The Complete Guide to Brewing Iced Filter Coffee

Iced filter coffee is another type of brew that is perfect for the warmer months! As we approach summer, chances are you’ll be craving those icy caffeine kicks, and the good news is, you can get these at home! Learn how to make iced filter coffee in our ultimate iced coffee guide:


  1. What is iced filter coffee?
  2. What brewers can I use for iced filter coffee?
  3. What you’ll need to get brewing:
  4. How to make iced filter coffee:
  5. Odd Kin’s iced filter coffee recipe:
  6. Iced filter coffee FAQs:

What is iced filter coffee?

Iced filter coffee is an alternative to cold brew.

While most cold brew coffee is smooth and easy drinking, this iced coffee recipe will give you a more distinct flavour of the specific coffee you’re drinking, as the hot water method used helps to unlock the best tasting notes of the beans. 

Unlike cold brew coffee, iced filter coffee uses a traditional method of brewing, and is then cooled down by being poured over ice.


What brewers can I use for iced filter coffee?

This type of iced coffee is usually brewed with pour-over coffee makers like the V60, Clever Dripper or Kalita Wave.

By serving your iced filter coffee black, you help to keep the acidity that can tend to get diluted with cold brews. 

For our iced filter coffee recipe, we’re going to explain how to brew iced coffee using a Kalita Wave.

We’ve chosen the Kalita Wave brewer because it uses a flat bottom filter and has three extraction holes, helping to produce a more evenly distributed extraction.


What you'll need to get brewing:

  • Kettle 
  • Timer
  • Kalita Wave / Hario V60
  • Ice
  • Odd Kin’s speciality coffee (grind type: whole bean or pourover)
  • Flat bottomed filter paper / V60 filter paper
  • Scales
  • Coffee spoon or stirrer
  • Glass

How to make iced filter coffee:

Iced filter coffee is a refreshing style of brewing that the whole team at Odd Kin loves!

While this recipe shows you how to brew iced coffee using a Kalita Wave, it can easily be tweaked for V60 brewing. 

As always, our Head Roaster Rama will walk you through the brewing process in 6 simple steps.

Odd Kin's iced filter coffee recipe:

For this recipe, we’re going to be using slightly more coffee than our usual ratio, so around 65 g of coffee per 1 litre of water. This is to help us brew a concentrated coffee that gets diluted with ice at a 60 / 40 ratio. So, for a 500 ml brew, you’ll need:

  • 300 ml boiling water 
  • 200 g of ice 
  • 33 g of medium-fine ground coffee

Step 1: Take 200 g of ice out of the freezer and pop it into the container you’re brewing into. As well as this, turn on the kettle to boil 300 ml of water. 

Step 2: Rinse your paper filter under the tap to help prevent any papery taste from entering your brew. Then, put your Kalita Wave or V60 on top of the container with a wet paper filter. 

Step 3: Add 33 g of medium-fine ground coffee, making sure it’s level in the base. Once you’ve done this, you can place the container on your scales. 

Step 4: Next, you want to start with a bloom of around 70 ml of boiling water. Be sure to cover all of the coffee grounds and let that work its magic for around 45 seconds to 1 minute. This bloom time should allow any remaining gases to release from the coffee. 

Step 5: Start to gradually add the rest of the water, at this point, you’re aiming for an extraction time of 2.5 to 3 minutes. 

Step 6: What you’re left with is a lovely brew that should have melted most of the ice. You can now give it a gentle swirl, or a couple of stirs, until all the ice has dissolved, then your iced brew is ready. All that’s left to do is take a glass, fill it with ice and then pour your iced filter coffee over the top. Voila! Your coffee is served. 


Iced Filter Coffee FAQs

What grind size should I use for iced filter coffee?

For our iced filter coffee recipe, we use a grind size that is slightly finer than a medium-fine grind that you’d usually use for Kalita Wave or V60.

This is because we are brewing a concentrated coffee, and diluting it with ice at a 60/40 ratio. 

We tend to recommend grinding your coffee at home because whole bean coffee stays fresher for longer.

You can grind your beans using a manual or electric coffee grinder, but if you don’t have either of these gadgets, don’t worry - we can do it for you! 

All you need to do is choose which of Odd Kin’s speciality roasts you’d like, then choose the grind type and add to cart. 

What is the best coffee to water ratio for an iced filter coffee?

For our iced coffee recipe, we recommend using a coffee to water ratio of 1 to 9.

So, for 300 ml of boiling water, you’ll need to grind 33 g of speciality coffee and get 200 g of ice out of the freezer.

Which type of coffee works best for an iced filter?

Natural and honey processed coffee blends tend to work best for iced filter coffee due to their boozy sweetness.

We recommend brewing up our Rancho Dantas for notes of dark chocolate, passionfruit and pecans...

Or, try our gloriously sweet Colombian El Carmen Decaf for a caffeine-free icy kick!

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