Cold brew describes extraction temperature, not just an iced drink

Cold brew is prepared using cool or room-temperature water rather than the hot water used in most familiar brewing methods. Its name describes the extraction process. Iced coffee, by contrast, may have been brewed hot before it was chilled or poured over ice. The serving temperature alone cannot tell you how either drink was made.

Longer contact with cool water is common in cold brewing, but recipes and equipment vary. Some make a ready-to-drink coffee and others make a concentrate intended for dilution. That distinction matters more than an isolated steeping time: using a concentrate as if it were a finished serving can produce a very different drink. Record the coffee dose, brewing water and any water or milk added at serving.

Choose clean equipment and follow the brewer's instructions for preparation, refrigeration and storage. Filter the finished brew thoroughly enough for the texture you prefer, then assess it after the planned dilution and ice have been included. If a batch seems too heavy, changing the serving dilution is different from changing the extraction recipe. Keeping those adjustments separate makes the next batch easier to reproduce.