Why iced coffee is more expensive

What with all the, you know, ice, iced coffee should cost less because it takes less coffee to fill, right? Iced drinks also require plastic cups as opposed to paper , not to mention straws. Iced drinks go hand in hand with condensation, and we all love us a handful of napkins for just one cup.

The cold brew process starts by grinding the beans coarsely, having them sit in fresh, filtered water under 40 degrees for 24 hours, followed by filtering the grinds out to produce cold brew concentrate. Coffee shops then dilute the extract with water to make iced coffee. The amount of cold-brew iced coffee you get from one bag of beans is significantly less than you would get if using it for regular drip hot coffee. Several brands offer iced coffee in jugs in different roasts, with or without creamer, and even dairy-free iced coffee.

If you purchase a jug of iced coffee without any creamer or sweeteners, you can add your favorite creamer or sweetener or drink it black over some ice. Another relatively easy way to have iced coffee whenever you want is to brew coffee how you normally would but put it in the fridge overnight. A delicious cup of iced coffee. In the morning, all you have to do is pull the coffee out of the fridge and prepare your drink how you like. Making iced coffee this way only requires one extra step compared to buying pre-made iced coffee.

If you have a newer Keurig model, you may have the option to create iced coffee with it. When you put a K-cup in the machine, you can select iced coffee. This post may contain affiliate links. This entire question can be boiled down to cost. That is, do all of the components that are needed to make a cup of iced coffee cost more than a normal batch of drip?

This is a bit of a gnarly issue. I emailed the Brooklyn-based roasting company Lofted Coffee and asked its founders their thoughts. But he went on to explain a few key points. For one, iced coffee supplies cost just a little bit more. For example, they require plastic cups as opposed to paper, along with straws; both of these cost more than standalone paper cups. Also, iced coffee obviously requires ice, meaning the coffee shop likely needs to invest in an ice machine.

These increases, however, are only slight. But perhaps it adds up when you have to buy enough to serve a packed cafe. Cold brew is made by grinding beans coarsely, having them sit in room-temperature water overnight, and then filtering the grinds out to produce cold-brew concentrate. This extract is then cut with water to make what we know as iced coffee. Some coffee shops dilute the concentrate more than others.