冷萃咖啡——咖啡冲泡史上的一次革命 Something interesting about Cold Brew Coffee | 月旦评

Hi guys, I received a cold brew coffer maker from my friend. I didn't know that I could make coffee in this way. I was very interested in it and researched a little bit. I would like to share these stories with you guys.

Cold brew coffee gets popular in recent years. She is not a new style of drinking that someone hit on the idea . It is a kind of coffee with a long history.

The earliest documented cold brew coffee originated in the Netherlands. In the 17th century, the Netherlands had become very powerful at sea, possessing the world's best crew and shipbuilding technology, and even surpassed England. At that time, the Dutch colonists had dominated world trade for a long time. In order to solve the problem of drinking coffee during the long-time journey, they invented a strange brewing method: after immersing coffee powder in cold water for twenty hours, the taste of coffee is extracted and produced by this method. Concentrated coffee contains more caffeine, and the taste is not bad. Using this method to make coffee you didn't need to use fire to boil the water, which is safe and more convenient for crews and business people on the ship. At that time, people on the ship still liked to use the extracted coffee liquid to boiled water and drink it. However, sometimes it was also convenient to drink the original liquid. As the colonial hegemony expanded, the Netherlands established The East India Company, the first multinational corporation in history. The East India Company monopolized Asian market for a long time. It reached as far as Japan. This method of brewing coffee was introduced into Japan. While Japan has a tradition of making cold tea. To Japanese the method of cold-brewing coffee seemed like to make cold tea, which was not strange for them. Later Japanese invented the Kyoto-drip method of coffee brewing in combination with their own cold-brewing tea. Nowadays, some niche cafes still use the Kyoto-drip method to make cold brew coffee, which is the must-have experience of coffee lovers.

冷萃咖啡英文是cold brew coffee，是近几年兴起的咖啡新秀，她可不是某人一拍大脑琢磨出的新式喝法，而是有着满满历史感的一款咖啡。

最早有文件记录的冷萃咖啡起源于荷兰。17世纪的荷兰，海上实力变得非常强大，拥有世界上最优秀的船员跟造船技术，甚至超过了海上霸主英格兰的地位，那时的荷兰殖民者在很长时间支配了世界贸易。为了解决船员海上长时航行喝咖啡的问题，他们发明了一种奇怪的冲泡方式：将咖啡粉浸泡在冷水里二十几个小时后，咖啡的味道就萃取出来，通过这种方法制出咖啡浓缩原液，这个原液含有更浓的咖啡因，而且口味还不错，既不需要加热，保质期也得以延长，大大方便了海上航行的船员跟商人们。当时船上的人还是喜欢用萃取出来的原液加水煮热后喝，不过有时为了方便也直接喝原液。由于殖民霸权一再扩张，荷兰成立了东印度公司，是史上第一间跨国公司。这家公司长期垄断亚洲贸易，将贸易最东边一直做到日本，这种冲泡咖啡的方法随之传入日本。而日本自古就有冷泡茶的传统，这种冷泡咖啡的方法到了新地方似乎并不算啥新鲜事，日本人结合自己冷泡茶的方式又发明了 Kyoto-drip method of coffee brewing（滴漏式），现在有些小众咖啡馆还沿用 Kyoto-drip method制作冷萃咖啡，成为咖啡爱好者必体验的项目之一。

Kyoto-drip method of coffee brewing(Looks like precise instruments in the lab )
装置看上去像实验里的精密仪器。

There is another story about the origin of cold brew coffee. It is still related to the Dutch. It was said that the Dutch settlers came to Indonesia and brought coffee seeds as well. Due to the local climatic conditions, it was more difficult to let Arabica grow. But Robusta seed had strong ability to resist leaf rust. That's why it was planted widely . In the lowlands, it became the only coffee bean that could be harvested in Indonesia. The original meaning of Robusta is "strong and stubborn". It contents high caffeine, more bittersweet and stronger flavor. Because Robuska’s taste was not good, it was used as a raw material for instant coffee. At that time, the Dutch colonists were also regret that Arabica could not survival in Indonesia. Fortunately, the Dutch find a new way to brew coffee, which is soaking coffee powder in the cold water for more than 24 hours and then they could get a better taste of Robuska's coffee with slightly sweet. Today, in places where Robusta is produced, such as Vietnam and Indonesia, ice coffee can be seen everywhere. Why does cold brew coffee make people feel good? Using clod brew method can reduce the acidity and astringency of the coffee, so the cold brew coffee has a strong aroma and tastes sweet, which is a very good drinking in summer.

冷萃咖啡的起源还有一种说法，仍跟荷兰人有关。话说荷兰殖民者来到印尼后，顺道带来了咖啡种子，因为当地的气候条件，种植阿拉比卡比（Arabica）较困难，而罗布斯塔（Robusta）因为抗叶锈病能力强，又可以种植在低地，所以成了当时印尼唯一能收获到的咖啡豆。罗布斯塔原意是指“顽强健壮”，它的咖啡因含量高，味苦烈，气味很冲，与阿拉比卡相比，一个好似充满原始能量的男人，一个恰似温文尔雅的女人。因为罗布斯卡的味道并不受待见，多用来做速溶咖啡的原料，当时的荷兰殖民者也很懊恼印尼种不出温婉芳香的阿拉比卡，只能忍受粗旷的罗布斯塔。好在吃货的力量是无穷的。荷兰人想出了办法，就是用冷水浸泡咖啡粉。这样做出来的咖啡没有了罗布斯塔豆的糟糕味道，而且还略带甜味，口感大大改善。今天在生产罗布斯塔的地方，比如越南，印尼等地，冰咖啡随处可见。冷萃咖啡为什么会让人觉得口感好呢？原来通过冷水萃取的方法可以减少咖啡中的酸与涩，所以冷萃咖啡喝起来香味浓郁而且带着甜味，很适合夏天饮用。

东南亚一带制作冷萃咖啡的咖啡壶，他们称这种方法叫冰滴。

Cold brew coffee has a few benefits:

First, It is easy to make; Second, it tastes good: third, it has higher caffeine comparing to hot coffee. The last one could be cons for some people who are sensitive to caffeine like me :P

Until 1800's, cold brew coffee began to become popular in the world. There are three small incidents that helped it spread to the world.

One is the promotion by French soldiers. The French soldiers stationed in Mazagran would get a drink which is mixed with cold water and sweetened coffee concentrate liquid. This drink eased the discomfort of the soldiers in the hot desert. When these soldiers returned to France, they brought the coffee drink to Paris and named the drink in the name of the Mazagran. In some countries, this drink has been add some new flavors, such as adding lemon juice or mint. In 1994, Starbucks produced a bubble coffee inspired by this field drink, so Starbucks chose the same name Mazagran for this coffee. The birth of Mazagran also spread the road for Starbucks' most successful Frappucino coffee.

从冷萃咖啡的起源来看，冷萃咖啡的好处有几点：一是制作方便，二是口感好，三是咖啡因含量高（当然对某些人来说这是缺点）。

一直到1800‘s，冷萃咖啡才开始在世界范围内流行起来。推动传播的是三个小事件。

一个是法国士兵的推广。当时驻守在Mazagran的法国士兵会拿到一种用加甜味的咖啡浓缩液跟冷水混合的饮品，缓解士兵在炎热沙漠地带的不适。当这些士兵回到法国后，他们把这种咖啡的喝法传到了巴黎，就用驻地的名字Mazagran给这款饮品命名。在一些国家，这款饮品又演变出一些新的口味，比如加了柠檬汁，或是薄荷汁。1994年，星巴克出品了一款气泡咖啡就是受到这款战地饮品的启发，因此星巴克给这款咖啡也选用了相同的名字Mazagran。Mazagran的诞生也为星巴克后来最为成功的，千变万化的Frappucino咖啡奠定了良好的基础。

星巴克推出的各种口味的Frappucino

Another Japanese has contributed to this. In the 1960s, canned milk became popular in Japan, and Japanese entrepreneur Ueshima Tadao launched a can of coffee, adding sugar and milk to cold brew coffee. At the beginning this kind of drink was not popular. Ueshima company invested a lot of money to advertise it. In the 1970s, it began to well-known and opened a glorious chapter in the history of cold brew coffee.

另一个推波助澜的是日本人。六十年代，罐装牛奶在日本开始流行，日本企业家Ueshima Tadao趁势推出了一款罐装咖啡，在冷萃咖啡中加入糖跟奶。开始这种饮品并不受欢迎，Ueshima公司不惜巨资，大力推广，到七十年代，开始热销，揭开了冷萃咖啡在历史上的辉煌篇章。

left: Coca-Cola made RTD (ready to drink)for the Japanese market.
Right: Caned Coffee drink made by Ueshima

左边那罐是可口可乐公司为日本市场做的RTD（Ready to go）咖啡饮料；右边的就是Ueshima咖啡公司销售的咖啡饮料

At the same time, nursery Todd Simpson went to Peru to purchase plants, where he drank Peru's cold brew coffee, which gave him a deep impression. Soon after that he created the well-known Toddy Cold Brewing System. It is still the most common method of making cold extraction coffee.

同一时期，苗圃园主Todd Simpson去秘鲁采购植物，在那里他喝到了秘鲁冷萃咖啡，留下了深刻印象。不久后他就推出了知名的Toddy Cold Brewing System，直到今天，仍旧是我们最常用的制作冷萃咖啡的方法。

Todd Simpson Cold Brewing System

Todd Simpson的冷萃咖啡壶

In the long history of cold brew coffee, it was popular for a while and it was forgotten for a long time. But in the recent years it started to get attention again. Starbucks began to promote cold extraction coffee in 2015, followed by several big giants in the coffee industry quickly. No one wants to lose this market. Now when we stand in front of the drinks counters in supermarkets we will see a variety of fancy cold coffees.

如果你是个对咖啡稍有关注的人，不难发现在过去的几年里，冷萃咖啡在渐渐被遗忘后又不可思议地火了起来。星巴克于2015年开始大力宣传冷萃咖啡，紧接着咖啡业几大巨头迅速跟进，谁都不愿意失去这块市场。如今站在各大超市的饮品柜前，我们会看到各式各样的花式冷萃咖啡。

In addition to the cold extraction coffee we mentioned above, in 2015 there was another "exotic" coffee from Sydney, Australia : Elixir coffee. It said the coffee is made by adding sound waves during the procession, which is called "sonication-assisted extraction". Just like in order to increasing the output of dairy cows farmers let cows listen to music. The drink "looks like whiskey," "feels like tea," and is "made from coffee." The only agent in the United States of Elixir coffee is Copa Vida. They introduced four sonic-assisted cold extraction coffees according to the length of cold extraction: 8, 9, 13, and 14. If you see a canned coffee labeled Elixir Logo on a mason-like, screw-topped glass jars in supermarket, that is the Elixir coffee . The bottle was marked by the number of hours it underwent sonication, similar to the labeling of the number of years a fine bourbon has been aged. Is this a sales stunt or does it taste really good? I need to drink one to evaluate.

除了我们上面提到的冷萃咖啡，2015年出现了另一款来自澳洲悉尼的“奇特”的咖啡，Elixir咖啡，她在制作过程中加入了声波，被称作“sonication-assisted extraction”超声辅助萃取。就好比农场要提高奶牛产量，给牛听音乐一样，据说，这样长时间浸在声波中的萃取咖啡，看上去像威士忌，喝起来有茶的味道，却是用咖啡制成的。他们在美国唯一的代理商Copa Vida根据冷萃时间长短推出四种声波辅助冷萃咖啡：8，9，13和14。如果你在超市里看到用类似mason罐包装的，标有Elixir Logo的罐装咖啡，那就是这种“神奇”咖啡了。瓶上还会像波旁酒一样，标出该咖啡在声波中沉浸的时间。这究竟是销售噱头还是真的口味与众不同，也只有喝上一瓶才能评价了。

回顾了冷萃咖啡历史，不得不说，冷萃咖啡颠覆了传统的冲泡方法，成为咖啡冲泡史上的一次革命。