my favorite iced coffee

Iced coffee seems to be “it” right now. I mean, really – it’s everywhere! On menus, on Facebook, on Instagram. Everywhere I look, all I see is iced coffee.

iced coffee

It’s the new avocado toast.

The new egg-on-everything.

The new green smoothie.

Although, if I’m being honest, I still eat (and completely love) all of those things, too. And seriously – I tried resisting. I convinced myself that I wouldn’t like iced coffee because I love hot coffee. I tried. I really, really tried.

And I thought I was fine after I tried it the first time because it was…gross. Some places don’t make good iced coffee – don’t forget that.

iced coffee

But then. Then I tried the iced coffee at my favorite local place, Lucie Monroe’s, and the heavens opened up. It was magical! NOW I knew why people loved it so much. The coffee was perfect – everything I love about coffee, on ice. No bitterness, nothing to get in the way of the actual flavors of the beans.

My only issue? Most places only have regular (caffeinated) iced coffee, and I like having my iced coffee in the afternoon. I still like my hot coffee in the morning – cold drinks are just too cold to have when I get up! And since I like mine in the afternoon, I want decaf. If I have caffeine in the afternoon, I’ll get shaky or I won’t be able to sleep, so I try not to have it after 10 am.

iced coffee

To solve this, I’ve started making my own.

I might as well not even call this a recipe. And yes, there are millions and billions of iced coffee recipes all over the place now, but this, right here, is my favorite ratio that I’ve tried.

iced coffee

We like our coffee fairly strong – not overly so, but I want it to taste like coffee and not coffee-flavored water. And our favorite coffee’s have fruity-undertones and flavors with a tart finish, but you can use anything! Just find your favorite coffee, and go for it. I took our normal ratio of beans to water, upped it a bit to make it more concentrated for the iced version, and went from there.

Also, these pictures show my Toddy system (love it!), but it’s not necessary to make great iced coffee at home. The first couple times I made it, I used a big shaker smoothie cup and it worked perfectly! As long as you find the right ratio, you can make it a thousand ways.

My Favorite Iced Coffee

If you like having a little afternoon treat as much as I do, this is just what you need. Icy and refreshing, this coffee is perfect on a hot day. I have it on ice if I'm home or take it (with milk already added) in a travel mug and keep it in the fridge at work. Easy!

Ingredients:

  • 2/3 cup of your favorite coffee beans
  • 3 cups filtered or spring water
  • milk or cream, to taste

 

Directions:

  1. Grind the beans on a fairly coarse setting, similar to what you would use for a french press. You just don't want them ground too fine or it will be easier for some grinds to end up in the coffee.
  2. Pour the coffee into a 4-cup french press or pitcher (or Toddy or anything else you want to use!) and slowly add the water. Swirl the container around a little to make sure there aren't any large places of dry grounds.
  3. Set the bowl or pitcher into the fridge and let it sit at least 8 hours. Overnight is usually the easiest for me since I have no patience.
  4. After 8-12 hours, drain the liquid gold. You can do this through a brewing system like the Toddy, in a french press (if you used that to brew), or by pouring the coffee through a coffee filter into a bowl. Discard the grounds.
  5. Fill a glass with ice, fill the glass 1/2-3/4 of the way with your iced coffee, and top with milk or cream.