❄️ Flash Brew Guide
Iced pour over — brewed hot, chilled instantly
Flash brew (also called Japanese iced coffee or iced pour over) brews hot water directly through grounds and onto a bed of ice, chilling the coffee in seconds instead of hours. Because it's brewed hot, it extracts the same bright, aromatic complexity as a regular pour over — the ice just locks that flavor in place before it can fade, giving you an iced coffee in about 4 minutes instead of cold brew's 12–24 hour steep.
Coffee
20g
freshly ground
Water
320ml
filtered
Temp
94°C
201°F
Grind
Medium-fine
The same grind as a regular pour over — like coarse sea salt. No need to go coarser for the ice; the brew ratio, not the grind, is what accounts for dilution here.
Total Time
3:00
5 steps
Ready to brew
Ice the Carafe
Add 100 g of ice cubes directly to the carafe or server that will sit under the dripper. This is what flash-chills the coffee the instant it lands — the whole method depends on the hot coffee hitting ice right away, not cooling down afterward.
0:20
☕ Brew complete! Enjoy your Flash Brew.
Recipe Steps
1
Ice the Carafe 0:20
Add 100 g of ice cubes directly to the carafe or server that will sit under the dripper. This is what flash-chills the coffee the instant it lands — the whole method depends on the hot coffee hitting ice right away, not cooling down afterward.
2
Rinse & Bloom 0:45
Rinse the paper filter with hot water and discard. Add 20 g of medium-fine grounds to the dripper, set it over the iced carafe. Pour 50 ml of 94°C water in slow circles to saturate evenly and let it bloom for 45 seconds.
3
First Pour 0:45
Pour in slow spirals from center to edge and back, bringing the total hot water to 150 ml. Keep the ice below doing its job — you should already see the brew pooling cold at the bottom of the carafe.
4
Final Pour 0:40
Continue pouring in slow circles until you reach 220 ml of hot water total. Focus the last of the stream near the center to avoid disturbing the grounds bed at the edges.
5
Draw-down & Stir 0:30
Let the last of the water drain fully through the grounds onto the ice. Give the carafe a stir to fully melt the remaining ice and combine — you should land around 280–300 ml total. Pour over a fresh glass of ice and serve immediately.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between flash brew and cold brew?
Flash brew is a hot-brewed method — water passes through the grounds at full pour-over temperature and lands directly on ice, chilling in seconds. Cold brew steeps grounds in cold water for 12–24 hours with no heat at all. The result is different too: flash brew keeps the bright acidity and aromatics of hot extraction, while cold brew is smoother, heavier-bodied, and naturally lower in acidity.
Why brew hot and then add ice instead of just cooling hot coffee?
Coffee left to cool slowly on the counter keeps extracting and oxidizing as it sits, which dulls its brightest aromatics within minutes. Brewing directly onto ice chills the coffee instantly at the moment it's extracted, locking in the aromatic compounds that would otherwise fade — that's the entire reason the method exists rather than just refrigerating a regular pour over.
Do I need to change my grind size for flash brew?
No — use the same medium-fine grind as a standard pour over, like coarse sea salt. The ice accounts for dilution in the recipe's water ratio, not in the grind. Changing the grind on top of that would throw off the extraction.
What coffee works best for flash brew?
Light-roast, high-acidity coffees with floral, citrus, or fruity tasting notes shine the most — the bright, delicate flavors that can get lost under milk or ice cubes in regular iced coffee come through clearly here. Darker, heavier roasts tend to taste flat once chilled and diluted; save those for cold brew instead.
How much ice should I use for flash brew?
This recipe uses 100 g of ice in the carafe for 220 ml of hot water, close to the common two-thirds hot water, one-third ice split. Too little ice and the coffee won't fully chill before it finishes dripping; too much and you'll dilute past the intended 1:15–1:16 ratio. Weigh the ice rather than eyeballing it for a consistent cup.
Other brew guides: Pour Over · AeroPress · Espresso · French Press · Moka Pot · Cold Brew · Chemex · Turkish Coffee · Vietnamese Phin · Siphon (Vacuum Pot) · Percolator