by Sara Williams

Created on: August 08, 2009

Iced coffee is great because it is cool on a hot day and, even if the weather is not so warm, not everyone who needs to chug a coffee quickly before work can do so if it is scalding hot. In its most basic form, iced coffee simply is coffee that is cold and poured over ice. Of course, there are plenty of variations, including flavored coffees that are iced or iced lattes (technically, an iced cappuccino is not really a cappuccino at all, since there is no steamed foam in an iced coffee drink, one hopes) You can even put some fancy whipped cream and a bit of chocolate syrup on the top.

There are essentially two methods for producing plain old iced coffee. Both include brewing the coffee, cooling it down, and then pouring it over ice.

For those who can wait an extra while, just brew a large pot of regular coffee in the same way you brew your coffee hot. When done, turn off the heat and pour into a container that can be stored in the fridge. The only consideration here is that the pitcher or whatever is heat-resistant enough that it will not melt at all when coming into contact with the hot coffee. Wait until the coffee is cold before serving it, with or without ice.

I learned a different way of brewing iced coffee while working at Dunkin Donuts which is faster but perhaps more work. Before getting started, make sure to have lots of ice already made in the freezer (enough to equal the size of the pot of coffee you are brewing). One way to be sure the ice is enough is to pour cold water into your pot and then use all of that water to fill up ice cube trays... it should not be too much, unless the coffee pot is huge. You will also need either one large heat-resistant pitcher or two regular sized ones. Next, when brewing the coffee, brew with twice the amount of coffee grounds you would use in a normal pot. This will produce double-strength coffee. After brewing, put it in the pitcher(s), adding equal amounts of ice, and leave on the counter. The melting ice will simultaneously cool the coffee and water it down to normal strength. When at room temperature, pour over ice and enjoy.

If you would like to use instant coffee, brew it with only a couple tablespoons of hot water, then add water or milk to make a coffee or latte iced drink. Using just a little bit of hot water is also a good way to melt sugar so that it mixes with iced coffee drinks more normally, as it would in hot coffees, instead of tasting grainy and falling to the bottom of the cup. Milk, cream, and other flavorings can all be added normally.

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