UK Iced Coffee Goes Mainstream: What This Means for Your Bean Buying Strategy

Iced coffee sales in the UK have grown by 22% annually over the past five years – more than triple Europe's average of 7%. 

Major chains have fully embraced this shift, with limited edition iced coffee launches displaying an 83% compound annual growth rate over the past four years. Out-of-home coffee consumption has grown from 13.0% weekly penetration in 2022 to 15.1% in 2025, with much of this growth driven by year-round cold beverages.

Yes,it looks like your customers want iced drinks all year round now. 

Understanding What Iced Coffee Actually Is

First, let's be clear about what we mean by "iced coffee." This refers to coffee brewed hot and then served over ice, either immediately (flash brewing) or after cooling. This is completely different from cold brew, which involves steeping coffee grounds in cold water for 12-24 hours.

Iced coffee preserves the bright, acidic qualities of hot-brewed coffee whilst adding refreshing coolness. Cold brew creates a completely different flavour profile: smooth, low-acid, and requiring entirely different bean characteristics.

Choosing the Right Beans for Iced Coffee

Iced coffee exposes different flavour characteristics than hot coffee. When coffee is served cold, subtle notes become more pronounced, whilst harsh flavours can become unpleasantly sharp. This means your hot coffee blend might taste completely different when served over ice.

Understanding which bean profiles work best for iced coffee is important for optimising your wholesale purchasing decisions. Here's what works and why:

Light to Medium Roasts: The Sweet Spot

Light and medium roasts retain more of the bean's origin flavours: fruit, florals, citrus, and brightness, which shine when served over ice. These characteristics create the refreshing quality that makes iced coffee appealing.

They are perfect for flash brew methods, iced pour-over, and iced AeroPress.

Ideal examples:

• Ethiopian beans (floral, tea-like, citrusy notes)
• Kenyan beans (bright acidity, berry notes)
• Colombian single-origin beans (balanced fruit and chocolate with medium roast profile)

These roast levels offer refreshing acidity and vibrant flavour clarity that doesn't get muted when poured over ice.

Washed Processing: Clean and Crisp

Washed (wet-processed) beans tend to be cleaner and more delicate, ideal for iced coffee where clarity and crispness are prized. The washing process removes fruit residue, leaving cleaner coffee flavours that translate well to cold applications.

Naturally processed beans are great if you're deliberately targeting heavier, fermented notes. They need testing and careful preparation, as sometimes these beans can be overpowering when served cold.

Single-Origin Showcase

Iced coffee tends to expose subtle notes that get lost in blends. A single-origin bean lets those characteristics stand out—especially fruit, florals, and herbal notes that make iced coffee refreshing.

Strong performers:

• Rwandan beans (red fruit and bright acidity)
• Guatemalan beans (stone fruit, cocoa, clean finish)
• Colombian single-origin (caramel, hazelnuts, almonds notes that work beautifully over ice)

What to Avoid for Iced Coffee

Dark Roasts are Usually the Wrong Choice

Dark roasts can taste overly bitter, smoky, or flat when cooled. Their lower acidity makes them less refreshing as iced coffee, and the roast flavours can become harsh when served cold.

Exception: If your clientele prefers rich, bold iced lattes with milk, a medium-dark roast with chocolate/nutty notes may work better for body. An Italian coffee bean blend could work in this specific application for lattes, but avoid for straight iced coffee.

Over-Roasted or Stale Beans

Iced coffee exposes flaws mercilessly. Beans that might taste acceptable hot will show off-flavours, staleness, or roasting defects when served cold.

Matching Beans to Brewing Methods

Different iced coffee preparation methods work better with specific bean characteristics:

Flash Brew / Pour-Over Iced Coffee

• Method: Brewing hot directly over ice to preserve brightness and aroma
• Best beans: Bright, light roasts with pronounced acidity
• Our recommendation: Colombian single-origin for its balanced fruit and chocolate notes

Iced Lattes / Milk-Based Drinks

• Method: Adding ice to espresso-based drinks with milk
• Best beans: Medium roasts with nutty, chocolatey notes that complement milk
• Our recommendation: Roma blend with its citrus and nutty profile works excellently with milk over ice

Batch-Brewed and Chilled

• Method: Brewing large batches hot and chilling for later service
• Best beans: Well-balanced beans that hold their flavour over time
• Our recommendation: Colombian beans maintain their caramel and hazelnut characteristics even when chilled

Year-Round Planning

Smart wholesale purchasing for the new iced coffee reality requires a thorough approach covering inventory, storage, and supplier relationships.

Diversify Your Bean Portfolio

Rather than ordering large quantities of a single blend, consider splitting orders between:

 

• • Hot-optimised blends for traditional espresso applications (such as Caffe Prima's Italian Mahogany blend)
  • Iced coffee specific selections with appropriate acidity and brightness profiles (like Caffe Prima's Colombian single-origin)
  • Versatile medium roasts that perform well in both applications (such as Caffe Prima's Roma blend, with its balanced citrus-nutty profile)

Adjust Ordering Frequency and Storage

With year-round demand, plan for:

• Peak summer months: 40-50% higher cold beverage demand
• Winter baseline: 25-30% of total coffee sales as cold applications
• Shoulder seasons: Gradual transitions requiring flexible inventory

Storage considerations become important. Iced coffee shows off stale flavours more than hot coffee: the cold temperature means off-notes become more noticeable. Maintain stricter rotation schedules and ensure adequate storage capacity for diversified inventory.

Plan Your Inventory Transition

Calculate your current demand first. Track your iced coffee, iced lattes, and cold espresso drinks over the past three months. If cold drinks represent less than 20% of total coffee sales, you're missing opportunities. Most UK cafes now see 25-30% even in winter.

Start with a 70/30 split for your next order: 70% existing hot coffee beans, 30% iced-optimised beans. Track sales for 4-6 weeks, then adjust based on actual demand.

Test methodically. Try your existing beans as iced coffee using different methods - flash brew, batch and chill, iced espresso drinks. Document what works before placing larger orders.

Work with experienced suppliers. The most successful transitions happen when businesses partner with wholesale suppliers who understand the complexities of year-round iced coffee service and can provide specific guidance on bean performance across applications.

The Commercial Opportunity

This market transformation represents significant opportunity for businesses willing to adapt their approach.

Consumer research shows brand importance in iced coffee purchasing decisions, meaning businesses serving high-quality cold coffee can differentiate themselves and potentially command premium pricing. The steady growth in flavoured iced coffee launches shows real opportunity for businesses offering well-executed cold coffee options.

The prize is substantial: A share of that £178.9 million market, with 22% annual growth.

Dealing with Suppliers

If you're planning to roll out an iced coffee menu or want to experiment with year-round cold coffee offerings, don't go in blind. The right supplier should help you test, tweak, and refine your iced coffee before you place a large order.

Here's what to ask for:

• Request samples of coffee beans a few months before you plan to introduce iced coffee. Beans with bright acidity, fruity notes, or clean profiles tend to work well for iced coffee, but you'll want to brew and taste a few options both hot and cold to find the right match for your customers' palates.
• Look for flexible, short-run deliveries for any seasonal iced drinks or limited edition cold coffee specials. If you're experimenting with a summer fruit-infused iced coffee or testing different single-origin options, your supplier should be able to support small-scale, trial batches without locking you into big-volume commitments.
• Ask for technical guidance. Iced coffee brewing has its own challenges: flash brewing requires precise ice-to-coffee ratios, batch brewing and chilling needs different extraction parameters, and grind size affects how flavours translate when cold. Good suppliers will help you dial in brewing ratios, grind coarseness, and extraction times specifically for iced applications. Some even offer brewing guides or tailored advice based on the roast profile they're providing.
• Test brewing methods together. The best suppliers will work with you to test flash brewing (hot coffee directly over ice) versus batch brewing and chilling. They understand that what works for hot coffee might need adjustment for iced service, and they'll help you find the right approach for your setup and customer preferences.

What to Do Next

Ready to introduce iced coffee to your menu? Here's how to adapt without overthinking it.

Test what you already have. Before buying new beans, try making iced coffee with your current stock. Brew it hot, pour it over ice, and taste it properly. You might find some of your existing beans work fine for iced drinks, which saves money.

Talk to your supplier about the best beans for iced coffees and sample orders. Ask if you can order samples to test and choose the best beans for your drinks.

Train your team on the basics. Your baristas need to know that iced coffee isn't just "hot coffee with ice." The brewing ratios are different, the grind might need adjusting, and some beans simply don't work cold. A quick training session prevents waste and unhappy customers.

Start small and build up. Don't overhaul your entire menu overnight. Add one or two iced coffee options, see what sells, then expand based on actual demand rather than guesswork.

UK coffee shops that ignore iced coffee are missing out on a £178.9 million market that's growing by 22% every year. But you don't need to revolutionise everything, just adapt your bean buying to include options that actually taste good when served cold.