Over the last two years I have accumulated plenty of coffee making hardware. One of the latest additions is the Hario v60 Iced Coffee Maker. I already owned a Toddy for cold brewing coffee. It makes great coffee, but the one big downfall is that it takes 12 to 24 hours to brew. I still needed an faster solution when a warm afternoon called for an iced coffee. That’s why I had the Hario iced coffee maker on my wishlist.

I really enjoy making v60 in the morning. It is a great way to make a quality cup in the morning. The v60 is a simple pourover cone that does a great job of pulling out a lot of flavor from your coffee, every thing from acidity to bitterness to sweetness. I’ve become much more consistent with the quality cup I am able to get out of it, so I thought it was time to give the iced version a try.

Let me briefly explain the difference between cold brewed and iced coffee. Cold brewed coffee involves absolutely no hot water. Cold water and coffee grounds sit together for 12 to 24 hours. It produces a less acidic cup than traditional hot brewing. It has grown quite popular recently. Iced coffee is brewed hot, like traditional coffee and then cooled quickly using ice. It produces a more traditional cup with more significant acidity and bitterness.

The Hario v60 Iced Coffee Maker consists of several parts. It’s a dual purpose coffee maker, you can make hot or cold coffee with this hardware. In hindsight, this may have been the system to start with since it has the flexibility of going hot or cold. In the box you will find a nice carafe for collecting the coffee, a plastic v60 cone, a lid for the carafe, a plastic cylinder that helps keep the ice directly under the hot dripping coffee, and two other plastic parts that help position the cone over the ice and help regulate a slower flow of water over the ice. If you want to brew hot coffee, all you need are the cone and the carafe.

There are all kinds of recipes available on the internet. I noted a few in a previous post. I use a 16.1 to 1 ratio. That means 16.1 grams of water to 1 gram of coffee. The goal is to finish pouring the total volume somewhere between 1:30 to 1:45. I may post a separate article on how to do a v60 if people are interested. The only difference with iced coffee is that ice replaces some of the hot boiled water. That is important to consider. If you disregard the ice the resulting cup will be watered down. 

The v60 is a beautiful piece to add to your coffee making repertoire. It’s multi-functional and easy to clean. Hario makes beautiful coffee supplies and the iced coffee maker is just another example of that. I love having a fast solution for iced coffee in the afternoon. If you’re just getting started in home brewing coffee, this is a great place to start. Focus on the hot and work your way into the iced.