how to: cold brew iced coffee

This is going to be my newest summer thing.

Brew a gigantic vat of iced coffee and have it in the fridge and it will be MINE ALL MINE because pretty soon I’ll be living alone with no one to share it with.

I started drinking iced coffee when I was on the orientation staff at Loyola and we were getting about 4 hours of sleep during summer O. I couldn’t locate Diet Pepsi anywhere which, at the time, I referred to as “the juice of life” so I needed some other caffeine source to keep me going.

Ergo, iced coffee.

And yes, I just said “ergo.”

I’ve been hooked ever since. And sure, you can brew a pot of regular coffee and pour it over ice. However, I learned from a little research that when you do that, the chlorogenic acid in hot coffee breaks down as it cools which can make it taste bitter.

And yes, these are the things I investigate now that school is over.

When you cold brew it, the result is a less acidic, sweeter version of my new “juice of life.” This summer I may never go back to my Cuisinart single-pot.

We start with regular old ground coffee. I went with hazelnut because it’s my favorite flavor of everything (I’m looking at you, Nutella) but you can use whatever you have. You can also grind fresh beans if you’re fancy like that.

Then we add water-1/3 cup ground coffee for every 1 cup of cold water. Stir it around a little bit and then let it chill out on the counter for at least 8-12 hours. I left mine for closer to 24 because I was a busy bee. Just make sure you cover it with a lid or plastic wrap.

I used 1 1/3 cups of coffee and 4 cups of cold water. Once it sat for a while, I poured it through a fine mesh strainer to get all of the grinds out. Then I poured it through again, but added regular coffee filters as well to get any stragglers. Cheesecloth would definitely be easier if you have small filters like I do.

It will take a few minutes for the coffee to all go through the filter, and then you can refrigerate and serve!

The coffee here is VERY strong- so you may want to dilute it with a little water (I would say 3 parts coffee to 1 part water) if you drink it with just milk like I do. If you’re using coffee creamer or sweetened condensed milk or something heavier, you may not need to dilute it.