Coffee Essentials

How To Make Ice Coffee: The Ultimate Guide

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By : Carolyn Crutcher
By : Carolyn Crutcher

Last Updated: April 30, 2021

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You might think that preparing iced coffee at home is difficult. There are a lot of different methods of preparing iced coffee, whether it’s with a french press, pour-over dripper, AeroPress, or a portafilter machine, and it can all get overwhelming if you’re not sure which one will yield the best results. 

But, you’ll be pleased to hear that making iced coffee at home is easier than you think. In this ultimate guide on how to make ice coffee, we’ll go through everything you need to do to prepare that perfect cafe-style coffee in the comfort of your own home.

French Press

French Press

This is a cold brew French press recipe that makes the best ice coffee, and its other great qualities include being easy to prepare and clean. It is an amazing routine for the whole family, as it only takes 15 minutes and the most time you will spend is boiling some water. You’ll be able to start every morning with a fresh breeze of cold-brewed coffee.

The best part about iced coffee is that it’s seriously easy to make. You can do so by grinding your coffee beans and letting them sit and steep in your French press overnight while inside the fridge. Filter the grounds from your brew using your press’ plunger and keep your coffee in a separate container if you want to save some for later. Your coffee can stay fresh for one week.

With the iced coffee maker, you can enjoy iced coffee as if you made it at home. Simply press freshly ground coffee beans with cold water and wait about 12 hours until your coffee is ready – delicious! 

This cold-brew French press features an innovative design with a double wall that prevents moisture from seeping into the outer vessel, so you can keep the fresh flavor of your coffee longer. The maker is made from Borosilicate glass, which is resistant to high temperatures on both ends of the temperature spectrum. It is dishwasher-safe for easy cleanup.

This is the way a lot of coffee shops make iced coffee, that stuff you file away until summer. They use cold-steeping and freeze the concentrate to get just the flavor you crave.

Pour-Over Dipper

Pour-Over Dipper

The approach of pour-over depends on the amount of coffee remaining in the chamber and your taste preferences. The most important thing is to make sure that the top half of the water level never drops below the bottom edge of the filter, or you’ll be encouraging bitter flavors through the extraction process. The golden ratio for control is about 50% of the total weight of water and coffee combined.

Just keep in mind that for iced coffee, it’s important at this point that you don’t brew directly on ice, but take a detour via the pot first.

A pour-over coffee develops its aroma best when it’s allowed to rest for a few minutes. So, give the coffee time to brew and only then pour it over the ice.

AeroPress

AeroPress

The AeroPress makes consistently good coffee and works very quickly. It can be used to make both hot coffee—making it a convenient pick-me-up at home—and iced coffee, which we use to make the ultimate refreshing drink for the summer heat. Mastering its use will enable you to make strong coffee even when it’s hot out, and without any extra effort. This is crucial because strong coffee will exert a more cooling effect on your body. Our cooling turbo here consists of 150 grams of ice per cup.

Even though AeroPress is usually used for espresso, here’s a quick guide on preparing Iced Coffee with an AeroPress:

  • Add 22 grams (1 ¾ tablespoon) ground coffee per cup;
  • Set the brewing temperature around 90 degrees Celsius (194 degrees Fahrenheit);
  • Push the press plunger into the brewing cylinder slightly, then turn the whole thing upside down;
  • Grind the coffee;
  • Insert the filter into the filter holder and moisten with hot water;
  • Fill with water up to the maximum mark;
  • Stir for 10 seconds;
  • Infuse for 30 seconds;
  • Put everything together, press the coffee into a cup using gentle pressure.
  • With AeroPress iced coffee, even if it might seem easier to brew directly into a cold decorative beverage glass, it’s better to use a thick-walled latte glass for your iced coffee;
Pouring hot coffee into an ice-cold glass creates violent surface tensions that can cause a thin-walled glass to explode…. Literally!

Portafilter Machine

Portafilter Machine

For a deliciously refreshing and sweet iced coffee or espresso, it is all about the right balance of ingredients. But specifically, how to get bitter and aroma notes into an iced coffee. That is what we have set out to solve with our aroma frame. It supports both the acidic and aromatic notes of coffee, as well as the flavor-drying sensation from ice, to win over the full, deep taste experience with every sip of iced coffee.

Iced Coffee is a concentrated coffee beverage that is ready to drink, cold, and refreshing. Just add water and enjoy! Or you can drink it directly from the portafilter if you want to duplicate an Italian specialty that’s called Caffé Freddo.

Cold Brew vs. Iced Coffee

Buying an iced coffee on the go can be expensive, whether you’re squeezing in a last-minute coffee before heading to work or school. By making your coffee at home and pouring it over ice, you will save money and will not have to worry about having a good cup of ice in the morning. The cold brew brewing process will extract more flavor from your coffee beans than traditional hot brewing. This will yield a stronger, bolder flavor that is best served over ice.

Make coffee ice cubes by pouring cold coffee into an ice cube tray to cool it faster. Once the coffee is frozen, transfer the cubes to a plastic bag and store them in the freezer. Use these cubes in iced coffee drinks to prevent watering down your drink and double up on flavor.

Ice coffee made from the cold brew is a whole new kind of iced coffee, unlike anything you have ever tasted. It has an ultra-smooth and creamy mouthfeel without bitterness. Since it’s brewed using room temperature water, it is less acidic, less bitter, and has a higher caffeine content than traditional iced coffee.

Cold brew coffee is made from coarse ground, boiled coffee, and steeped for hours in cold water. The longer it sits, the stronger the flavor. But the big flavor doesn’t mean adding more sugar or creamer. For extra boldness, we suggest adding a splash of milk. We like ours half milk, half ice for the right mix of sweet and smooth. Pour over ice for a chilled pick-me-up that’s great with breakfast on the go, in between lunch and dinner, or after work so you can chill out with your favorite shows.

Cold brew coffee is made by steeping coarsely ground coffee in cold water and then filtering the resulting mixture. It’s a slow and steady process that extracts the citrus notes out of the roast to create a complex flavor that’s sweet and balanced. However, being short on time sometimes, buying cold brew from the grocery store is always an option.

Iced Coffee Variations

How do you make your coffee cold?

You might think you’re saving time by sacrificing flavor to make iced coffee, but in reality, you’re wasting both. Don’t freeze coffee and don’t brew it no matter how you brew it hot. The best choice for quick iced coffee is to brew an excellent pot of hot coffee and then immediately chill the shot. You will need to take a moment to cool your brew, but after that, it’s easy to prepare a great cup of coffee cold brewed.

The secret to ice coffee at home is now yours. It’s as simple as pouring freshly brewed coffee into ice cube trays. Once cooled, pop the frozen cubes into a freezer-safe resealable bag, and transport them to your favorite coffeehouse. Never order iced coffee again when you can make it at home!

Iced coffee without calories!

If you’re really a fan of iced coffee and also want to watch your weight, try pouring over ice cubes and milk. The process of pouring will not only cool down the coffee but will cool down the ice cubes as well. This makes for a refreshingly light drink.

Classic iced coffee with ice cream and cream

The Iced Coffee Maker makes the most of summer with a delicious iced coffee, served at home. A creative twist on the coffee maker that enables you to prepare an amazing iced coffee at home with only 3 ingredients: ground coffee, your favorite vanilla ice cream, and whipped cream. Just place the ingredients in the machine, push a button and in 15 minutes enjoy your delicious treat!

Iced coffee is a cold and refreshing drink at any time. It is made by mixing cold coffee or espresso with milk and whipping cream in a blender with ice cubes. To make the most delicious drink you can add some vanilla ice cream, cocoa powder, or chocolate sauce as a topping.

If you follow these steps, your cuppa should look something like this:

Preferences-around-the-world

Preferences around the world

In Australia, iced coffee is often sold at cafes, where it is traditionally made from freshly brewed hot coffee poured over ice. It is seldom served with ice cream and whipped cream. While widely consumed in Australia, the custom of drinking hot coffee over ice is ridiculed by Canadians who find the drink to be “distinctly Australian”.

Iced coffee is a coffee drink that originated in Australia in the late 19th century. It is a flavored ice drink made by mixing syrup or coffee powder with chilled coffee and milk. Over the years it has been marketed globally, and today it is a popular summer drink throughout countries like the US, UK, New Zealand, and Canada.

In Canada, the infamous Tim Hortons Iced Cappuccino Extra Shot blends greatly with coffee, cream, and sugar. It is a secret recipe that brings this much-loved drink to a whole new level. Tim Hortons Iced Cappuccino Extra Shot is by far the best ice cappuccino available in Canada.

In Italy, Nescafé Red Cup Iced Coffee makes it easier to get a refreshing glass every time you want it. From outdoors to indoors, choose your favorite place and enjoy iced coffee the easy way. Simply fill with ice, open the Nescafé Red Cup and pour in about four tablespoons of finely ground coffee. Then add ¾ cup cold water and stir gently until smooth.

In the Salento region of Apulia, this was perfected by brewing the espresso freshly, adding the desired amount of sugar, and finally pouring it into a whiskey glass filled with ice cubes right before being served, known as Caffè in ghiaccio, or coffee in ice. 

In the United States, iced coffee is quickly gaining popularity among the general consumer audience as evidenced by the fact that it is available in mass food franchises and sold bottled in grocery stores. Iced coffee is prepared in many different ways, including cold brew coffee and chilling conventional coffee.

Iced coffee can be made from cold brew coffee, where coffee grounds are soaked for several hours and then strained. Prior to the commercialization of cold brewers, consumers took the matter into their own hands, cold-brewing an iced coffee by soaking ground coffee and chicory with water. 

The next day, the grounds would be filtered out. The result was a very strong coffee concentrate that was mixed with milk and sweetened.

Many coffee retailers simply use hot-brewed coffee in their iced coffee drinks. Starbucks specifically uses the double-strength method in which the coffee is brewed hot with twice the amount of grounds. With this method, the melted ice does not dilute the strength and flavor of the coffee. Unlike the cold-brew process, this method does not eliminate the acidity inherent in hot-brewed coffee.

Cold coffee drinks such as Frappuccinos are premade, presweetened, and typically shelf-stable. Many people often put milk in their iced coffee and recently, milk alternatives such as almond milk or oat milk, have become extremely popular across the United States.

Summing it all up

As coffee is one of the most popular drinks around the world, different cultures or countries like it served differently, or when it’s homemade everyone has their own recipe or way of preparing the iced coffee. 

I hope that this article has helped you decide which variation of Ice Coffee you like best. I think that there is no right or wrong choice on which is the “best” recipe for an iced coffee since it depends on the person what they like best.

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Carolyn Crutcher
Carolyn Crutcher

First, let me introduce myself, my name is Chef Carolyn and I would like to welcome you all to my personal blog Kitchen Gadgets Maven! Wohoo let’s jump in....

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