There is no better way to cool down during a hot day than with a delicious, refreshing, and energy-boosting iced coffee. Making this crisp and chilly cup of Joe is simple, and you will not need any fancy equipment if you follow our easy step-by-step instructions.
You will also learn what you need to look out for if you want to make iced coffee at home and do not want to make your iced coffee watery. Read on to find out more!
What Kind of Coffee to Use
Any coffee you like. We recommend using freshly ground coffee beans to get the best-tasting coffee. The type of roast: light, medium, or dark roast, is up to your preferences.
Use a lighter roast, such as a Kenyan or a Honduran coffee, for fruitier and lighter notes and more caffeine. Alternatively, use a medium to darker roast such as a Colombian Supremo or coffee from the Antigua Valley of Guatemala if you prefer less acidity, more robust flavor, and lower caffeine levels.
How to Brew Iced Coffee
Strength is of primary importance when making the perfect iced coffee. What many people tend to do at home is brew a regular strength coffee and pour it over ice cubes at the end. This practice is far from ideal because after melting the ice cubes, this will result in a watered-down and weak cup.
A better way to prepare iced coffee is to make your coffee stronger than the regular brew. Our recommended way to prepare iced coffee at home is by using a pour-over brewer, which could be either a Hario V60, Chemex, Kalita Wave, Melitta, or an OXO Brew.
How to Make Iced Coffee at Home
Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 2 drinks
Equipment
- A pour-over coffee brewer like a Hario V60 Ceramic Coffee Dripper or an OXO Brew
- Kettle
- Kitchen scale
- Timer
- Spoon
- 2 Tall glasses
Ingredients
- 40 g coffee medium grind
- 12 oz hot water, finished boiling
- 300 g large ice cubes
Instructions
1. Add 250 g ice cubes to the mug. Save 50 g of ice cubes for step 7.
2. Fill your brewer with the coffee.
3. Start the timer and pour the first 4 oz of hot water over the coffee in about 30 seconds. Stir the grounds with a spoon. Make sure to wet all the grounds evenly.
4. After 1 minute, pour an additional 4 oz hot water over the wet coffee.
5. After 2 minutes, slowly pour the remaining 4 oz hot water over the coffee grounds.
6. Brew will stop dripping through coffee grounds after 5 minutes.
7. Serve your iced coffee in a tall glass, add remaining ice cubes as needed.
8. Enjoy plain or with cream, sugar, and flavored syrup!
Notes
We used a nearly even split between water and ice in our recipe, but you can adjust this according to your taste.
If you think that the iced coffee is too strong, add some cold water to dilute it.
Remember that making iced coffee that is not watery is key to preparing a delicious iced coffee. We don’t want ice diluting the drink.
How To Serve Iced Coffee
If you prepare the iced coffee fresh, then serving it in a tall glass would be suitable.
Additionally, you could also serve it in a Yeti Tumbler or a similar stainless steel insulated mug. This will keep your coffee cold for 2 hours on those hot summer days, leaving you enough time to play the Starbucks summer game and prevent dilution and preserve the original flavor longer.
When you make a larger batch, you can store it in any glass or jar you like; mason jars are a great way to keep your iced coffee fresh in the fridge.
Best Way to Make Non-Watery Iced Coffee At Home
Pro tip: You can prepare your iced coffee using coffee ice cubes.
The best way to make coffee ice cubes is to brew regular coffee, then carefully pour it into an ice cube tray. Freeze it for at least 6 hours. Otherwise, you might want to put a large Ziploc freezer bag around the tray to protect the cubes from any unwanted freezer flavors.
There you go. With our homemade coffee ice cubes, you can make iced coffee without making it watery.
Adding Cream, Sugar & Syrup
We also like to add some grass-fed half and half for consistency and flavor. Do not forget that it is healthier than a coffee creamer. If you are using a sweetener, we leave this up to you.
A great way to experiment with your iced coffee is to mix it with syrup. We recommend using vanilla or cinnamon syrup, which goes well with iced coffee. This will flavor and sweeten your drink at the same time.
You could even add maple syrup or brown sugar syrup to indulge your taste buds. Or add chocolate syrup, which will then turn your iced coffee into a delicious iced mocha.
Conclusion
Now that you are a pro, you surely will not be missing waiting in line to pick up your iced coffee. With our proven tips, you can make your very own coffee-shop quality Iced Coffee at home while experimenting with various roast strengths, the quantity of ice, using coffee ice cubes, and even adding some extra flavorings.
Once you get the hang of it, you can even prepare a larger batch to enjoy it for a few days.
We hope you enjoyed our delicious iced coffee recipe!
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