How To Make Your Own Iced Coffee

August 9, 2010 - No Comments (be the first!) by Mishi - For the Love of Food

Oh, how I love the place with the green straw.

Oh, how I don’t love paying over two dollars a cup, when I can get a 2 pound bag of nice, oily, delicious, and flavorful beans* for about ten dollars.

Here’s what I do to solve this little dilemma:

1. I make a strong, strong, strong, strong, strong pot of coffee. Strong, did you get that? Usually it’s 2 TBSP of ground coffee per six ounces of water, but when making iced coffee (depending on how strong I want to make it) I use no less than 4 TBSP of grounds per every six ounce cup. For the whole pot that would be 3 cups of ground coffee. Sometimes I go over, but I’m just crazy like that!




2. I, personally, don’t like to add sugar to mine, but if you are so inclined you should add the sugar in immediately after it is done brewing, while it’s still hot. If you add sugar, I suggest about a teaspoon per cup.




3. Put the pot in the fridge. Do not put any ice in as this will just dilute the strong coffee you’ve just brewed.




4. After it’s completely chilled it’s ready to be served over ice. Lots and lots of ice!




5. If you didn’t sweeten it (in step 2) this is where you can add flavoring to the iced coffee. And, this is what I prefer to do. Sometimes I need a little mocha flavoring, or vanilla, or just a couple dashes of cinnamon. It’s all about personal taste.




6. If you like it black, that’s fine, but if not make sure to use half-and-half or heavy cream to lighten it up. Milk will just taste funky. Trust me!

Voila! Iced coffee at a fraction of the cost. I actually bought this cup from the place with the green straw that I like to use. It looks like one of their iced coffee cups, and I can chew on the plastic straw without breaking it. I mean, it’s a little deformed from all the chewing, but it still works. I digress…

Happy Iced Coffee Drinking!

*By all means, you can use already ground coffee, but I would pay a little extra for a good bag of coffee. Seriously, cheap coffee beans and cheap ground coffee will just turn you (and anyone you serve this to) off.