Iced Coffee

Here’s how to make iced coffee at home! This iced coffee recipe makes a bold and creamy drink that’s even better than a coffeeshop.

There’s something about holding a creamy, bold and sweet iced coffee that makes life just a little bit better! The best way to make iced coffee at home is simple, using strong coffee or cold brew concentrate, ice, and milk. It gives the best rich, bold coffee flavor, and it’s cheaper and tastes better than at your local chain coffee shop! Here’s how to make iced coffee at home: plus, variations like iced espresso, iced lattes, iced cappuccinos, and more.

How to make iced coffee

How to make iced coffee at home? It’s so simple! You can use either strong coffee (double strength) or cold brew. Cold brew has a smooth, refreshing flavor and even better: it makes a big pitcher that you can drink off of for days! You can purchase cold brew or make it homemade. The nice part about cold brew is that you can store it in the refrigerator to make up single serving iced coffee all week long! Here’s how to make a classic iced coffee:

1. Make or purchase the coffee. Make strong coffee using double the amount of grounds as your regular method, make or purchase cold brew concentrate, or make Moka Pot coffee.
2. Mix up a single serving. To make iced coffee, take ½ cup strong coffee or cold brew concentrate and mix it with 1 cup ice, 2 tablespoons milk or creamer, and 1 teaspoon maple syrup or simple syrup.

Best coffee methods for iced coffee

There are lots of options for coffee for your iced coffee. Our favorite is cold brew, because it has the best strong coffee flavor. Also, it’s easy to find at your local grocery store, making the process extremely simple. Here are the best coffee methods for iced coffee:

• Make a double strength pot of coffee using your favorite method and double the grounds. Dark roast coffee beans work best for iced coffee.
• Buy or make cold brew. To make your own cold brew, grind 1 ½ cups dark roast coffee to a medium coarse grind and measure out 1 ½ cups of grounds. Place 6 cups filtered water in a large jar, add the coffee grounds to the water, then twist on the top of the jar and mix by shaking the jar a few times. Refrigerate and wait 24 hours. Then pour the coffee into a strainer with a towel placed inside.
• Make regular strength Moka Pot coffee. The Bialetti make the perfect bold, strong flavor for iced coffee.
• Use a French press. Make French Press Iced Coffee. This small pitcher with a plunger is a genius tool for making various types of coffee. You might generally think of it for hot coffee, but the French press is great for cold coffee too! This recipe is ready in 10 minutes.
• Use a Chemex. Make Chemex Iced Coffee. This iced coffee recipe is great for Chemex lovers and takes only 10 minutes! You don’t have to chill overnight or for hours: make it right when you’re craving it. 

Best milk for iced coffee

You can drink iced coffee black or mix it with dairy for some creamy body. If you order iced coffee at Starbucks, it comes with no milk or creamer (but it does have sweetener). Here are some of the best ways to add richness and body to an iced coffee:

• Whole or 2% milk: Dairy milk lends a drinkable, creamy body to iced coffee.
• Half and half or heavy cream: These dairy products add luxurious, creamy richness to the coffee.
• Creamer: Any type of dairy or non-dairy creamer you have on hand works.
• Oat milk or almond milk: Oat milk is our favorite for iced coffee; it has a creamier body than almond milk. But any non-dairy milk works!

Sweeteners

You can use any type of sweetener in iced coffee you like! The traditional sweetener is simple syrup, but there are lots of other options. The best sweeteners for iced coffee are:

• Simple syrup: Simple syrup is a common drink sweetener that you can make by dissolving equal parts water and granulated sugar (see How to Make Simple Syrup)
• Maple syrup: Maple syrup is our favorite sweetener for drinks as it also adds subtle caramel notes (it doesn’t have a strong maple flavor)
• Agave syrup: Agave syrup comes from the agave plant and adds a nice, neutral sweetness to iced coffee
• Vanilla syrup: Make vanilla iced coffee by using easy-to-make Vanilla Syrup
• Brown sugar syrup: Make Brown Sugar Syrup using brown sugar and water
• Lavender syrup: Make a lavender iced coffee with Lavender Simple Syrup

Other types of iced coffee

The recipe below is a basic iced coffee recipe. But there are lots of other ways to make an iced caffeinated beverage: as an iced latte, iced cappuccino, and more! Here are our favorite iced coffee recipes:

• Iced latte: The Iced Latte is made with espresso, ice and frothed milk. The dark coffee is balanced by delicate sweetness and creamy milk is an absolute delight.
• Iced espresso: An Iced Espresso stars the bold, rich flavor of espresso, with a hint of plain milk and simple syrup to balance out the flavor. Also try an Iced Brown Sugar Oat Milk Espresso, made with oat milk and brown sugar syrup.
• Iced cappuccino: An Iced Cappuccino combines espresso and a splash of milk with ice, then is topped with a layer of fluffy cold foam.
• Iced mocha: The Iced Mocha makes a frothy, creamy drink that’s luxuriously sippable, balancing bitter espresso with chocolate chips, simple syrup and frothy milk. Also try an Iced White Chocolate Mocha.
• Iced Americano: The Iced Americano is a refreshing, bold and bitter coffee drink, pairing espresso, water and ice.

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Perfect Iced Latte

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Iced Espresso

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Iced Cappuccino

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Iced Mocha

This recipe is…

Vegetarian and gluten-free. For plant-based, dairy-free, and vegan, use oat milk or almond milk.

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