I get a ton of questions asking how I make my iced coffee, so here’s a little picture tutorial to demonstrate the process. To brew my coffee, I use a standard auto-drip coffeemaker.
- Start with 12 cups of water.
- For 12 cups of water, I use 7 tbsp of ground coffee. If you prefer stronger coffee, use more ground coffee (8 tbsp); less for weaker coffee (6 tbsp). If you have a 10-cup coffeemaker, you could easily adjust these measurements. A good way to determine the coffee grounds to water ratio is 1 tbsp of coffee for every 2 cups of water.
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- I typically use heaping spoonfuls of ground coffee because I like my iced coffee strong!
- Brew coffee as you normally would.
- Pour coffee into a pitcher or thermos. If you do not have either of these, you can just put the coffepot itself into the fridge (once its temperature cools a little).
- Chill iced coffee in the refrigerator overnight.
- Pour over ice and enjoy!
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Great tutorial!! Thanks!
Super awesome post Tina! Love the step by step instructions.
I love iced coffee! Thank you so much for this! By the way…LOVE your coffee maker.
YAY! that’s how i make my iced coffee, too!
I am such a coffee addict! This iced coffee recipe will certainly come in handy…
Also, Tina – Just wanted to say that I loved your FoodBuzz 24,24,24 beer pairing/pub food blog post from a few months ago. I brainstormed a special dinner for my blog and my proposal was accepted by FoodBuzz for the month of March. Your adventurous and down-to-earth approach to food is very inspiring
http://runnerskitchen.wordpress.com/2009/03/29/foodbuzz-24-24-24-manhattan-from-north-to-south/
yeah~~~ That’s a simple way to make iced coffee!
Great stuff!!
Iced coffee is so good! I don’t even have to add anything to it – it reminds me of coffee flavored ice cream!
Yum! Thanks for the tutorial!
Yay, delicious! I never would have thought to make iced coffee this way!
Delish! I’ve always wondered how that was done! GREAT tutorial i will definitely be trying this soon!!
I feel like this was posted before…? Like a couple months ago?
Thanks for the how-to!
who cares?
J–
on Mar 29th, 2009 at 4:43 pm
“who cares?”
Obviously all of us!!! lol.
Tina, this seemed eerily familiar to the way I make coffee. I store my coffee in the exact same container, and brew my coffee in the exact same coffee maker! Did you do a lot of shopping at Crate and Barrel??
@Sarah: I don’t think so? Maybe another blogger did?
@Liz: Yes! And Mal and I registered there for our wedding!
On all the information I read about iced coffee, I have two questions that go unanswered…how long does the coffee keep in the fridge and is there a best time to put it in the fridge (can you put it in hot straight from the coffee maker directly after brewing it or should you wait awhile…and I know not to put it in glass so as to not break it with temp difference)
@Tracy: I’m not sure how long it keeps in the fridge– maybe a couple of weeks? Mal and I drink ours in about 3-4 days! As soon as the coffee is done brewing, I pour it into our big thermos and put it in the fridge. I don’t allow it to cool at all. However, if you’re putting your coffee pot in the fridge to cool it, I would wait until it cools down a little.
If I have leftover brewed coffee in my thermos and I refrigerate it, how long can it keep?
‘Cause I tried putting the leftover brewed coffee that was still hot (still in the thermos) into the fridge and several hours later I opened up the thermos and the coffee was still ‘hot’. How can it stay fresh in the thermos in the fridge if it doesn’t cool down?
I thought I could refrigerate my hot leftover brewed coffee in the thermos in the fridge.
What should I do with all my leftover hot brewed coffee that’s still in my thermos?
@Isabel: It’ll probably keep for 1-2 weeks. Mal and I drink it so fast, it never lasts even a week! I would take the cover off the thermos because the point of iced coffee is having it be cold and it doesn’t sounds like yours is getting there.
Oh My Gosh!
I need this in my life – i exercised this morning so I can pre it during my evening off…
is it weird I’m excited about it!?
I’ll have to try this, it looks like a really easy recipe! What’s your favorite type of coffee to use for iced drip coffee?
I just experimented with a recipe for iced chai with ginger, fennel seeds and fresh mint, it turned out really yummy! If you ever feel like taking a break from the iced coffee, here is the recipe:
Iced Summer Chai
http://chaiandyoga.com/iced-summer-chai/
Yum…your method looks great. I also have a (new) Cuisinart coffee maker (great minds think alike, I noticed yours in the pic) but I am not that organized to brew the night before. I brew at like 630am and when I need my 3pm ice coffee, it’s plenty cold from just sitting at room temp and then I pour over ice.
Do you use any milk and/or sweetener in your coffee? If so, regular milk or soy milk? Regular sugar or sugar substitute? I’m trying to cut back on sugar so lately I just drink my coffee black with Splenda. Is there a low cal/sugar free milk alternative that you can recommend? Thanks
YUM!! I was just about to ask you on your breakfast post this morning how you make your iced coffee, and yet I had a feeling that it would be in your recipe collection
Thanks so much for sharing the recipe. I can’t wait to make this and try it for myself!!
Trishelle
It looks like you added something else to give it a milky appearance, weird! I love coffee hot or cold…THX!
Does your thermos have to have a lid to keep in the refrigerator or can you keep it in there for a few days without one? I am sick of my hot coffee all of the sudden, must be the warmer weather!!
I found a product where you pour coffee in an ice cube tray and when you pull it out you have flavored ice cubes. or you can just take a ice cube tray and fill with coffee. It works great if you do not want watered down iced coffee
very detailed instructions. thanks for sharing.
It is so hot out right now, but I still need a coffee fix! I am going to try out your recipe for iced coffee… Although it makes so much sense, last time I didn’t chill it over night, I just put ice in it, all the ice melted and I ended up with watered down coffee..not good. So I’m trying your way! Kudos.
-Kenzie
Propane Burners
We have the same coffee pot!
This method is also great for making iced coffee out of leftover coffee.
I’ll make a few extra cups in the morning, drink the first cup hot and refrigerate the rest so I can have iced coffee in the afternoon. yum!
this is the easiest way to make iced coffee!! love it. i think i need to buy a pitcher tho so i don’t have to keep putting my pot in the fridge
Tina – you have no idea how needed this was. For an iced coffee-aholic, my ice coffee almost always tastes like swill. So, this weekend my wallet (and sanity) is demanding that I learn how to make a decent glass of ice coffee. Plus – in Philly, our Dunkin’ crew can’t seem to make a decent cup of coffee – it’s sad
How long do you leave a pitcher in the fridge? Before it goes bad I guess..
@Emily: I’m not sure. Mal and I usually plow through it in 5 days or less! I’d guess about week.
Thanks for putting this under your “recipes”! I was curious if you brewed it stronger or anything. I don’t have a full size coffee pot right now (short on space, its in storage) but I did brew a strong cup from my Kurieg and it worked great! Do you have a favorite type of coffee beans to use or do you just use whatever is on hand?
~Ang
I pretty much like all kinds of coffee, so I pretty much use whatever is on hand.
Okay so I have been reading your blog for close to 3 years now and I finally made my own iced coffee!!! I mixed over ice equal parts coffee (from yesterday that I chilled in the fridge) with unsweetened almond breeze. I added in a few drops of liquid stevia and holy crappola…I may never drink hot coffee again.
Thanks for this. I started getting more into iced coffee thanks to you.. I started drinking it at Tim Horton’s (in Canada) and even at McDonalds. Even though it is cheaper than my usual Moka (at $3 – $5 a pop) it still seemed like it was too expensive every day. I started doing this and It’s so good I can’t get enough.
I do mine with some vanilla syrup instead of sugar and milk (sometimes vanilla soy or almond breeze). I also recently bought a reusable iced coffee glass for when I’m on the go: http://www.wilton.com/about/pressroom/downloads/2510-9973%20Copco%20To%20Go%20Tumbler3.jpg
I have one question… What are your sugar/milk/coffee proportions?
I know this is digging up an old post
But how long does it stay good in the fridge???
I have ulcerative colitis and I have not had a hot cup of coffee for almost 2 weeks now because it makes me so sick when I drink it. A friend of mine suggested that I try drinking iced coffee instead but I haven’t tried it yet. After reading this I think I will try it. I do miss my coffee so much and if I can have it this way that would be great! How much soy milk/ Ensure/and/or vanilla protein powder do you use in your iced coffee?
@debbie: I’m not really sure. Maybe about 1/3 of the bottle of Ensure and 1-2 tbsp of protein powder.
Hi. I know this post is old, but I tried making the iced coffee today. It was good, but yours looks darker. I added 1 cup coffee, 1 cup soy milk and some ice & coffee flavoring. Wondering what your ratio is. I think I will do about 1 cup coffee and 1/2 to 3/4 cup milk next time. Tasted really good though. Just too white looking. Wasn’t very strong.
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