Cold Drip Coffee: Definition, How It Works, Brewing, and Best Beans
Updated - Team Colipse
Cold drip coffee is made by slowly dripping cold water through coffee grounds for hours to create a chilled concentrate. A cold drip coffee works through a controlled process that uses gravity and precise flow. It requires a cold drip tower, ground coffee, filters, and cold water. Cold drip coffee originated in Kyoto, Japan, evolving from cold brew methods introduced by Dutch traders in the 1600s. Cold drip differs from cold brew by using a slow drip instead of full immersion.
Making cold drip coffee at home involves coarsely grinding beans, setting up a drip tower, and slowly dripping cold water over the grounds. The best cold drip coffee uses freshly roasted Arabica beans, medium to dark roast, from premium origins and roasters like Colipse Coffee, which ships roast-to-order beans nationwide. Cold drip coffee uses hours-long cold extraction for a smooth, low-acid taste, unlike espresso, drip, French press, or other brewing methods.
What is Cold Drip Coffee?
Cold drip coffee is a unique brewing method where cold or iced water percolates through coffee grounds over several hours to produce a concentrated and chilled coffee. The term "cold drip" comes from Kyoto-style brewing in Japan, where Dutch traders introduced the technique in the 1600s, blending Dutch and Japanese cold brew traditions. Cold drip coffee is made from coarsely ground Arabica beans, often dark or medium roast, for robust flavors that stand up to dilution and slow extraction.
The cold drip coffee drink has a smooth, sweet taste with low acidity and features chocolate, berry, fruity, and floral notes. It smells aromatic but lacks the strong roasted scent of regular hot coffee. It appears dark, smooth, and concentrated, with a clear, rich appearance. The brewed cold drip coffee is often served over ice. Cold drip coffee contains 2 to 10 calories per 100 ml when served unsweetened and without additives. A 16 oz 473 (ml) cup of cold drip coffee contains about 200 milligrams (mg) of caffeine, varying with bean type, grind size, and brew time.
Is cold drip coffee cold? Yes, the drink is naturally cold as it uses cold water at 4–10 °C (39–50 °F) but can be gently heated using low stove heat or hot water without losing its smooth flavor. Cold drip coffee takes 3 to 12 hours to brew, depending on grind size, drip rate, and desired strength. It can be used to make iced coffee, coffee cocktails, coffee tonics, nitro cold brew, and coffee mocktails. Its concentrated flavor pairs with tonic water, citrus, milk, or spirits. Cold drip coffee serves as a versatile base for caffeinated and alcoholic drinks.
What is the Origin of Cold Drip Coffee?
Cold drip coffee originated in Kyoto, Japan and evolved from cold brew methods brought by Dutch traders in the 1600s. Dutch merchants brought cold brew coffee to Japan because cold brewing was safer than using fire on wooden ships. The Japanese refined cold brewing into the slow-drip "Kyoto style," using cold water dripping over coffee grounds for 10–24 hours to produce smooth, less acidic coffee with delicate flavors.
Kyoto-style coffee is brewed using tall wood-and-glass towers that make brewing an artistic and sensory experience. Compared to cold-steeping, slow drip extraction allows for nuanced flavors and clarity without bitterness or sourness. This technique remained a cultural specialty in Japan and influenced cold brew coffee traditions worldwide, including iced coffee in 19th-century Cuba and the Toddy brewing system in 20th-century US.
How Does Cold Drip Coffee Work?
A cold drip coffee works through a controlled process that uses gravity and precise flow regulation to create high-quality coffee concentrate. Cold drip coffee extracts flavor by slowly dripping cold water over coffee grounds. It requires a cold drip tower, ground coffee, filters, and cold water, with water dripping onto the coffee bed and filtering into a jar over several hours.
At the top of the cold brew tower sits a reservoir chamber filled with cold filtered water. This chamber contains an adjustable valve or drip mechanism that regulates the water release rate. By controlling the drip rate to one drop every few seconds, the water percolates downward slowly.
As water drips into the middle chamber, it flows evenly through coarsely ground coffee. The coarse grind size ensures clean brewing by preventing over-extraction and sediment passage. The slow movement of water through coffee grounds extends contact time to 3.5–12 hours. This enables gradual extraction of coffee solubles. These solubles contain aromatic oils, caffeine, lipids, and organic compounds shaping coffee's flavor profile.
Unlike traditional hot brewing, the cold drip coffee process uses cold water to reduce acidic compound solubility and block bitter flavor extraction. The resulting coffee concentrate features a smoother, richer profile with minimal acidity and low bitterness. The absence of heat reduces oxidation and preserves delicate floral and fruity notes.
What is Cold Drip Tower?
A cold drip tower, also known as a cold brew tower or Kyoto-style cold brew, is a vertical glass coffee maker that makes smooth, richly flavored cold coffee using a slow drip extraction. A cold drip tower works by dripping chilled water slowly over coffee grounds for several hours. The cold brew tower has glass chambers, a wood or metal frame, and stainless steel or ceramic filters and valves.
The cold brew tower uses a hand-blown borosilicate glass chamber that is heat resistant, durable, and odor-free to ensure quality cold brew extraction. It also includes borosilicate glass beakers and carafes. The cold drip tower frame is made of wood like birch plywood, giving stable support for its components. It has three levels: a top chamber for water, a middle chamber for coffee grounds, and a bottom chamber to collect brewed coffee.
Cold drip tower filters use ceramic, stainless steel, or stone, sometimes with paper filters for sediment removal. The filters have a round, flat shape measuring 39 mm in diameter and just over 5 mm thick, which removes coffee sediment effectively. Cold drip tower valves control drip rate, extraction time, and flavor intensity between water and coffee grounds. Shaped like taps or knobs, they allow slow, precise dripping for a rich, full-bodied cold brew.
A cold drip tower operates with diffusion and gravity flow, as cold water permeates coffee grounds at one drip every couple of seconds to extract soluble compounds over hours. The slow dripping allows water to saturate coffee grounds evenly, maximize contact time, and prevent over-extraction that causes bitterness.
What is the Difference between Cold Brew and Cold Drip Coffee?
The main difference between cold drip and cold brew is the brewing method, flavor profile, and brewing time. Cold brew uses a full immersion method steeping coffee grounds in cold water for 12 to 24 hours. Cold drip is a slow drip method where cold water slowly drips over coffee grounds and passes through a filter, taking 3 to 12 hours to brew.
Cold brew has a smooth, sweet, light body with floral notes because immersion extraction enhances sweetness. Cold drip coffee has a rich, full body and slightly heavy flavor due to slow percolation. Both methods produce less acidity and bitterness than hot brew. Cold brew is often brewed as a concentrate and diluted when served, while cold drip coffee is brewed ready to drink and not usually diluted.
Is Cold Drip Coffee Stronger?
No, cold drip coffee generally contains less caffeine than traditional cold brew. A 2018 study published in Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture by Giulia Angeloni found cold drip coffee contains less caffeine than cold brew, making it better for caffeine-sensitive individuals seeking milder extraction.
Is Cold Drip Coffee Better For You?
No, cold drip coffee is neither better nor healthier, as it has lower antioxidant levels and greater batch variability than hot brewed coffee. A 2025 study titled "Analysis of Antioxidant Profiles in Cold-Drip and Hot-Brew Coffee" found that cold drip had much lower antioxidant levels and was far less consistent, while hot brew stayed almost exactly the same from batch to batch.
In contrast, the same 2025 study published in Applied Sciences shows cold drip coffee benefits those sensitive to acidity or bitterness by producing a smoother, less sharp taste. Cold drip coffee offers a smoother, less acidic, cleaner taste appealing to taste-focused consumers.
How to Make Cold Drip Coffee at Home?
To make cold drip coffee at home, start by grinding beans coarse, placing a filter over the coffee bed, filling the water chamber, adjusting the drip rate, and letting water slowly extract over several hours. Collect the concentrate, refrigerate it, and serve over ice or dilute to taste. The detailed 8 step process on how to make cold drip coffee at home is listed below.
- Set Up Equipment
- Measure Coffee to Water Ratio
- Grind Beans Coarse
- Place Filter Over Coffee Bed
- Fill Water Chamber
- Adjust Drip Rate
- Collect Concentrate
- Refrigerate
1. Set Up Equipment
Setting up equipment for cold drip coffee means assembling and preparing tools like the cold drip tower, water container, coffee grounds holder, and carafe. To assemble cold brew towers, follow brand-specific instructions: For Yama, screw spindles onto the base, stack plates and glass parts from bottom up, and place the water carafe last. Bruer involves assembling the filter, adding coffee, pre-wetting, and adjusting the valve for drip rate. Other towers may require attaching wooden parts or valves carefully as per instruction manuals.
2. Measure Coffee to Water Ratio
Measuring coffee-to-water ratio in cold drip brewing means determining the precise weight of coffee grounds relative to the volume of water used. The ideal coffee to water ratio for cold drip coffee is 1:6 to 1:8. This means 1 part coffee to 6-8 parts water for a balanced concentrate that can be further diluted to taste. This equals about 100–125 g (10–12 tablespoons) of coarse-ground coffee for 600–800 ml (20–27 fl oz) of water. For a stronger brew, use a coffee-to-water ratio of 1:4 or 1:5 (100 g coffee for 400–500 ml water) to make a potent cold drip concentrate for dilution with milk or water.
3. Grind Beans Coarse
Grinding beans coarse for cold drip coffee means adjusting your grinder to produce large coffee particles, 1000–1200 microns in size, similar to ground peppercorns or coarse sea salt. The ideal grind size for cold drip coffee is coarse because it slows water extraction, preventing bitterness and over-extraction during long brewing. You cannot use whole beans for cold drip because proper flavor extraction requires slow dripping over ground coffee. Whole beans block extraction, so grinding is essential.
The coarse grind in cold drip coffee ensures steady water flow, prevents clogging, and maintains balanced extraction with gradual flavor release free from excess bitterness or sourness. The particle size range for cold drip matches coarse French press and cold brew grinds but focuses on controlling drip flow rate for precise flavor instead of immersion. The best grinders for cold drip coffee are burr grinders with a consistent coarse grind.
4. Place Filter Over Coffee Bed
Placing a filter over the coffee bed in cold drip brewing means adding a thin paper or metal filter on top of the ground coffee before dripping starts. This filter distributes water evenly, prevents channeling, and keeps coffee grounds from rising and mixing with the extracted brew. Lightly tap the coffee chamber to level the grinds. Place the paper filter on top, press around the edge to form a dome, and ensure even water dispersion.
5. Fill Water Chamber
Filling the water chamber in cold drip coffee means adding clean, filtered water to the top container of the drip tower. This water slowly drips through coffee grounds over several hours. Use filtered or spring water with 35-85 ppm total dissolved solids, a pH of 7-8, and no chlorine or impurities, as water quality directly affects coffee taste. The capacity to add water for cold drip coffee depends on the device. The Tiamo Cold Drip Coffee Maker holds 3 liters in its upper chamber for brewing with water and ice. The Bruer Cold Drip System holds 590 ml of water.
The following table lists various cold drip tower models, their water capacities ranging from about 500 ml to 2.5 liters, and notes on size options, features, and availability.
| Cold Drip Tower Model | Water Capacity (ml) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Nispira Wooden Cold Brew Drip Tower | 600 / 2500 | Two sizes available: 600 ml and 2500 ml |
| Yama Glass Cold Brew Drip Tower | 946 (32 fl oz) | Standard model with slow drip system for 6-8 cups; also available in larger 25 cup version |
| Delter Cold Drip Coffee Maker | 600 | Optimized for small batches, max 600 ml; consists of multiple water holders totaling 600 ml |
| Hario Cold Dripper | 500-600 estimated | Exact capacity not specified; typical models around 5 cups; smaller models like Hario Pota also available |
| Custom Large DIY Tower (Make Magazine example) | Not specified | Variable capacity depending on build; large commercial towers exist but no exact water chamber volume given |
| Other Popular Kyoto-style Towers | Varies between 500-2500 | Capacities vary widely depending on design and brand; generally from 500 ml to 2.5 liters |
6. Adjust Drip Rate
Adjusting drip rate in cold drip coffee means controlling how fast water drips through the coffee grounds. To adjust the drip rate for cold drip coffee, use the drip-control valve or knob on the brewer. The ideal drip rate for cold drip coffee is one drip per 2 to 3 seconds. It produces a brew time of 3 to 4 hours. A slower rate increases contact time for stronger, richer flavors. A faster rate reduces extraction for a lighter taste.
7. Collect Concentrate
Collecting concentrate in cold drip coffee means gathering the final brewed liquid after the slow drip process finishes. This concentrated coffee extract contains rich flavors and higher caffeine levels, and it can be stored, diluted with water or milk, or used as a base for other coffee drinks. You can brew up to 3 liters (25 cups) with typical cold brew coffee towers, or up to 100 gallons with commercial cold drip systems. Most home brewers produce 3 liters or 25 cups per batch.
8. Refrigerate
Refrigerate means placing the finished cold drip coffee in a refrigerator at 0–4 °C (32–39 °F) to slow bacterial growth and preserve flavor. Proper refrigeration keeps cold drip coffee fresh for 3–5 days, preventing sourness and maintaining its intended taste profile. Cold drip coffee stays fresh for about 1 to 2 weeks when refrigerated in an airtight container. It lasts longest undiluted and without milk or sugar, which reduce shelf life to just a few days. At room temperature, cold drip coffee spoils quickly and should not be left out for more than 2 hours to avoid bacterial growth and off-flavors.
What are the Best Coffee Beans to Make Cold Drip Coffee?
The best coffee beans for cold drip are freshly roasted, medium to dark roasts Arabica beans with bold chocolate, nut, and caramel flavors that stay rich when diluted. Choose specialty grade, hand-harvested coffee beans from Colombia, Brazil, Ethiopia, or Indonesia with a larger, denser screen size. Bigger, heavier beans indicate better maturity, higher quality, and richer, more nuanced flavors.
The best coffee beans for cold drip coffee comes from specialty coffee brands like Little Wolf Coffee Roasters, Intelligentsia Coffee, or Colipse Coffee that produce high-quality, ethically sourced beans and expert, roast to order coffee beans. Colipse Coffee delivers top-quality coffee beans by roasting to order and shipping the same day for peak flavor.
Where to Buy the Best Coffee Beans for Cold Drip Coffee?
You can buy the best coffee beans for cold drip coffee from Colipse Coffee, an online specialty coffee retailer. Select fresh-roasted whole beans or coarse ground coffee for smooth, low-acid extraction. Choose medium roasts for caramel and chocolate flavors or dark roasts for bold, full-bodied brews. Enjoy free U.S. shipping, bulk discounts, and subscription options for regular deliveries. Order online at Colipse to get freshly roasted coffee shipped directly in resealable, degassed bags.
How to Drink Cold Drip Coffee?
To drink cold drip coffee, follow the three steps below.
- Fill glass with ice
- Pour cold drip coffee over ice
- Drink immediately
What are the Best Cold Drip Coffee Recipes?
The best cold drip coffee recipes refers to the top-rated methods for making cold drip coffee. The top four picks are listed below.
- Standard Cold Drip Coffee: Use cold water dripping over coarsely ground coffee for 6–8 hours to make a smooth, concentrated coffee syrup. Choose filter roast for bright, fruity notes or espresso roast for bold flavor with milk.
- Cold Drip with Citrus Infusion (Lemon or Orange): Add slices of lemon or orange to the water reservoir. Brew time about 8 hours. Offers a bright, refreshing twist to traditional cold drip.
- Spiced Cold Drip Coffee with Milk: Brew with coarsely ground coffee. Add cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, and condensed milk after brewing. Finish with milk and garnish with a cinnamon stick.
- Fresh Berry Cold Drip Latte: Brew cold drip coffee concentrate. Add strawberries, blueberries, milk, and optional mint after brewing to create fruity sweetness and creamy texture.
What are the Best Cold Drip Tower Brands?
The best cold drip tower brands refers to the top-rated manufacturers or labels producing cold drip coffee towers. These towers are slow-brewing devices that use ice water to extract coffee over several hours, producing a smooth, low-acid brew. The seven best cold drip tower brands are listed below.
- Yama Cold Drip Tower
- Nispira Cold Brew Drip Tower
- Barista Cold Brew and Cold Drip Coffee Tower
- Oji Cold Drip Tower
- Bruer Cold Drip Coffee Maker
- PuckPuck Cold Drip Tower
- Dutch Labs Cold Drip Tower
How Does Cold Drip Coffee Compare to Other Types of Brewing Methods?
The main difference between cold drip coffee and other types of coffee brewing methods like espresso, drip, French press, and percolator is extraction time and flavor profile. Cold drip brews for longer hours at room temperature, producing a smooth, low-acid taste. Espresso uses 25–30 seconds at high pressure for bold flavor. Drip and percolator use hot water for medium body, while French press gives a fuller, richer mouthfeel.