Kyoto Slow Drip
How to make Kyoto-style slow drip coffee: ice water dripped through coffee one drop at a time in a tower. The 1:10 recipe, drip rate, grind, timing and the Dutch legend.
Contents
- Method
- The short version
- How does a Kyoto drip tower work?
- How much coffee and water should I use?
- What grind size should I use?
- How do you make Kyoto drip, step by step?
- How do I get the drip rate right?
- Why is it called Dutch coffee?
- Kyoto drip vs cold brew
- Kyoto drip vs other methods
- Words in this guide
- Questions & answers
How do you make Kyoto-style cold drip coffee?
Kyoto-style cold drip lets ice-cold water fall one drop at a time through coffee in a tower. Put about 80 g of coffee on the filter in the coffee chamber, wet it evenly and lay a wet paper filter on top. Fill the top with 800 g of ice and water, set the valve to about one drop per second and let it drip for several hours. Taste it, then dilute it if it's too strong.
At a glance
- Ratio
- 1:10
- 80 g : 800 g
- Grind
- Medium (sand)
- Water
- Ice water
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Origin
- Japan
Method
Bottom filter
Fit the filter in the bottom of the coffee chamber. Depending on the tower, it's paper, metal or ceramic.
Add the coffee
Add about 80 g of coffee and level it, without packing it down.
Wet the coffee
Slowly pour a little cold water over the coffee so it's evenly wet, which helps stop it channelling or clogging.
Top filter
Put a second paper filter, wetted, on top of the coffee to spread the drops.
Fill the top
Fill the top chamber with ice and cold water, about 800 g in total.
Set the drip
Open the valve to about one drop per second, and check it every so often, as the rate changes as the water level falls.
Let it drip
Let it drip for several hours, usually somewhere between 3 and 12, until the water has passed through.
Serve
Taste it first. Serve it over ice as it is, or dilute it a little at a time with water or milk, up to about 1 part coffee to 2.
Kyoto-style slow drip is cold coffee made one drop at a time. A tall tower holds ice water at the top, coffee in the middle and a carafe at the bottom. A small valve lets the water fall onto the coffee about a drop a second, and it seeps slowly through and drips out below. Over several hours it makes a clean, bright, concentrated cold coffee. Here’s how to make it, and why it’s also called Dutch coffee.
The short version
- Ice water drips through coffee, about one drop per second.
- About 1:10: 80 g of coffee to 800 g of ice and water.
- Several hours, usually 3 to 12.
- Percolation, not steeping, for a brighter cup than cold brew.
- Taste it first, then dilute with water or milk only if it needs it.
How does a Kyoto drip tower work?
- The top chamber holds ice and cold water, with a valve at the bottom that controls the drip.
- The coffee chamber holds the coffee on a filter, which can be paper, metal or ceramic depending on the tower, with a wet paper filter on top to spread the drops.
- The drops soak slowly through the coffee and drip out of the bottom, sometimes through a long glass coil, into the carafe.
Because water passes through the coffee rather than sitting in it, Kyoto drip is percolation, like a very slow pour-over, not immersion like cold brew.
How much coffee and water should I use?
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Coffee | About 80 g |
| Ice and water | About 800 g |
| Ratio | 1:10 (guides range from 1:5 to 1:10) |
| Drip rate | About one drop per second |
| Time | Usually 3 to 12 hours |
Taste it before you dilute it. Roastopedia notes that cold drip usually isn’t diluted as much as immersion cold brew. If it’s too strong, add water or milk a little at a time: York Emporium suggests up to 1 part coffee to 2.
Hario’s recipe for its Water Dripper tower is different again: about 12 g of finely ground, dark-roast coffee per cup, 140 ml of water per cup mark, 1 to 1.5 drops per second, and it’s ready in 3 to 5 hours. Hario says it keeps for about 3 days in the fridge. Follow your own tower’s manual where you can.
What grind size should I use?
Guides disagree. Hario’s manual says fine, York Emporium medium (like sand), Roastopedia medium-coarse and Alton Brown coarse. Start at medium and adjust: if the drip slows or stops, or it tastes bitter, go coarser; if it’s thin, go finer or slow the drip.
How do you make Kyoto drip, step by step?
- Fit the filter in the bottom of the coffee chamber.
- Add the coffee and level it, without packing it.
- Wet it evenly with a little cold water, so it doesn’t channel or clog.
- Add a wetted paper filter on top of the coffee.
- Fill the top with ice and water, about 800 g.
- Set the valve to about one drop per second.
- Let it drip for several hours, checking the rate now and then.
- Taste it, then serve over ice, diluted only if it needs it.
How do I get the drip rate right?
About one drop per second is the usual starting point; guides range from about 40 to 60 drops a minute, and Alton Brown’s recipe goes much slower, about one drop every 7 seconds over 10 to 12 hours. Slower is stronger, faster is lighter. The rate drifts as the water level falls and the ice melts, so check it every hour or so and adjust the valve.
Why is it called Dutch coffee?
A common story says Dutch traders brought cold coffee brewing to Japan in the 1600s. It’s widely repeated, but I treat it as legend. The name has stuck in South Korea, where cold drip is sold as “Dutch coffee”, bottled in shops and supermarkets. The tall glass towers are associated with Kyoto, which gives the method its usual name. According to Roastopedia, Counter Culture Coffee is credited with bringing Kyoto-style towers to the United States in the late 1990s.
Kyoto drip vs cold brew
| Kyoto drip | Cold brew | Japanese iced coffee | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How it brews | Ice water dripped through | Steeped in cold water | Brewed hot onto ice |
| Time | 3 to 12 hours | 12 to 24 hours | A few minutes |
| Cup | Clean, bright, concentrated | Smooth, heavier | Bright, aromatic |
| Equipment | A drip tower | A jar and a filter | A pour-over |
General guidance only. Glass towers are tall and fragile: stand yours somewhere stable, out of direct sunlight, and keep the finished coffee in the fridge.
Kyoto drip vs other methods
- Cold brew: steeped cold for a smooth concentrate.
- Toddy cold brew system: a big-batch steeped concentrate.
- Japanese iced coffee: brewed hot, straight onto ice.
- Cold brew bottle: cold brew in a bottle, in the fridge.
Explore every cold method in the cold chapter.
What you’ll need
Words in this guide
- Immersion vs percolation
- Immersion brewing steeps all the coffee in all the water at once, as a French press does.
- Steeping
- Steeping is leaving ground coffee to sit in water so its flavour dissolves out, as in a French press or cold brew.
- Pour-over
- Pour-over is a way of making filter coffee by hand: you pour hot water over ground coffee in a filter cone and let it drip through into a cup or jug.
- Coffee concentrate
- A coffee concentrate is coffee brewed much stronger than you would drink it, using less water, and then diluted with water, milk or ice to serve.
Questions & answers
What is Kyoto-style coffee?
Cold coffee made by dripping ice-cold water through ground coffee one drop at a time, in a tall tower, over several hours. It's also called cold drip, slow drip or Dutch coffee.
How is Kyoto drip different from cold brew?
Standard cold brew steeps the coffee in cold water. Kyoto drip passes the water through the coffee drop by drop, so it's percolation, not immersion. Roastopedia describes cold drip as brighter and more aromatic, and immersion cold brew as sweeter and heavier.
What drip rate should I use?
About one drop per second is the usual starting point. Guides range from roughly 40 to 60 drops a minute, and some go slower. Slower makes it stronger; faster makes it lighter.
What ratio is used for cold drip?
Guides range from about 1:5 to 1:10 by weight. 1:10, such as 80 g of coffee to 800 g of ice and water, is a common standard.
Why is it called Dutch coffee?
The story goes that Dutch traders brought cold coffee brewing to Japan in the 1600s. It's widely repeated, but I treat it as legend. The name is still used in South Korea, where cold drip is sold as Dutch coffee. The towers themselves are linked with Kyoto.
Sources
- Cold drip (Kyoto-style cold brew). Roastopedia
- Kyoto-style slow drip coffee. Homegrounds
- How to brew slow drip coffee. York Emporium
- Kyoto-style cold brew coffee. Alton Brown
- Cold drip coffee: the Kyoto tower method, explained. Online Coffee Guide
- Water Dripper (WDCR-6 / WDW-6) instruction manual. HARIO
General guidance only. Not medical, food-safety or professional advice. Always follow your equipment's own instructions.