A couple weeks ago we sampled baked beans. Today we try a different kind of bean. The coffee bean. And in it’s iced form.
Which Iced Coffees are we trying today?
Wide Awake Coffee Co. Cold Brew Expresso Blend
Wide Awake Coffee Co. Cold Brew Light Roast
Chobani Coffee Cold Brew Pure Black
Stok Cold Brew
Starbucks Iced Coffee Blonde Roast
Who is on this beautiful bean quest?
Janet, Coffee addict
Hannah, Coffee addict in denial
Matt, enjoyer of cold brew
Amy, despises coffee above all drinks.
And of course, all of our subscribers and those who just stumbled upon the show. Thanks for joining us today.
The History of Iced Coffee
There are a lot of legends surrounding the discovery of coffee. One that popped up a lot, probably because it was so cute, surrounded an Ethiopian man in the 9th century. He saw his goats eating berries off a tree and noticed they were more giddy and energetic. The man reported his findings to the local monastery, who made a drink with the berries. The drink kept those who drank it more alert and word spread. Coffee was born.
Now, we aren’t going to get into the rich history of coffee beyond that, we are sticking to iced coffee, which actually has a pretty short history.
The first iced coffee known about with reasonable certainty started in Algeria in the 1830s. It was a cold, sweetened coffee drink that was invented by the French military during the battle of Mazagran, and named Mazagran. Apparently, when they ran out of milk for their coffee, they started adding water and to drink it cold to combat the heat. When the veterans got home, they started requesting these drinks at local coffee shops and the baristas obliged and the iced coffee was born. Since then, the drink has evolved into many different forms.
Some common concoctions include…
Cold brews - A cold brew is steeped in cold water for 20 hours in the refrigerator, no hot water is used to make cold brew.
Nitro Cold Brew - Cold brew coffee is infused with nitrogen gas to create a smooth velvety texture. It is usually served without ice.
An Iced Latte is an Iced espresso drink with milk
Iced Espresso is just shots of espresso and ice.
An iced Mocha is espresso and chocolate combined over ice.
Iced Caramel Macchiato is coffee, vanilla, milk, and caramel
Greek Frappe, which was initially a shaken coffee drink made with instant coffee, water, sugar, ice, and milk. This drink inspired the Starbucks Frappuccino, which was introduced in 1995.
And in general, Iced coffee usually is a stronger brew so the ice doesn’t dilute it.
Starbucks net revenue reached 24.61 billion U.S. dollars in 2021. The number of Starbucks stores worldwide exceeded 33 thousand in 2021. Starbucks has over 15,000 US locations.
Other popular chains include…
The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf out of Southern California was started in 1963 and has over 1200 locations. One of its signature drinks is the Ice Blended.
Tim Hortons was founded in Canada and has nearly 5,000 stores, 600 of them in the US. The Iced Capp is one of their more iconic beverages.
Biggby Coffee was founded in Michigan in 1995 and has over 240 shops across the Midwest.
Dutch Bros is out of Oregon and has over 420 stores in nine states and is known for their experimental flavors such as an Irish cream cold brew and a banana bread latte.
Dunkin was started in Massachusetts in the 50s and now has over 11,000 locations in 30 countries.
Caribou Coffee was founded in Minnesota and has over 450 stores across the US, with over half in Minnesota.
Scooters Coffee was founded in Nebraska and has over 350 locations throughout the United States.
Drinking two to three cups each day is the most common coffee consumption pattern among Americans. 44 percent of U.S. adults said that they drank this many 7 oz cups per day on average. 26% said that they either drank one cup or no coffee at all each day. 22% of Americans reported that they drank iced coffee.
The Results
**SPOILER ALERT!**
Listen to the episode first if you do not want the results revealed to you yet!
5th/4th Place (Tie): Starbucks Iced Coffee Blonde Roast
Amy: 1/10
Hannah: 3/10
Janet: 1/10
Matt: 4/10
5th/4th Place (Tie): Wide Awake Coffee Co. Cold Brew Light Roast
Amy: 1/10
Hannah: 3/10
Janet: 1/10
Matt: 4/10
3rd Place: Chobani Coffee Cold Brew Pure Black
Amy: 1/10
Hannah: 5/10
Janet: 1/10
Matt: 4/10
2nd Place: Wide Awake Coffee Co. Cold Brew Expresso Blend
Amy: 1/10
Hannah: 4/10
Janet: 3/10
Matt: 5/10
1st Place: Stok Cold Brew
Amy: 2/10
Hannah: 4/10
Janet: 8/10
Matt: 4/10
There you have it. We give Stok Cold Brew the Quest for the Best seal of approval. Check out their website to find other coffee flavors.
https://www.stokbrew.com/cold-brew/cold-brew-coffee/
Thank you for joining us on this episode of Quest for the Best. Let us know what you thought. Have you tried these cold brews before? Which one was your favorite? What were your scores?
Also, do you have any foods you would love to get the coveted seal of approval? Let us know in the comments what you want to hear next.
And again, thank you for the support. Consider becoming a paid subscriber for exclusive content. Every month we will put two restaurants head to head to find out which is the best. For the month of March, we are battling Taco Bell against Taco John’s. You definitely do not want to miss out.
Additionally, starting in April, we will be doing mini episodes as exclusive content where we will be trying Limited Edition foods so you don’t have to! All you have to do is subscribe!
Thanks again for the support, and until next week, stay sane!
Show Notes:
https://www.coffeemagazine.co.za/blog/1/5617/the-history-of-the-iced-coffee
https://crazycups.com/blog/the-interesting-history-of-iced-coffee-origins-vs-where-we-are-today/
https://www.statista.com/chart/19524/cups-of-coffee-drunk-by-americans-per-day/
Photo by Amelia Hallsworth: https://www.pexels.com/photo/orange-juice-in-clear-drinking-glass-on-brown-wooden-table-5461602/
Coffee that has been Iced