.
Each morning, place 1/2 to 1 cup of ground coffee beans into a storage container and add cool water so that completely covers the coffee grounds. Seal the container and let it stand overnight on the counter, in your refrigerator, or on your countertop. In the morning, filter the coffee through a fine-mesh strainer and use it immediately or refrigerate for later.
3) Zero Caffeinated Buzz
If you drink regular coffee, you know the caffeine buzz can be addicting to some drinkers… and that’s not necessarily a good thing. It’s estimated that over 50 percent of adults in the U.S. consume at least one cup of coffee per day.
Regular coffee can give you an almost immediate buzz, giving you an energy boost and helping you stay alert to get things done but this is only temporary. Coffee has another side effect that you might not want to deal with: it takes about 30 minutes for your body to fully process the caffeine from a cup of coffee.
Cold-brewed coffee is a much different story: your body takes 4 to 6 hours to process caffeine from a cold-brewed coffee drink, which is significantly less than most regular coffees and coffee beverages. This means you won’t experience the same caffeine buzz with cold-brewed coffee that you’d get from a regular cup of coffee because your body actually processes the caffeine slowly over time instead of all at once as it does with regular coffee.
4) A Little Less Caffeine
Even though the CDC recommends consuming up to 400 mg of caffeine per day, many people consume more than this on a regular basis. If you’re one of those people that struggles to fall asleep at night or gets jittery and edgy if you don’t consume caffeine in the morning, cold coffee is a great alternative for you since it contains less caffeine than regular brewed coffee.
A 12-ounce cup of cold brew only has 65 mg of caffeine compared to 95 mg in a regular cup of coffee, 130 mg in an iced latte, and 200 mg in the hazelnut latte at Starbucks.
5) A Little More Flavor
Cold-brewed coffee actually tastes better when it’s chilled down to an icy cold brew instead of piping hot like traditional hot brewed coffee does. This makes cold-brewed coffee perfect for iced coffee drinks because the brewing process doesn’t change the taste of the coffee at all, it just chills it down and infuses it with flavor.
In fact, many coffee drinkers claim that their coffee tastes better when it’s chilled instead of piping hot.
6) Less Acidic Than Hot Coffee
One of the most noticeable side effects of drinking regular coffee is the acidic taste that can burn your mouth and tongue if you aren’t careful. This is never an issue with cold-brewed coffee because it’s brewed using a process called “immersion” which essentially means that it is brewed slowly over a long period of time which minimizes the acid in the coffee.
7) Healthier Than Soda And Juices
If you just think about the amount of soda and juice you drink on a daily basis, it’s shocking how many people are consuming empty calories and sugar every single day when cold-brewed coffee would provide them with all their vitamins and nutrients without all the added sugars that are found in most sodas and juices.
The number one nutrition rule when drinking a cold-brewed coffee is preparing it so it only has natural sugars and zero added sugars. If you add sugar or sweetener to it, it’s no longer cold-brewed coffee but a coffee drink with added sugars and no longer a healthy choice.
8) Lasts Longer In The Fridge Than Hot Coffee
Because cold-brewed coffee contains less caffeine than regular brewed coffee, it stays fresh longer than regular brewed coffee and doesn’t require refrigeration as often when stored for longer periods. This means you won’t have to throw away old coffee grounds as often because you’ll use them up faster.
9) Lower Costs Than Coffee Shops
Because cold-brewed coffee doesn’t require specialized equipment, it’s less expensive to produce than hot brewed coffee and is overall cheaper than most coffee shops that sell it. Instead of paying $5 for a half-caf cold coffee drink, you could prepare your own iced cold brew at home for under $1.
10) Tastes Great With Food And Sweeteners
Cold-brewed coffee actually tastes great with other foods and with sugar and sweeteners so you won’t be limited to whatever flavors your coffee shop or cafe offers. If you are adding sugar or sweetener to your coffee, it’s best to use just 1 tablespoon of Stevia or organic sugar per ounce of cold-brewed coffee to avoid adding too many empty calories that you don’t need.
