7 Tips for Making Smooth Iced Coffee

7 Tips for Making Smooth Iced Coffee

Winter or summer, we have coffee lovers that enjoy iced brewed coffee. They love the low acid smooth taste! So we thought we'd share our tips for making iced coffee at home.

1. Start with fresh coffee beans. Using stale beans won't cut it for a great cup of iced coffee. So, always avoid buying your coffee beans on sale. If you don't drink iced coffee often, just buying fresh beans from a coffee shop. That way you can purchase only the amount you want. 

2. Test the taste. Because hot coffee tastes different than cold coffee, let it cool to room temperature. You'll get a good idea of your cold coffee will taste like.  

3. Use fresh ice. Ice has a tendency to get stale if it sits in the freezer too long. Not sure if your iced will make the grade? Test them!  Let a few cubes melt to room temperature. Then taste the  water. If the water tastes good, you're good to go. If not, toss it. Go buy a bag of ice instead. It will be worth it.

4. Brew it strong. You need to brew your coffee strong because the ice will weaken it. At the same time, you don't want the ice to dilute your drink too much. To keep this from happening, turn leftover coffee into ice cubes. You'll keep the coffee love going!

5. Try a cold brew. Cold brewing greatly reduces the acid content of coffee by a full pH (versus hot coffee). In a Mason quart job, place 3/4 cup ground coffee. Fill it with water, stir, then cap it. Put the coffee mixture in the refrigerator for 12 hours. Remove and strain the coffee concentrate through a coffee filter to remove the grinds. Then add water to taste when you're ready. You can even heat the reconstituted beverage for a quick, low-acid cup of hot coffee later.

6. Don't use burned coffee for your iced coffee. Don't use the dregs of a burnt coffee pot. Yes, it's fine to save leftover coffee for iced beverages. Just don't be tempted to use the dregs. It it didn't taste good hot, why do you think it will taste good cold?

7. Add some zip to your iced coffee. Add fruits like strawberries, oranges, blueberries or even cherries to your iced coffee. Spices like nutmeg, cinnamon or cardamom also make a great addition to your brew. Just have fun with it. 

If you need a quick workaround because you're short on time, try the recipe below using instant coffee. It won't have the full robust flavor of ground coffee, but it's pretty good!