Hot Summer days are the days when you barely want to leave your house, let alone walk to a coffee shop or brave the sweltering car. Get prepared by learning to make iced coffee at home so you can have a pitcher ready in your refrigerator at all times.
This is the best and simplest way to make iced coffee at home. Following the steps below, you’ll create a cold-brew coffee concentrate that’s very strong and meant to be diluted with water or cream before drinking. The process, while mostly hands-off, takes up to 24 hours so make sure you plan in advance.
Ingredients:
- Two 1-gallon pitchers
- Coffee filters
- Fine mesh strainer
- 16 oz. Ground Coffee
Instructions:
- Start with 16 ounces of your favorite ground coffee and a clean 1-gallon pitcher. You don’t need to use special coffee for this.
- Dump the package of coffee into the pitcher.
- Fill it with cold water up to the 1/2-gallon mark and stir. Continue filling to the 1-gallon mark.
- Stir again to get everything mixed together.
- You’ll end up with a weird looking coffee sludge mixture.
- Cover the pitcher and let sit at room temperature for 12-24 hours. The longer the better.
- Now, pick up another clean pitcher and put a mesh strainer on top.
- Make sure the strainer is secure because it’s awful to clean up if it spills. Place a coffee filter in the strainer.
- Slowly start pouring the coffee into the strainer. It will drip through quickly at first and then slow down as the grounds build up in the strainer.
- Sometimes this can take a while but be patient and let it continue straining.
- Once you’re left with mainly ground in your filter, throw that filter away and start with a fresh one.
- Repeat the procedure and add more coffee to strain. You’ll continue this process of pouring, straining, and changing the filter until you’re left with only grounds in your first pitcher.
- Once you get to this point, you have a decision to make. You can add the liquidy-grounds to the strainer and use the back of a spoon to push the remaining coffee out. Or, you can call it a day and just throw the grounds away. It’s up to you.
- A fresh pitcher of cold brew coffee concentrate! This will keep in your refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
- And you’re done! You’ve successfully made iced coffee at home. Pour yourself a glass and add plenty of ice. You can add some cream too. Don’t forget this is a concentrate so even if you drink it black, you will want to add some water to balance it. Enjoy!