Some may say, “Iced coffee, what’s the big deal? You throw a few ice cubes in your mug and you’re on your way.” But, as with anything done well, there’s more to it than meets the eye. So, listen up you coffee fans because circus boy is going to give you his guide to a delightful and tasty summer cup.
What do you need? Well, let me say I’m in favor of keeping things simple but just because it’s simple doesn’t mean it’s low quality. Read on my coffee-drinking friends.
Tools
Coffee grinder
Carafe
Water kettle
Pour-over coffee filter and basket
Ingredients
12 oz. of good water (NOT distilled)
5 tbsp. of fresh-roasted, whole-bean coffee
6-7 regular old ice cubes
Servings
1 16 oz. [pint] glass
First, set up your carafe, filter basket and filter [You can buy a 6-cup, pour-over coffee maker for about $10; generally Melitta is the easiest to find. Or, you can just use the filter basket and carafe on your automatic coffee maker; just make sure you don’t turn on the coffee maker.]. Pour enough spare water through the empty filter to saturate it and then discard the water. This helps get rid of some the paper taste in the final cup of coffee.
Now, grind your coffee. Bring the 12 oz. of water to a boil and remove it from the heat
for about 30 seconds. While the water cools put 4 of the ice cubes in the carafe, place the filter basket with filter back on top and pour the ground coffee into the filter. Now, pour in just enough water to saturate the coffee grounds and then wait a few seconds for that water to work its way through the grounds. Then, proceed to pour the remaining water in a steady, circular motion over the grounds and wait for it to pass all the way through. Your coffee is finished! Put the remaining ice cubes in your regular pint glass, pour the coffee in and enjoy!
Now, if you want a little sweetness, whip up some simple syrup (i.e., 1 part sugar dissolved into 1 part water) and add to taste. Or, for a more exotic taste, add some sweetened condensed milk as is the style in Vietnamese iced coffee. Remember, some like their coffee stronger than others, so adjust the amount of ground coffee used to your personal taste. And if you want to be uber cool, you can freeze your cold brew into coffee ice cubes to be used in summer cocktails…in the words of Monty Python, “guaranteed to be a hit at parties.”
