Question about iced coffee?

Question

I need some input from people who work or used to work in a coffee shop.

Now that the weather is hot, I like to order iced coffee at my local coffee shop. The last 2 times I went, they poured the coffee out of a plastic jug. When I asked them about it, they said that this is the way they usually do it, even though it was not made this way before these last 2 times.

Is preparing the coffee for iced coffee normally done in advance and is that coffee normally just stored for later use? Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't coffee something that should be consumed while fresh? Am I being cheated and/or lied to by the people at my local coffee shop?

Just a note in case it matters, both of these last 2 visits to the coffee shop happened when the shop had just opened, so anything stored in a plastic jug had probably been there overnight.

Answer 1

I had the same experience at my local coffee shop.  

The summer before last, when I ordered iced coffee they made it by pouring fresh, hot coffee over ice cubes.  Unforturnately, that produced luke warm, watered down iced coffee.  

Last summer, the iced coffee was cold.  The only thing I had to remind them was not to put any cream in it.  (I like the taste of black sweetened iced coffee.).

I was glad they had figured out how to make it ... but when I went inside for coffee one day, I saw they served it out of a plastic jug kept cold in the cooler.  So I asked about it.  The answer I got was that it was the only way to keep it really cold enough to serve as iced coffee.

Needless to say, I stopped ordering iced coffee.  Now I make it at home myself, just like in the 'old days'.

Answer 2

I take a glass put some ice in it and pour thecoffee over the ice. The coffee should not be steaming hot, just warm.

I always have it fresh made.

Answer 3

HMMM, if you're talking about Starbucks, they prepare ice coffee double strength (so the ice won't dilute the coffee), and it lasts for 8 hours in the refrigerator.

You are right, coffee should be enjoyed fresh, thankfully the refrigeration helps with this. But for iced coffee, this is as fresh as you could get without pouring hot coffee over ice, which tastes just gross.

Don't forget about the pre-opening tasks that some coffee shops have. For Starbucks, one task is to brew iced coffee each morning before opening. Any left over iced coffee is dumped out the night before.  

I hope you're not feeling cheated by the employees at the coffee shop, if i were you I would ask all these questions to them. Maybe their polices are different.

Additional Comments:

Well, if it's a 12 hour brew, but the closing shift has to make it then wouldn't the coffee be sitting for about 5 hours or so? That doesn't make any sense to me.

You also say that they make a shot of coffee, then milk, then ice? An Iced Latte is composed of shots of espresso, milk and ice (More milk than espresso). Iced Coffee is supposed to have more coffee in proportion to milk. However both end up tasting about the same, because espresso is just super concentrated coffee.

I'm no coffee expert either, perhaps you should just ask for an iced latte.

Good luck, hope I helped