Iced Coffee At Home

One of my favorite guilty pleasures is a mouthwatering cup of Iced Coffee, especially on warm summer days. I’m a little embarrassed to admit how much I love love love this stuff but I am even more ashamed to admit how much money I’ve spent on it. However enjoying a refreshing cup of iced coffee does not have to cut deep into your budget at all. You can make your own iced coffee recipe at home at a fraction of the cost of what you would pay at a coffee shop. In fact, you can make iced coffee at home for up to a few days in advance, assuming you can resist the temptation of devouring it all within the first couple of days.

As a working Mom, I am always looking for time saving short cuts to help my morning routines. And making my own iced coffee at home in advance eliminates that unnecessary annoying worry of “will I have time to make coffee” or “will I have time to swing by the coffee shop this morning.” It is a simple grab and go, ideal for my hectic mornings.

Needless to say, one of the beauties of making iced coffee at home is that you are in total control of the flavor and can modify the ingredients to your exact taste. I’m pretty basic when it comes to my coffee; milk and sugar make me a very happy gal. So lets get into what you will need and the ridiculously easy and simple steps to make iced coffee at home.

What You’ll Need To Make Iced Coffee At Home:

• Brewed Coffee
• Milk/Half & Half/Creamer (your choice)
• Sweetener of your choice (Sugar, Splenda, Stevia etc.)
• Beverage Bottle if making ahead
• Funnel for pouring (optional)
• Cup if drinking immediately or Travel mug or Mason Jar with Lid for on the go
• Ice Tray (optional for ice cubes)

Ridiculously Easy and Simple Steps:

Pick Your Poison and Brew Your Coffee

Coffee selection is a very personal choice and really you can’t go wrong here; as long as you like the blend, your good to go! There is a such a wide range of blends, flavors and strengths to choose from and it is entirely up to you and your taste buds. I typically go for a medium to dark roast blend. I’m not a huge fan of the flavored coffee, but again that a personal preference. My current favorite is McDonalds McCafe Premium Roast Ground Coffee (Columbian – Medium Dark). One 12oz pack of this will run you about $7-$10, on average, the cost of a McDonald’s iced coffee is about $3 for a regular size; it certainly pays off to make your own iced coffee recipe at home.

There are so many ways you can brew your coffee, from using instant coffee in hot water, to a traditional coffee maker, to a fancy coffee brewer. For our purposes however, because this is an easy steps for iced coffee at home tutorial, we will be using a tradition coffee maker. I have very limited counter space in my kitchen and this 5 cup Mr. Coffee Coffee Maker works perfect for me; I’ve had mine for 8 years and its a little worn out aesthetically but it works amazing.

Cool, Transfer and Refrigerate

Once you’ve brewed your coffee let it cool to room temperature. When your coffee is cooled, carefully pour it into your container; using a funnel helps reduce spillage. I like to recycle glass bottles to hold my brewed coffee, however you can use whatever container you have at hand or buy  inexpensive (or expensive, its entirely up to you) beverage bottles. We are halfway there, the next step is to cool your coffee in the refrigerator for at least two hours, I typically leave it overnight.

Coffee Ice Cubes

Iced coffee wouldn’t be iced coffee without ice! You can of course use plain old ice cubes, OOOORRRRR you can make your very own coffee ice cubes.

The nice thing about using coffee ice cubes is that you avoid that watered down flavor once your ice cubes melt. I find that you continuously have that strong delicious coffee flavor even if your coffee survives to the melted ice cube stage.  You have a few options when making coffee ice cubes: you can use your plain brewed coffee,  you can add sweetener to your brewed coffee or you make coffee ice cubes from fully prepared iced coffee (creamer and sweetener added). I alternate between all three styles and all add excellent freshness and keep that beautiful coffee flavor alive. I let the ice cubes sit overnight and I like using these stackable silicon ice trays, for an easy release.

Identify The Right Drinking Vessel

Now, I don’t know about you but picking the right cup can make all the difference in the world to me. I am well aware that this step may be considered entirely irrelevant to some and I completely understand that. But if you’re like me, you’ll want to identify just the right cup, travel mug, mason jar, etc.  Something that makes you feel good and happy when drinking your delicious iced coffee. And this may vary from day to day or based on your daily events and agenda. I frequently mix my iced coffee in a mason jar, I think it looks pretty, it makes me feel good and I can put a lid on it and pack it nicely in my work lunch bag if I am making it ahead.

Prepare Your Iced Coffee At Home

So now that you’ve done the “hard work”, it’s time to make the good stuff. At this point, your brewed coffee should be nice and cold, if you made coffee ice cubes they should be solid hard and lastly you’ve identified the perfect cup. The next step is to gather your choice of creamer and sweetener and get ready to concoct your very own iced coffee recipe. Ready? Okay lets do this!

Easy Steps:

1. Place 4-6 ice cubes in your cup (depending on the size of your cup).
2. Fill your cup about three fourths with cold brewed coffee.
3. Add sweetener (sugar, Splenda, Stevia etc.) to your taste.
4. Add creamer, milk or half & half to fill the cup.
5. Mix it up a bit and viola! You just made your very own iced coffee at home.

Enjoy Your Homemade Iced Coffee

The final step is to enjoy your delicious iced coffee. It’s really that simple! And the cherry on top is that you can enjoy homemade iced coffee for days (depending on how much coffee you brew). I’ve left… or better yet,  brewed coffee has survived in my refrigerated without consumption for up to 3 days and the flavor remains strong and potent. I’ve also left prepared iced coffee (creamer and sweetener added) in my refrigeration for a couple of days with excellent taste, I simply add coffee ice cubes when I am ready to drink it.

Let me know what your favorite way to drink iced coffee is. Have you made iced coffee at home? If so, I’d love to hear your strategy. I know there are plenty of ways to go about making delicious iced coffee at home.

 

Until Next Time…Much Love!!!