You may have seen this absolute beast of a contraption in the cafe. Glass chambers and drippers suspend in an elegant wood frame, resulting in something that might brew potions in some steampunk world. It's called a Kyoto cold brew dripper, and the only potion we're brewing is delicious iced coffee.
Origins
The origins of Kyoto coffee are remarkably undocumented. A quick Google search will surface many claims about Dutch traders using cold brew style drippers on ships and introducing it to Japan in the 1600s. This is a legend at best, as there are no academic sources backing up this story.
Here's what we can say. The brewers were first popularized in the US in the 2010s by Blue Bottle Coffee. Japan still calls it "Dutch coffee," as the method does trace back to Dutch colonial Indonesia. A leading manufacturer of cold brew drippers in Japan itself is a company called Oji (オージ社, based in Sumida, Tokyo). This company was founded in 1963, and it claims to be the creator of the device.
Verifying any details beyond that feels like sifting through folklore. Second guess anything else you read online!
A more important question. What is it?
It's a radically different approach to the standard cold brew you see in American cafes. Ice cold water in the top chamber filters through the coffee grounds one drop at a time. The entire process takes a day and results in only 10-12 servings.
So what difference does it make? Standard cold brew involves steeping all the grounds in cold water at once. It takes the same amount of time to brew, but the extraction stalls quickly.
The "Kyoto-style" dripper is a percolation process, like batch brew or pour overs. Fresh water is constantly flushed through the grounds, which reduces oxidation and extracts more complex flavor components.
The Flavor Difference
This process elevates the profile of the cup. While immersion cold brew can flatten out the acidity of the coffee, the Kyoto produces a vibrant coffee that accentuates the characteristics of the origin.
Brewers like this allow us to feature some of our higher end coffees in a unique way. This summer, we're using it to brew our Chelbasa, a washed Ethiopian favorite with a super delicate floral and berry acidity. We've also brewed Sebastian Ramirez's Peach Co-ferment, which has such a strong peach tea flavor, it feels like it was made for this brewing method.
We've had a great response to the Kyoto all summer. Since the process is so slow, supply is always limited! This isn't something you can add milk or syrup to. It's concentrate, served in a very small cup over ice. Think of it like a bourbon on the rocks, something to savor and enjoy.
