A truly great cold brew works for both the customer and the roaster.
It should taste rich and refreshing over ice, stand up to milk and sugar, and fit the profile customers expect. Ideally, it should also give roasters some flexibility — as a blend component, a single-origin offering or a useful alternate when cost, availability and freshness shift.
We asked a few InterAmerican colleagues what they would reach for first when brewing their own — and what advice they’d give anyone building or refreshing a cold brew program. Here’s what they shared:
Start with the customer
“It’s important that great is defined by the end consumer,” says Josh Burdett, our senior trader in Kansas City.
Will the cold brew be grabbed in a hurry — or sit in the fridge for a week? Will customers drink it black or with “a gallon of milk and 10 sugar packets”? What cup profile do they expect and what are they willing to pay?
Ultimately, says Josh, “if they consider the product a good value for the price they paid, especially to the point where they buy it again and convince others to do the same, then it’s great.”
Build for milk, sugar and dilution
Ed Kaufmann, who oversees quality control out of Hoboken — and is a former roaster and green buyer — believes beverage strength is one of the first things to get right.
“It should be brewed knowing that it will be served with ice, and that the ice will melt and dilute the concentration,” he says. “Target strength should include estimated ice melt.”
Ed looks for coffees with a smooth body and integrated acidity. His ideal setup, he says, would be two cold brews: a blend for milk drinkers and a single-origin option for those who want a little more “taste of place.”
For the blend, his target profile would be “refreshing brownie batter,” using a 50/50 combination of Brazil Oberon 17/18 and Mexico Turquesa HG. “Any of our ‘sweet heavies’ would knock it out of the park,” he says.
Sweet heavies?
“Coffees with lower inherent acidity and an emphasis on chocolate, toffee, brown sugar, almonds and pecans,” he explains. “These coffees can be taken darker without fighting acidity and can provide the sweetness and structure needed to hold up over ice and milk.”
His favorite examples include Brazil Oberon, Mexico Turquesa, Guatemala La Flor and “certain Colombia EPs, depending on how they cup.”
As for the single-origin option, Ed would look for distinct acidity and enough sweetness “to carry the cup after the ice melts.”
Pablo Lara, a trader in San Diego, also prioritizes richness.
“A great cold brew has great body, chocolate and caramel notes,” he said, with bonus points for berry or citrus notes. His go-to picks are Guatemala La Voz, Honduras Gea and Ethiopia Shantawene.
Be flexible
Josh says he’d begin with “a Brazil and two washed arabicas — one from Latin America and one from Africa.” The answer is intentionally broad.
“The most successful roasters are often the most flexible ones,” he says. “If you can buy blend components that double as single-origin offerings — and vice versa — and if you can adapt quickly to changes in the market by shifting origins as needed, then you have many of the toughest battles already won.”
Kayd Whalen, head of InterAmerican’s San Diego office, says she’d begin with Kenya AB and a Guatemala or Brazil. But if cost or availability make the classics unavailable, she has a clear alternate.
“PNG all day long,” she says. “It’s a great blender and also a delicious single-origin option.”
Considering the question of alternative options, Pablo offers a shout-out to Genteel Coffee. “Tanzania Igale makes an unexpectedly great cold brew,” he says.
Evaluate it the way you’ll serve it
Whenever possible, Ed recommends evaluating cold brew by cold brewing rather than relying on the cupping table alone.
“Brewing a coffee hot brings out a different set of flavors and smells than a cold brew,” he says.
That difference can also create opportunities. Josh suggests trying cold brew when a coffee isn’t finding its place elsewhere.
“If you have something that’s not working as drip or espresso, or you bought too much of something and need to work through it more quickly, try it out as cold brew — or work it into a cold brew blend,” he says. “It just might be the perfect fit.”
Consider the half-caff
Knowing the appeal of sipping cold brew all day, Kayd’s new favorite to reach for is a 50% decaf blend.
“Cold brew can give an intense jolt of caffeine, depending on the concentrate,” she explains. “I find myself searching out the half-caff more often, and it’s just as enjoyable, without the heart jolt.”
Want to talk cold-brew components, single-origin options or flexible blend strategies? Please contact your InterAmerican Coffee trader — or reach the team at traders.iacus@nkg.coffee.
