Our first “Re:” technical summer series is focused on the concept of “bypass” as applied to iced coffee brewing. We also wanted to share with you our simple formulas to achieve the perfect iced brew on ANY method. We promise a short, yet interesting read that we hope you’ll get to try on your next iced brew!
First things first… what is “bypass”? It is simply the term used to describe any water that “bypasses” the actual brewing process (i.e. it never comes in contact with your coffee grounds, and is instead added to your final drink). This concept can be applied to hot drinks (i.e. an Americano is a shot of Espresso with “bypass” water), yet it is always applicable to iced drinks (i.e. iced coffee is typically a stronger coffee brew that’s poured over ice). Equating “bypass” with ice when making iced brews is a simple, effective way to remind us that a final dilution will ALWAYS happen (which can be easily forgotten, resulting in uninspiring, weak brews).
So, how do we apply it? Our go-to (when brewing 500 mL or more) is a 50% bypass, which means 50% of the water in the final brew will be ice. In our 500 mL (~16 fluid oz) example, we would use 30 g of coffee (ideally ground slightly finer than you’d regularly grind, so you’ll be able to extract enough soluble solids with a smaller volume of water) and 250 mL of hot water to brew, and pour this brew over 250 g of ice. If brewing a smaller amount (<500 mL), a 40% bypass is recommended, in order to have a sufficient volume of water for the actual extraction. Therefore, for any given final brew (i.e. amount of coffee you want):
Coffee (g) = 6% x Final Brew (mL)
Brew water (hot, mL) = Final Brew (mL) x (100% - % Bypass)
Ice (g) = Final Brew (mL) x % Bypass
We encourage you to play with this bypass concept this Summer! We’ve been doing lots of iced Ethereal and Rio Coco (which will likely run out in the next 2 weeks*), and have been delighted with the results! Perhaps you’ll find just the perfect bypass ratio for each of your favorite beans and favorite methods? We also just began posting specific applications of this concept (Aeropress this week!) on our Instagram and Facebook (find us as @ethosroasters), so we hope you’ll check them out!
Grateful for our 8th Summer… Brewing Greatness with you!
Jolian & Lisbeth
P.S. * Yes, this means “El Espejo” will be launching in July! 🙌
