Learn How to Make Best Iced coffee at home with best tips and tricks. Refreshing coffee is perfect drink to beat the heat.
Originally Posted May 2016– Photos & Post Updated May 2018.
Getting your caffeine fix got so much more better with this guide to how to make best cold coffee at home. With just 4 ingredients and under 5 minutes(with coffee concentrate ready). If you are a coffee lover, then this one is a must try! Forget the gourmet, high on pocket take out coffee, make great tasting coffee at home everyday.
Call me saint, because I don’t drink coffee or tea. Yeah you heard me right. I can “occasionally” drink coffee but never tea. My entire life I might have had just exactly one sip of tea, that’s it! And when the world started talking about green tea and how healthy it is, I stayed away from it, the only reason, “I don’t like tea”, and so I assumed green tea would be same as normal tea.
After a while when I was trying to tone up and loose weight, I thought “I will make peace with green tea and give it a try”! The first sip made my eye balls roll. No, not because I loved the taste, but because I couldn’t gulp the sip.
I struggled and managed to swallow it. And since hubby insisted me on trying a couple of more sips, I struggled to take it down. But, I did not like it. Later I tried a couple of other flavors, told myself it’s not that bad(was trying to trick my brain). Now I can manage to drink green tea if someone offers me.
Ingredients Needed
- Coffee beans (roasted and coarsely ground)
- Half n half (or milk or even condensed milk)
- Sugar Syrup (simple syrup)
- Ice cubes
- And scoop of vanilla ice cream if you are looking to jazz it up!
Coffee!! I don’t hate it at all. It’s just that I don’t drink it on regular basis. And when we friends meet up at coffee shop I enjoy my cappuccino. But that doesn’t tempt me to drink coffee every day. I LOVE my homemade fresh filter kapi (we call It degree kapi). The aroma of coffee brewing in the old traditional coffee maker is very tempting. While I love my hot filter kapi, I also love Ice cold coffee.
Best drink to have in summer to keep you cool and refreshed. Cold coffee is a boom to all coffee lovers on hot summer days. Forget spending $4 for a cup at some fancy coffee house! Forget queuing at local or gourmet cafes, once you try this recipe you will go “oh so easy to make at home!”. It’s easy to make at home, perfectly creamy and sweet every day. All under $4. This is going to be the best iced coffee of your life!
Yes cold coffee is much more expensive than its piping hot counterpart (at least in India). The reason the cafes charge you more for a cup of iced cold coffee is the amount of labor that goes in making a cup of cold coffee. The preparation time is longer and the coffee concentrate is quite strong that is used to make chilled coffee.
Iced coffee is not simple hot coffee concentrated poured over ice. The amount of coffee beans or coffee powder (coarsely ground ones) to make 1 cup of coffee concentrate is quite a lot, that’s how I do my homemade iced coffee. We use about 3 to 4 cups of coffee powder.
That’s a loooot of coffee powder you see. Thin watery coffee is a big disappointment. Since we add ice cubes to the cup of coffee you want to have the coffee concentrate ridiculously strong. Don’t compromise there. You won’t enjoy your coffee otherwise.
Pro-Tip : If you want to make best iced cold coffee at home without compromising on the taste, you could freeze coffee decoction (coffee concentrate) and use coffee ice cubes instead of plain ice cubes. Top coffee ice cubes with simple syrup, half n half and serve immediately. No more watery cold coffee! Only delicious and best iced coffee at home.
Iced Coffee Recipe
Ice Cold coffee is very simple to make. All you do is brew the coffee, add chilled milk, sweetener. And if you are in the mood to indulge, add a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on top, who doesn’t want another excuse to eat dessert! You can use coffee concentrate made the traditional way using Indian coffee maker too.
Or do it the simple way, brewing freshly and coarsely ground coffee powder with water in a bowl overnight and strain over coffee mesh. With just 4 ingredients and 5 minutes, this refreshing coffee is one of the best way to beat the heat if you are a coffee lover!
Tips for Making Great Cold Coffee at Home
- Coffee to water ratio– To make best coffee you’ll need the strong coffee concentrate. Use coffee to water ratio depending on your taste. 4:1 yields medium strong coffee. If you are a strong coffee lover then go experiment with the ratio. Use 6:1 ratio or even 8:1.
- Coffee Beans – Use good quality coffee beans. You’ll need medium or dark roasted coffee beans and coffee beans.
- Freshly Ground – The coffee tastes so much better when you ground it coarsely and it’s freshly ground. If grinding at home get a good coffee grind.
- Brew coffee overnight so it has enough time to chill. The coffee is never heated to make cold coffee. Rather coarse coffee grounds are added to water and allowed to steep at room temperature or in the refrigerator over night.
- Jazz it up – If you are feeling adventurous, then flavor your coffee. Put on your creative caps and add flavors that you think might work with iced coffee. Would you like to hear some of my go-to list of flavors for cold coffee? Read on..
Jazz it Up (Flavoring Options)
Add flavors to your coffee that all works together. Flavors that blends well. Flavors that works for your mood.
Have you ever had iced coffee in winter?! Oh it’s perfect, trust me. And if you can flavor it with all winter warm spices like pumpkin spice. You will be hugging your jar of iced coffee.
Or think about flavoring with fresh mint for summer. Lovah!
Vanilla bean to coffee.
A dash of sea salt sprinkled over cup of coffee with whipped cream.
Cinnamon powder.
Cocoa powder.
Alcohol! It really works. Alcoholic coffee drinks are a great stress buster after a long day of work.
So many possibilities. Simply choose a flavor that suits your mood!
How To Make The Best Iced Coffee At Home
Homemade cold coffee is the easiest thing to prepare ahead of time. This refreshing cold brew coffee will quickly become one of your favorite drinks. And it’s damn easy to make too.
Start by brewing coffee overnight so you have good chilled coffee concentrate ready in the morning.
Also make simple syrup my stirring in 1 cup of sugar with 1 cup water on medium heat until sugar is fully dissolved.
When you are ready to drink – fill up your cups with ice cubes. Pour coffee concentrate, simply syrup, and half and half. Stir! That’s it.
It’s a great pick-me-up-and-go drink to get you charged or keep you cool and refreshed any time of the day.
RECIPES INCLUDING COFFEE –
Microwave Coffee Chocolate Pudding
MORE REFRESHING SUMMER DRINKS YOU MUST NOT MISS –
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Iced Coffee
Ingredients
- 1 cup strong coffee made from 3 cups good quality coffee powder
- 4 tablespoons of half and half
For simple syrup –
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 cup water
For serving-
- 1/3 cup chilled water or ice cubes
- Scoop of vanilla ice cream optional
Instructions
- Brew coffee in coffee maker. I usually brew my coffee previous night so the coffee is ready and cooled down to room temperature. We are making iced coffee, hot coffee is no-no. We need coffee at room temperature or chilled.
- To make simple syrup – stir sugar and water in sauce pan over medium heat. Keep stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and cool completely.
- Pour coffee, simple sugar and half and half into serving glass, Stir well. Top it with ice and serve it immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
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Indian Filter Coffee
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Sandhya Hariharan
Love it Jyothi. Very clean and crisp !!! Loving it …
jyothirajesh
Thanks a lot dear <3
Binjal's VEG Kitchen
Beautiful Clicks jyothi specially the last one love it !
jyothirajesh
Thanks a lot dear 🙂
Suby
I love cold coffee a lot
jyothirajesh
Me too Suby, sometimes 😀
shailaja
i love cold coffee alot and clicks are truly amazing jyothi..
jyothirajesh
Thanks a lot dear
hem lata
i love your recipes, i wish mera ghar apke paas hi hota
jyothirajesh
aww you are very sweet, thank you Hem Lata 🙂
Would have been nice to be neighbors though
Farida
Looks fantastic! Wow i always love hot coffee, but actually I want to try this one! Wow really wow
jyothirajesh
Do try it Farida, you will love this.
Thank you for your sweet words
Angela
This is so great! I sip on iced coffee all summer long! Yours looks just perfect!
jyothirajesh
Thank you Angela. I survive the entire summer of drinks like these 😀
Lane Patten
I love cold press coffee and almost always have a jar of it in my refrigerator. I use a little caramel syrup for sweetener! YUM!
jyothirajesh
Oh yea, that! Caramel syrup is a killer addition to cold coffee
Nancy / Flavorpalooza.com
My husband thanks you for saving me a trip to Starbucks. 🙂 Will be trying out, especially with the warmer weather upon us!
jyothirajesh
Haha that is amazing. These gourmet shop coffees are expensive on the pocket. When you can do it at home, why not.
Matt @ Plating Pixels
Your photos are gorgeous! I’m totally a fan of iced coffee and basically drink it daily, even year around.
jyothirajesh
Exactly Matt. Iced coffee is a year around drink. It’s a great drink for winters too, really!
Renee @ The Good Hearted Woman
As the weather heats up, iced coffee is such a welcome change with the season. I so appreciate all your tips: you’ve made the whole process so easy!
jyothirajesh
Thank you Renee. Glad you liked the post!
Casey
Iced Coffee is probably my favorite way to enjoy coffee! I can drink it cold no matter the weather. And this iced coffee looks absolutely fantastic. I am in the middle of a move, so I am definitely going to be making this!
jyothirajesh
Thank you Casey. SO glad you liked the recipe
Lisa
This looks so good! I am not a huge coffee drinker but that might have to change now!
jyothirajesh
Yay! I love coffee too, but don’t drink it on daily basis.
camila hurst
thank you for sharing the tips and the beautiful pics!
jyothirajesh
Glad you liked the post Camila
Sondria Harp
We’re just a like, except that I enjoy a cup of tea. Coffee has never been something that I consumed on a regular basis, but I do love a coffee drink every once in awhile. I will definitely have to try this.
jyothirajesh
Thank you Sondria. Hope you try it
Mayuri Patel
Stunning clicks Jyoti and you’re so right homemade cold coffee is so much better than the ones we get in the coffee shops. We enjoy cold coffee during the hot season. I can’t imagine not liking tea. I need my cup of tea in the morning.
April
Reading your post just made me super thirsty! I am a big fan of iced coffee. I will even drink it in the middle of a snow storm. I love your photos too. What kind of lens did you use for this shot?
Stephanie Simmons
This is so helpful! I never knew quite how to make iced coffee. And your photos are gorgeous!
jyothirajesh
Thank you Stephanie
Kelly
Though I am not a die-hard coffee lover I am so in love with your Iced coffee recipe. specially the one with whipped cream. It makes my day.
jyothirajesh
Thanks Kelly.
Karly
I’m not a tea person either but I love iced coffee. It’s the only coffee I actually drink. Thanks for sharing!
jyothirajesh
Glad you liked it thanks
sonal
Pretty pictures there. Iced coffee or famously called cold coffee is a must in my house when the temps go high.
jyothirajesh
Thank you Sonal
Danielle
This is the second time today that I’ve stumbled upon a delicious ice coffee recipe – I feel lucky! It is better to have as many ice coffee options for this summer as possible – it is going to be hot!
jyothirajesh
Yes, lots of water, cooling drinks and iced coffee will help us get through summer 😀
Cheese Curd In Paradise
I love iced coffee as the weather gets warmer. I love the slight sweetness from the simple syrup with the creamy coffee- yum!
jyothirajesh
Thank you
Ramona
This iced coffee it’s exactly what I would love to have right now. I cannot wait to get home and make one to cool my day off a little – delicious and so refreshing.
jyothirajesh
Thank you Ramona
Sandhya Ramakrishnan
We all love a good iced coffee and I agree that the homemade ones are so much better than the thin ones at the coffee stores. We grind fresh coffee beans for our coffee and it adds so much flavor. This is a must have for the summer evenings!
jyothirajesh
Absolutely. One of the best way to keep refreshed on hot days
Reshma
So clear and detailed Recipe, Jyoti, Thank you for providing such great clean recipe.