Japanese iced coffee ratio
Japanese-style iced coffee is brewed hot, straight onto ice, so it cools in seconds and keeps its aroma. The ratio counts all the water, hot water plus ice. About 60% of it is hot water and 40% is ice. 1:15 total leaves room for the ice to melt without tasting watered down.
Change any field and the others update. Typical range for iced coffee: 1:13 to 1:17.
Coffee
20 g
Water
300 ml
Tbsp (approx.)
4
Water: 10.1 fl oz, 1.3 cups
The numbers
- Starting ratio
- 1:15
- Usual range
- 1:13 to 1:17
- Grind
- Medium-fine, a touch finer than a hot V60
- Water temperature
- 92–96 °C (198–205 °F) for the hot water
- Brew time
- 2:30–3:30 brew, ready to drink right away
- Example
- 20 g of coffee at 1:15 total is 300 g of liquid: 180 g of hot water over 120 g of ice.
Steps
- Weigh the ice into the server, about 40% of your total water.
- Brew the coffee on top of the ice with the remaining 60% as hot water, using a V60, Kalita or similar dripper.
- Use the same pours and timing as for a hot cup, with a slightly finer grind to make up for the smaller amount of hot water.
- Swirl until the ice has melted, then pour over fresh ice if you like.
Tips
- Because the hot water is only part of the total, the coffee brews stronger per gram of hot water than the headline ratio suggests. 1:15 total is close to 1:9 of hot water.
- If it tastes sour, grind finer. If it tastes flat after the ice melts, lower the total ratio by one.
Cup not right? Bitter or sour coffee: what to change.