Andrea Cooley Creative Services

In honor of one of my favorite fellow bloggers Julietries I thought I’d share with you something that I tried making for the first time today: Iced Coffee

Now, I’ve been enjoying iced coffee for several summers, but usually only when I’m willing to shell out the $3+ for an iced latte at the coffee shop. I’ve also tried brewing the coffee hot, then chilling it in the fridge or freezer for a bit and drinking it with iced cubes. This method works alright, but sometimes I don’t want to wait for the coffee to get cold.

I’ve been searching for the best cold-brew method and finally found one I thought I could handle. It involves mixing grounds and water overnight, then filtering for a concentrated brew you can store in the fridge. I was so excited to try this myself, I thought it would be a good idea to start the process at 10pm on a Sunday night. Maybe not the best time to start something, but it was worth it this morning. Here’s the recipe I used:

1 pound of (coarse to medium) ground coffee (approximately 60 heaping tablespoons or 75 level tablespoons or about 5 cups) NOTE: I didn’t use coarsely ground coffee (and I didn’t feel like grinding a pound of beans at 10pm on a Sunday night) so I used a 12 oz bag of pre-ground beans. My coffee turned out fine, but next time I’ll try to use the coarser mix. Seriously, I’m going to be finding those fine coffee grounds out of my kitchen for weeks.

10 cups of water (I actually used 12 cups of water, because I thought the mixture was too thick with only 10 cups. So my brew is a little less concentrated, but I still think it’s tasty.)

Put the coffee in a pot. (I usually use a normal hot-brew coffee pot, but any medium sized container will do.) Pour the water over the grounds in a circular motion, being sure to get the grounds wet. Stir up the grounds and water if you don’t think they’ve all become saturated. NOTE: I put the water in first then tried mixing in the grounds and definitely think it would be better to pour the water over the grounds.

Let the coffee sit for 8-12 hours, either on the countertop or in the refrigerator. (while you sleep)

Pour the coffee/water mixture through a coffee filter and into the container you want to store your coffee in. If you are using a French press, you will depress the stopper and pour out the coffee. Now you have your concentrate. Seriously, it’s this simple!

To make a cup of coffee from concentrate, you can either add hot or cold water. Typical proportions are 1 part concentrate to 3 parts water, milk, or cream. You will most likely find a slightly different ratio that you prefer.

Now I can wake up and have my coffee waiting for me (this jar should last me awhile!), how great is that! And supposedly iced coffee has slightly less caffeine and is smoother than regular coffee, so I may be drinking it in the afternoon too!

And check out the jug o’ joe I now have in the fridge, just waiting to be mixed into tasty lattes and other iced brews. Anyone want to come over for a coffee date?