Cold Brew vs. Chilled Hot Brew: What’s the Real Difference?
Cold Brew Coffee and Nitro Cold Coffee is super popular year round. Reverie brews, kegs, cans and serves cold brew coffee and nitro coffee in our cafes and is available for purchase through our Wholesale Department.
If you’ve ever wondered whether cold brew is just fancy iced coffee, you’re not alone or out of line for asking. As someone who spends a lot of time talking coffee with our industry partners, staff and customers, I get this question all the time. And thanks to some great new research out of the UC Davis Coffee Center, we’ve now got some solid answers.
So what is cold brew, and how is it different from just brewing hot coffee and chilling it? Let’s dig in:
Cold brew is made by steeping coffee grounds in cold or room temperature water for an extended period of time—typically 10 to 24 hours.
In contrast, chilled hot brew is made by brewing coffee with hot water, then cooling it down (either with ice or refrigeration).
At Reverie, we use our Boneshaker Espresso to make our in-house cold brew and canned nitro, and the results are pretty spectacular.
FUN FACT: Reverie brews, kegs, cans, bottles and serves over 1,200 gallons of cold brew each year!
What Science Tells Us
UC Davis’ Coffee Center recently wrapped a four-year study on this very topic. The short version: Cold brew isn’t just a little different—it’s massively different.
Here’s what they found:
Color: Cold brew tends to look more reddish than chilled brewed coffee. That reddish hue may subconsciously signal sweetness to consumers.
Acidity: Cold brew is less acidic. Not by a lot (about 0.1–0.2 pH units), but enough to make a smoother cup that can be easier on the stomach.
Flavor: Trained tasters found cold brew to be more floral, and less bitter, sour, and rubbery than chilled brewed coffee. That’s a win in our book.
Extraction Time: Cold brew takes longer to fully extract (up to 12 hours in a fridge), but the flavor development stabilizes sooner than you might think—often around the 5–6 hour mark at room temp.
Toddy Cafe makes the Toddy Cold Brew System, sold inside the main Reverie Cafe in Wichita, KS.
These insights come from studies published by some of the best in the business, including Professor William Ristenpart and Dr. Jiexin Liang (Sci Rep 14, 2024). The research was supported by Toddy and the Coffee Science Foundation, both of whom are pushing our industry toward better, smarter coffee.
Why It Matters for You
If you’re a wholesale customer, café owner, or cold coffee fan, here’s the takeaway:
Cold brew is more than just a trend—it’s an entirely separate category of coffee.
The flavor benefits are real and replicable.
It’s worth investing time in doing it right, especially with the right roast and brew method. [REVERIE’s COLD BREW GUIDE}
What’s Brewing at Reverie?
We’re not just following the research—we’re applying it. Our cold brew and nitro coffee, made with Boneshaker Espresso, are already hits, and this summer, we’re taking it further.
We’re launching a limited-edition artist series and a brand-new ready-to-drink cold brew product. More details coming in May…stay tuned!
Want to make tasty cold brew coffee at home? Watch this “Brewtorial” on our website!
Until then, keep brewing, keep experimenting, and keep asking the good questions. If you want to talk shop, I’m always down.
Andrew Gough
Owner, Reverie Coffee Roasters
Sources: Ristenpart et al., UC Davis Coffee Center research, Coffee Science Foundation, Journal of Food Science, SCA News [25.22]