A Guide to Making Great Iced Coffee
One of the best things about summer is the abundance of iced coffee. While it?s lovely year-round, iced coffee is magically refreshing in the summer, and provides that nice kick of caffeine to boot! Sadly, if you coffee habit is anything like ours, it?s going to get pretty expensive having to buy your iced coffee from a coffee shop every day. That?s why we?ve looked into the best ways to make iced coffee at home, and we?re willing to share our secrets with you.
Brewing Style: There are 3 main ways to brew iced coffee, each having its own merits and faults.
- The Japanese Pour-Over method involves brewing pour-over coffee directly onto ice. This results in instant cooling and best preserves the true flavor of the coffee.
- Cold brewing involves brewing the coffee in cold water, and letting it steep overnight.?
- ?Diner Style?, which is coffee that?s brewed hot and then chilled in the fridge overnight.?
The Japanese Pour-Over is best if you?re drinking your coffee straight ? it has the truest coffee flavor. Unfortunately it doesn?t mix as well with dairy. The cold-brew and Diner Style methods aren?t recommended for drinking black, but mix much better with dairy and sugar. Ultimately though, it?s a matter of personal preference.
Preparation: Once you?ve perfected your brew, all you really need to do is stick it in a cup full of ice and add whatever flavoring you want. If you?re really serious though, a little extra prep goes a long way! Instead of regular ice, freeze some coffee in ice cube trays. This will keep your coffee from getting watered down as the ice melts.?
Flavor: Again, personal preference is king, but we recommend using syrups instead of straight sugar. Since this is cold coffee, sugar will take a lot more effort to dissolve evenly than syrup will. If you want to add a little extra oomph, try using a mixture of creamer/milk with a dollop of sweetened condensed milk ? Vietnamese iced coffee without the air fare!?
