Monthly Archives: April 2019

The Rise of Cold Brew: A Coffee Revolution

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Every now and again, something new comes along that proves truly revolutionary to the coffee-drinking community. One such development is the cold brew phenomenon. Although cold brew is not new, it has recently come into its own. Indeed, cold brew is the hottest thing in coffee right now.

If you have not yet tried cold brew, we encourage you to do so. We would not be surprised to look back at this time next year and realize that 2019 was the year of the cold brew. If you have tried it, what do you think? Do you like it better than hot brew coffee?

Not the Same As Iced Coffee

The first thing to understand is that cold brew is not the same thing as iced coffee. Not only are they brewed differently, they also taste different as well. A coffee drinker with discriminating taste buds can easily tell the difference between the two brews.

Iced coffee begins as a typical hot brew. It can be brewed with a traditional drip machine or a single cup brewer. What makes it iced coffee is that it is served over ice once brewing is complete. Putting ice in a cup of hot coffee is one way to cool it down but doing so also affects the taste.

Needless to say that hot coffee melts ice rather quickly. That ice dilutes the coffee as it turns to water. To counter this, some people put their hot brewed coffee in the refrigerator for a few hours. This does prevent dilution when you introduce ice, but it also increases the acidity of the coffee.

How Cold Brew is Made

Cold brew coffee takes its name from the fact that it is brewed using either cold or room temperature water. Rather than relying on hot water to extract the oils from ground roasted coffee, cold brew relies on time. It can take anywhere from 12 to 24 hours to brew a full pot.

There are two ways to cold brew. The first is to combine a lot of coffee with a little water to brew a concentrate. You just throw the coffee and water together and let it steep for as long as you want. Then you strain out the coffee and use the concentrate to make individual cups by adding water as desired.

The other method is to put the ground coffee into a filter, tie the filter closed, and steep it in the water. You use just about the same amount of coffee you would to make a hot brew, thus avoiding having to strain the coffee and work with a concentrate. You just drink it straight up once it’s brewed.

We carry some cold brew products here at Galaxie Coffee and we invite you to give them a try. Cold brew is a completely unique beverage with a much more subtle taste that can be quite rich. When you’re ordering cold brew, don’t forget to check out the rest of our beverages as well.

What is the Difference Between Light and Dark Roast Coffees?

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Remember the days when the only choices for coffee were regular and decaf? Those days are long gone as evidenced by all the choices offered by the local coffee shop, the supermarket and, dare we say, the office coffee service. Among the plethora of choices are light and dark roasts.

Companies like Galaxie Coffee sell coffees in a variety of roast options. There are light, medium, medium-dark, and dark roasts to choose from. But do you know what each of those options means? Do you know the difference between light and dark roast coffees?

Roast and Flavor

Numerous factors go into determining what a cup of coffee tastes like. Roasting time and temperature influence flavor the most, which is why so much attention is paid to roasting these days.

Non-roasted coffee beans are very soft and largely flavorless. Roasting is required to bring out the flavor embedded in the oils deep within the beans. As beans are exposed to heat, those oils begin to rise to the surface. The more oil the bean releases, the more robust it will be.

Ranking Coffee Roasts

It would be rather difficult to rank coffee roasts according to flavor given all of the differences created by growing environment, cultivation, blending, etc. An easier way to address roasting is color. Thus, a light roast coffee is a light brown color with no visible oil sheen on the surface of the bean. Light roast coffees are mild but acidic. You can also taste the origin flavors of the beans themselves.

A medium roast coffee is slightly darker because it has been roasted longer. It also sports a more balanced flavor. There is less acid and fewer notes of origin flavors as well. And believe it or not, medium roast coffee has less caffeine than light roast.

A dark roast is a coffee that has been roasted for the maximum amount of time. It gets its name from the dark brown (or sometimes black) color of the finished beans. It is also visibly different in that you can see an oil sheen on the outside of the beans once roasting is complete.

Dark roast coffees tend to be more bitter. Some have a smoky or burnt taste, and all have very little origin flavor remaining. What origin flavors do remain are often overpowered by the burnt or smoky flavor. Dark roast also has the least amount of caffeine.

Roast Preferences

Coffee preferences in the U.S. are more regional than you might think. For example, coffee drinkers on the East Coast tend to prefer lighter roasts while those on the West Coast prefer darker. Europeans are also big fans of darker roasts.

Regardless of your preference, Galaxie Coffee has the right roasts for your office. We invite you to contact us to learn more about our office coffee service throughout the greater New York area. We would be happy to serve your workplace with the finest beverages and equipment.