US Cold Brew Champions 2021
Earlier this month (September 2021), Be Bright Coffee founder Frank La competed in the US Cold Brew Competition 2021 at Coffee Fest Anaheim. Nineteen competitors from the Southwest region entered the competition, and each competitor presented a cold brew and a signature beverage using the cold brew to three judges. Each presentation was evaluated on a scoresheet based on Presentation, for things like your vision for the future of cold brew, or brewing approach and how cold brew fits into your shop, Still Cold Brew, for things like color, clarity, aroma, flavor, aftertaste, complexity, body, and balance, and the Signature Beverage for the uniqueness of the ingredients and the overall drink, balance and combination of flavors, and the reproducibility of the beverage in a coffee shop.
After an intense two day battle of the best cold brew in town, we scored 1st place overall and brought home the US Cold Brew Championship Title using our “Unique & Surprising” Mexico Ejidos San Fernando Gesha coffee for the cold brew.
We used the “shock brew” method where you first use hot water to bloom the grinds and extract the less soluble, volatile compounds, and “shock” the coffee bed with ice water to start the cold brewing process. Frank diluted the cold brew concentrate in a 1:1 ratio of 1 part cold brew concentrate to 1 part water for his still cold brew. Because the coffee is incredible tropical in flavor, Frank developed his signature beverage based on this coffee’s inherent tropical fruit notes to create a cold brew tiki-style mocktail he named “The Fresh Start”.
You can recreate this award-winning signature beverage with the following recipe:
- 2 oz. Cold Brew concentrate made with Unique & Surprising Mexico Ejidos San Fernando Gesha
- 2 oz. Seedlip Spice 94 (A non-alocholic distilled spirit with all spice, oak, cardamom, and top citrus notes)
- 1.5 oz. Pineapple Juice
- 1 oz Passion Fruit syrup from The Liquid Alchemist
- 0.75 oz. Lime Juice
- 0.5 oz. Orgeat
Combine all ingredients in a shaker. Add some ice. Shake until chilled, about 3 seconds. Enjoy your award-winning Cold Brew Tiki, “The Fresh Start”!
Winning Cold Brew Pairing Available at Smorgasburg LA
We’re excited to share this news and recipe with you because we hope to continue to be an instrumental part in the coffee community. Our award-winning cold brew and signature beverage will be offered as a pairing at our Smorgasburg LA popup every Sunday in September, so be sure to come by The Row DTLA to try the pairing!
