Best. Coffee. Ever. For Hot Climates, At Least.

As many of you know, I'm a bit of a coffee addict. Some would say afficianado, while the cheekier amongst you would say snob. I've never really delved too deeply into the various methods of coffee brewing, with the exception of the basic at-home methods.

Despite its proximity to Yemen, coffee's birthplace as a drink, I never expected to further this knowledge while I was in Dubai. However, much to my surprise, I discovered (in a restaurant called Leopold's of London; much to my disappointment, there is in fact no London branch) what is now my favourite method of brewing coffee for hot climates.

The Cold Brew method steeps the coffee for up to 12 hours in room temperature or colder water. This allows for the flavours of the coffee beans to be extracted. It is the use of hot water that makes coffee quite acidic, so this method results in a much lower-acidity brew. To me, it tastes very creamy and sweet, without any milk/cream or sugar added at all.

In this case, the coffee was brewed in a coil-tubed contraction that apparently was developed in Kyoto, which for reasons that I would love to learn but do not know, developed very elaborate cold-brew machines. Confusingly, the Japanese refer to this type of coffee brewing as Dutch coffee, while most of the English speaking world refer to it as "the Kyoto process" and most of the non-English speaking world just call it "cold brew", which is not to be confused with iced coffee, which is generally just drip-brewed poured over ice.

During the winter, I think I will still prefer a piping hot, high-acidity cuppa. My preferred extraction method for this I have come to learn is called the Moka Pot method - named after Moka, Yemen - but many call the Italian or Bialetti (or other brand name) method where the water is boiled in a lower chamber and steamed through a middle chamber of coffee grounds to be trapped in an upper chamber.

However, my new preferred method for hot climates is definitely the cold-brew or Kyoto method. I just need to develop the patience to wait 12 hours for it to brew!