How to Make Great Iced Coffee at Home

For coffee-lovers, there's nothing better on a hot afternoon than a glass of delicious iced coffee. It's hard to go wrong: coffee + ice is the basic formula, but why not aim higher than "not wrong"? 

Here are 5 steps to making a great iced coffee every time, plus a secret hack that elevates your brew to a whole new level:

1) Start with good quality coffee. You can't make excellent iced coffee from cheap, stale beans or the instant powdered stuff.

2) Plan ahead. The way to make not very good iced coffee is to pour hot coffee over ice. That just makes watered-down cool coffee without much flavor or kick. Brew up some strong coffee ahead of time and put it in the fridge to cool, so it will be cold when you're ready for it. 

How strong to make it is up to you. Keep in mind that coffee tastes worse when it is too weak than when it is too strong. This is especially true for decaffeinated coffee. If you're making decaf, use an extra measure of ground beans.

I use a single-cup cone with a paper filter,  lots of dark-roast finely-ground coffee , and some ground cinnamon. When brewing a big mug of strong coffee in the morning, I add more hot water to the filter and move it to a second mug to catch the extra. This goes in the fridge for later. 

3) Use plenty of ice. Even starting with chilled coffee, you want to make it icy cold quickly. More ice does a better job of this.  Too little ice will melt faster and dilute your coffee before it's good and cold. 

True afficionados might want to invest in an extra ice cube tray for making coffee ice cubes.  (I don't bother, but you might want to.)

4) Add dairy -- or your preferred non-dairy substitute* --  for creamy smoothness. I like half-and-half (a 50-50 blend of whole milk and heavy cream).  Lowfat anything will deliver mediocre results.

       * at your own risk: beverage flavor may be significantly compromised

5) Add sweetener to taste, unless you prefer unsweetened. Stir and enjoy.

I prefer hot coffee unsweetened, but iced coffee is a whole other class of beverage, IMO, and I like a little sweetener in mine. 

My Fave Iced-Coffee Hack

Want to know the secret to SUPER DELICIOUS iced coffee?

Maple Syrup!

Use the real stuff, not any of that  corn-syrup-based imitation-flavor crap! 

I learned this hack from my brother, who lives on a farm in Maine and makes his own maple syrup, some of which he has generously shared with me. 

Maple syrup is not an intuitive coffee-sweetener choice, especially for those of us who are choosy about our coffee. I had to try it to become a believer. Maple syrup delivers a very subtle,  gentle sweetness. Once you've tried it, regular white sugar will have an aggressive edge. Light brown sugar is a good compromise if real maple syrup is hard to find. 

Try it, and let me know what you think!

What's your favorite iced coffee hack?  

(other than the Starbuck's drive-through window, which works for me, too!)

all photos by the author

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