Ask a Barista: Is It Bad to Pour Hot Coffee Over Ice?

It’s a blazing summer day and all you want is to enjoy a cup of iced coffee. But alas, you didn’t prep your cold brew last night and now, you’re in a time crunch. This all-too-familiar situation begs the questions: Is it OK to pour hot coffee over ice, and is there a better way to chill your brew down fast? VinePair tapped James Scott, the head roaster at New York’s St. Jardim to clear things up.

In terms of safety, mixing scalding coffee and ice in a cup shouldn’t pose any issues as long as you use the proper glassware. If your glass was in the freezer or chilling with ice cubes in it for an extended period of time, there’s a chance it could crack in response to the temperature difference when you introduce hot liquid. There are many durable, heat-resistant vessels out there that can help prevent this, like the ever-popular Stanley mug.

Once you’ve got the proper container, the next concern is preserving flavor. Even if it’s a last resort, haphazardly dumping a freshly brewed pot over a mug of ice doesn’t usually lead to the tastiest results. Scott confirms that chilling down a typical batch of coffee with ice will lead to a less-than-ideal brew.

“Adding more water in the form of ice will lead to a watery, diluted coffee lacking flavor,” he says.

To amplify the coffee’s natural taste, Scott suggests a method commonly referred to as flash brew, a.k.a. Japanese-style brewing. This technique provides a quicker, more efficient way to make coffee cold without having to prepare it hours or days ahead of time.

To try it, brew your next batch with half the amount of water you would normally use to make a more intense coffee concentrate. You can brew this directly over ice, or pour the liquid over ice after brewing. Ideally, the amount of ice in your glass would be equal to the water omitted from brewing. This way, the ice will balance the coffee instead of over-diluting it. “Once the ice melts, you’re left with a flavorful cup of coffee with the proper ratio of water to coffee,” Scott says. “I find this method to lead to more complex and juicy cold coffee.”

Even if you reserve this trick for when you need a super-quick cold brew fix, the intense flavors it provides might even convince you to make this your go-to method.

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