Does ice make
it cold brew?

The field notes

Two cold cups.
Two different starts.

Adding ice cools coffee; it does not change how that coffee was brewed. Cold brew describes a brewing method, while iced coffee describes how a drink is served. In this little film, two similar glasses help separate those two ideas.

1. Brew hot, then cool

   Our hot-brewed iced-coffee example

   Hot water passes through grounds held in a filter. As brewed coffee flows out, it lands over ice and cools. The ice changes its serving temperature after the hot brewing has happened.

2. Give cool water more time

   Our immersion cold-brew example

   Grounds sit in cool or room-temperature water while extraction takes place. Cooler water generally works more slowly, so this conventional method gives it hours rather than a quick pass through a dripper. The grounds are then filtered out.

3. Finish in an icy glass

   Two paths can share a serving style

   Either coffee can be served over ice. Cold brew can be iced coffee, too. Similar-looking finished glasses do not reveal the brewing method by themselves; the difference is in the steps that came before.

Next time you see two iced coffees on a menu, ask how they were brewed. The answer tells you more about their journey than the ice in the glass.

Read the narration Full video transcript

Does adding ice make coffee cold brew? It makes coffee cold.

Cold brew describes how it was brewed. Let’s follow two glasses.

For this iced coffee, hot water passes through coffee grounds. The water takes on flavor as it flows.

The brewed coffee drips over ice and cools.

For cold brew, grounds sit in cool or room-temperature water.

Cooler water draws out flavor more slowly, so this method usually takes hours.

Then we filter out the grounds.

Both can finish over ice and look almost the same. Cold brew can be iced coffee, too. So ask: how was it brewed? Two paths from grounds to glass.

Follow the coffee · Sources

1. Specialty Coffee Association · Dr. Mackenzie BataliExplains the difference between brewing temperature and serving temperature, and why conventional cold brewing takes longer.
2. Liang and colleagues · Scientific Reports (2024)Original UC Davis research on full-immersion coffee across brewing temperatures and time. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-69867-6.
3. Batali and colleagues · Foods (2022)Original research that separately controlled coffee brewing and serving temperatures. DOI: 10.3390/foods11162440.
4. ToddyA manufacturer’s example of steeping grounds, filtering the coffee and serving it, including over ice.
5. Blue Bottle CoffeeThe roaster’s demonstration of hot water passing through grounds and brewed coffee collecting over ice.

An illustrated comparison of hot brew over ice and conventional immersion cold brew. The two glasses are explanatory illustrations, not a measured recipe. Sources checked October 28, 2026.