Here is how to make perfect iced coffee for warm weather season or any season.

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This post is all about how to make best iced coffee this spring and summer.

Iced coffee is a summer classic, whether you drink it to start your morning or as a refreshing afternoon pick-me-up.

It’s easy to make, too—all you really need is coffee and water. Essentially, you make cold brew coffee to use as a concentrate to make your favorite iced coffee drinks.

Plus, you can make enough iced coffee concentrate at one time to enjoy more than one drink. The iced coffee concentrate can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a few days.

This is a pretty straightforward iced coffee concentrate recipe that works for us. It seems to work for your average grocery store coffee brands as well as the freshly ground coffee that you may pick up at a local coffee shop.

The trick is to start with a small amount of coffee and water, and then adjust the ratios to taste over time. Our basic ratio is 1 cup of medium to coarsely ground coffee to 4 cups of water–a 1:4 ratio of coffee to water.

You can use almost any coffee that you like to make iced coffee, but our favorite way to make iced coffee concentrate is to use filtered water and a rich, medium or dark roast coffee.

We start with 1 cup of medium to coarsely ground coffee to 4 cups (1 quart) of water to make the coffee concentrate, but you may need more or less of each ingredient depending on your taste and the type and grind of coffee that you use.

Here is a tip: To keep your coffee from tasting watery once the ice starts to melt, make your ice cubes by freezing coffee in an ice cube tray instead of water.

Here is another tip: Use simple syrup to sweeten iced coffee and other cold drinks. Simple syrup is usually made from sugar and water, but you can also make it by blending hot coffee with granulated sugar. This makes a coffee-based simple solution that won’t dilute the flavor of your iced coffee drink in the same way that water will.

Here is how to make delicious iced coffee to get you through the warm weather season.

How to Make Overnight Iced Coffee

Here is how we make iced coffee concentrate at home. We use a cold brew coffee method to make coffee with a smoother, less acidic flavor.

We brew the coffee for about 8 to 12 hours in the refrigerator. I find that it’s easy to make the coffee and water mixture at night, and put it in the fridge to have the next morning.

If the coffee is not strong enough, the grinds will continue to brew in the refrigerator until the coffee is at the perfect strength.

First, start with coffee. The grinds should be medium to coarsely ground. A rich, medium or dark roast coffee is my favorite type of coffee to use for making cold brew.

You can start with already ground coffee or grind the beans yourself.

Add 1 cup of the coffee grinds into a large pitcher or jar. Then, pour 4 cups of filtered water over the coffee grinds.

Stir the water and coffee together, to wet the coffee grinds. The grinds won’t dissolve into the water immediately, but over time, they will brew. Place a lid on the pitcher, and place the container in the refrigerator.

Allow the coffee to brew for 8 to 24 hours. You may want to taste the coffee over time to determine if it’s brewed to taste. You should strain out the coffee grinds before doing a taste test, however.

Once the coffee has brewed, line a strainer with cheesecloth and place it over a second pitcher or large jar. The cheesecloth helps to prevent coffee grinds from getting into your coffee. You could also use a coffee filter as a liner, depending on the size of your strainer.

Pour the coffee through the cheesecloth-lined strainer into the pitcher or jar. Place a lid on the pitcher or jar to store the cold brew coffee.

For an easier way to make, strain, and store cold brew coffee concentrate, consider using a cold brew coffee maker.

When using a cold brew coffee maker with a built in strainer, then the strainer should help to keep the coffee grounds separate from the liquid. This is one of the benefits of using a cold brew coffee maker with filter–it makes it easier to separate the coffee from the grinds.

In general, you can store cold brew coffee concentrate in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

To serve cold brew iced coffee:

Fill a glass with ice. Pour out enough coffee concentrate to fill a glass one-half to two-thirds full.

Mix the cold coffee concentrate with water, milk, or cream to taste to make a cold coffee drink. Use dairy or non-dairy milk alternatives for great flavor.

You can also add sweetener, caramel or chocolate syrup, or other flavors.

What You’ll Need to Make Iced Coffee

Here are some items that can be handy when it comes to making iced coffee.

1—Pitcher

Use a pitcher to make cold brew coffee. You can also store the brewed coffee concentrate in a pitcher, which makes it easier to pour out when you’re ready to make a coffee drink.

2—Coffee

Choose your favorite coffee to make cold brew. We prefer to use a dark roast. Here is a popular cold brew coffee to use for making coffee drinks.

3—Filtered Water

You’ll need 1 quart (4 cups) of water. Use filtered water for the best flavor.

4—Cheesecloth

Line the strainer with cheesecloth to catch grinds as you strain the brewed coffee (you may only need to do this when you use a pitcher or jar that doesn’t come with a filter to separate the coffee grinds from the filter.)

5—Milk

Use dairy milk or non-dairy milk alternatives to flavor iced coffee drinks. Both almond milk and oat milk are great choices for making iced coffee. Use sweetened condensed milk or sweetened condensed coconut milk to make a Vietnamese-style iced coffee.

6—Coffee Syrup

Coffee syrups in flavors like caramel, chocolate, hazelnut, mocha, peppermint, and vanilla can be used to add a dash of flavor to coffee drinks. This brand is really popular to use for making flavored coffee drinks.

7—Sweetener

If you’d like, add your favorite sweetener to the coffee drink. Sugar, honey, and sugar alternatives are popular choices, depending on your preferences.

How to Make Cold Brew Coffee + Iced Coffee Drink Ideas

Here is how to make easy cold brew coffee that can be used to make delicious iced coffee drinks.

This post was all about how to make the best iced coffee drinks.

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Credits

• Photos by Tabitha Turner / Unsplash and Jessica Lewis / Pexels
• Photos are for illustrative purposes only.

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