How to Make Iced Coffee

I'm a a huge coffee drinker, and anyone who knows me is aware of my love for coffee. Actually to be honest, it's more than a love for coffee, it's a combination of obsession, addiction, and morning routine. In the summer though, with the heat and humidity, drinking hot coffee can leave my in a tacky, sweaty mess, thus sort-of ruining my coffee experience.

When I visited Costa Rica several years ago there was delicious coffee everywhere, with every breakfast. And even though it was 90 degrees with oppressive tropical humidity, I drank as much coffee as my nerves could withstand. Sure this often led to minor heart palpitations by late morning but it was worth it. But sweating through your humid summer morning caffeine fix is one thing when you're in a tropical paradise, with a breakfast of scrambled eggs, black beans, rice, and fried plantains and an entirely different thing when you're sitting at your dining room table at home, having breakfast, and wondering why the dog won't stop licking his butt, it's two different worlds.

The solution? Curbing coffee consumption was not an option, so how to ingest my coffee in a manner that does not cause perspiration? Iced coffee? Well the couple of times I tried to make iced coffee resulted in very poor tasting beverages. Unfortunately my previous attempts at making iced coffee have consisted of: take regular brewed hot coffee, pour over ice, sip, wonder why this tastes like crap.

So here's how you really make iced coffee.

1) Grind fresh beans (use the same amount as you would for your normal brew) and place in glass container.

2) Fill with water. About half as much as would fit in a normal pot/brewing session.

3) Place in refrigerator at least overnight, preferably for 24 hours (I also shake it or stir it occasionally a few times to stir up all the goodness).

4) Filter. I just pour it through my coffee machine and let it filter through.

5) Empty coffee grounds into the blueberry bushes (coffee grounds are not only great fertilizer, but they make the soil a bit acidic which blueberries love) and rinse glass container.

6) Pour back into glass container and keep refrigerated. Not sure how long it's good for, but I'd use within a week.

I fill a glass half full with ice and pour two parts coffee and one part milk, or if I'm feeling particularly festive, two parts coffee and one part chocolate milk for a tasty iced mocha. Delicious.

Originally published here.