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The Cold Brew Lab · 5 episodes

The science of cold coffee.

Cold brew isn't hot coffee over ice.

Our Head Coffee Educator, Major Cohen, explains why.

Cold Brew vs Iced Coffee: The Real Difference, The Cold Brew Lab episode 03
Episode 03 · 7:19 Cold Brew vs Iced Coffee: The Real Difference

New here? Start with Episode 03. Produced by Joe Hart Productions.

SWEET SPOT SWEETNESS + AROMA BITTERNESS COLD STOPS HERE HOT KEEPS GOING EXTRACTION TIME → FLAVOR IN CUP →
Illustration, not lab data.
How extraction works

Take the good. Leave the bitter.

Cold water is picky about what it pulls from the grounds. The result is lower acidity and a fuller, smoother body.

  • Sweet, aromatic, low-acid: captured
  • Bitter, astringent: left behind
Cold Cloud™ vs. the old way

Great cold brew shouldn't be a gamble.

Traditional cold brew steeps for most of a day. We wanted the same character without the wait. Cumulus does all the hard work of the old method for you, with no steeping, filtering or storing.

Cumulus Coffee Cold Cloud™ The old wayTraditional cold brew
TimeTo scale vs. a 24-hour steep.
<1 minto a cup

Exceptional cold coffee, on demand, every time.

12–24 hrsof steeping

Steep a batch. Hope it's good.

Process Brewed cold, one cup at a time. Steeped in bulk, filtered, stored.
Freshness Sealed fresh, brewed to order. Fades a little more each day.
Consistency Same cup, every time. Every batch comes out a little different.
Nitro Built in. No tanks. Needs a keg, tank and tap line.
Inside the machine

Nitro, pulled from thin air.

Air is about 78% nitrogen. Cold Cloud™ infuses it into every pour under pressure. No tanks, no cartridges.

Simplified illustration.
One machine · three brews

One capsule. Three cold drinks.

Cumulus delivers three distinct cold coffee experiences, each exceptional on its own and versatile enough to be the base for endless drinks at home.

Find drink recipes →
Cumulus machine with nitro cold brew, cold brew and cold espresso
10 oz

Nitro Cold Brew

Smooth and velvety, with nothing added.

10 oz

Cold Brew

Crisp and clean. Each coffee's flavor comes through.

2 oz

Cold Espresso

A chilled base for lattes, affogato and espresso martinis.

Make an espresso martini →
Shop The Machine
Built for cold, from the farm up

Flavor starts long before the water.

  1. 01

    Origin. Where a bean grows shapes the cup.

  2. 02

    Roast. Eight profiles, slow-roasted for cold.

  3. 03

    Taste. Learn to name what you taste.

  4. 04

    Seal. Sealed fresh in recyclable capsules. Explore our coffees →

The flavor wheel

Learn to name what you taste.

Coffee pros share one language: a wheel of over a hundred descriptors in nine categories. Start in the middle with simple attributes and move out to more specific ones, the same way we chose our coffees.

Find our coffees on the wheel

    Explore the wheel

    Pick a flavor

    Hover a segment to trace it. Click a category to zoom in.Tap a segment to trace it. Tap a category to zoom in.

      Read the flavor wheel guide →
      Coffee Taster’s Flavor Wheel © SCA and World Coffee Research.
      All flavors on the wheel, as a list
      • Floral
        • Black Tea
        • Floral
          • Chamomile
          • Rose
          • Jasmine
      • Fruity
        • Berry
          • Blackberry
          • Raspberry
          • Blueberry
          • Strawberry
        • Dried Fruit
          • Raisin
          • Prune
        • Other Fruit
          • Coconut
          • Cherry
          • Pomegranate
          • Pineapple
          • Grape
          • Apple
          • Peach
          • Pear
        • Citrus Fruit
          • Grapefruit
          • Orange
          • Lemon
          • Lime
      • Sour/Fermented
        • Sour
          • Sour Aromatics
          • Acetic Acid
          • Butyric Acid
          • Isovaleric Acid
          • Citric Acid
          • Malic Acid
        • Alcohol/Fermented
          • Winey
          • Whiskey
          • Fermented
          • Overripe
      • Green/Vegetative
        • Olive Oil
        • Raw
        • Green/Vegetative
          • Under-ripe
          • Peapod
          • Fresh
          • Dark Green
          • Vegetative
          • Hay-like
          • Herb-like
        • Beany
      • Other
        • Papery/Musty
          • Stale
          • Cardboard
          • Papery
          • Woody
          • Moldy/Damp
          • Musty/Dusty
          • Musty/Earthy
          • Animalic
          • Meaty Brothy
          • Phenolic
        • Chemical
          • Bitter
          • Salty
          • Medicinal
          • Petroleum
          • Skunky
          • Rubber
      • Roasted
        • Pipe Tobacco
        • Tobacco
        • Burnt
          • Acrid
          • Ashy
          • Smoky
          • Brown, Roast
        • Cereal
          • Grain
          • Malt
      • Spices
        • Pungent
        • Pepper
        • Brown Spice
          • Anise
          • Nutmeg
          • Cinnamon
          • Clove
      • Nutty/Cocoa
        • Nutty
          • Peanuts
          • Hazelnut
          • Almond
        • Cocoa
          • Chocolate
          • Dark Chocolate
      • Sweet
        • Brown Sugar
          • Molasses
          • Maple Syrup
          • Caramelized
          • Honey
        • Vanilla
        • Vanillin
        • Overall Sweet
        • Sweet Aromatics
      Short answers

      Under a minute each.

      Cold brew and iced coffee are not the same drink. Nitro cold brew at home used to be hard. Not anymore. Nitro cold brew does not have more caffeine than regular cold brew. Great cold brew shouldn't be a gamble. How does Cumulus buy coffee? Cumulus changed the way coffee is roasted to get the perfect cup of cold.
      Questions we get

      Start with a question.

      How does the Cumulus machine actually work?

      You pop in a capsule of coffee, and the machine chills it and pours it cold. For nitro, it also infuses nitrogen under pressure, and every drink is ready in under 60 seconds with no tanks to buy.

      Isn't cold brew just iced coffee?

      No. Iced coffee is brewed hot, then chilled. Cold brew is brewed cold from the start.

      Why is nitro so smooth with nothing added?

      Nitrogen's tiny bubbles give nitro a creamy, textural body, so it drinks fuller than straight liquid coffee. Unlike CO₂, nitrogen adds no sharp bite, and the cold serve keeps it smooth with nothing added.

      Does nitro cold brew have more caffeine?

      No. Nitrogen changes the texture, not the caffeine.

      Watch the short →
      Do I need gas tanks to make nitro?

      Not with Cumulus. The machine infuses nitrogen under pressure, so there are no tanks or cartridges to buy.

      Why roast differently for cold?

      Flavor is set at the roast. A roast built for cold extraction changes what you taste.

      Have a coffee question we didn't cover?

      Ask our coffee team at support@cumuluscoffee.com.

      For cafés, offices & hospitality

      The same science, behind your counter.

      • Nitro, cold brew & cold espresso from one placement
      • Under 60 seconds a cup, no barista training
      • No CO₂ tanks or nitrogen canisters
      • NAMA and NSF/ANSI 18 certified
      Book a demo
      Cumulus machine on a counter
      Taste the difference

      Brew it cold.

      Cold brew, nitro and cold espresso in under a minute. Try it risk-free for 30 days.

      Shop The MachineAll episodes on YouTube