Iced Coffee

As I am sitting at my desk at work, boiling in the heat (already 80 degrees at 8 am) and drinking my hot coffee, I am dreaming of McDonald's Iced Coffee.  Sooo good and pretty cheap.  But I have decided to start making my own iced coffee, reasons being it is even cheaper and I'm sure I can make it less calories with fat free cream and artificial sweetener.  I have been looking online at different recipes but I'm wondering if anyone has already tried this and has a easy yummy way of doing it?  At work we have a coffee maker and a fridge/freezer.  Thanks for any ideas! 

Greenpea, I think you're making this harder than it is!  At home, I just use the leftovers from that morning's pot of coffee, add ice, a tablespoon of half & half or a flavored creamer, and drink! 

At your work, you might just pour a cup of brewed coffee and let it sit at your desk until it cools, then add ice and your choice cream and/or sweetener and you're good to go!

It sounds yukky, but I absolutely LOVE CoffeeMate's new Coconut Creme creamer in coffee, iced coffee, lattes, smoothies, etc .

so ... I put a mug of coffee in the fridge for tomorrow.  Will that get old?  Should I just make coffee tomorrow and let it chill?  Sorry if that's a dumb quesiton!!! 

greenpea,

I haven't had any bad experiences with my coffee getting old in the fridge. My wife is a HUGE iced coffee fan. She got me interested in it too, so now we make a gallon at a time at home!

We run two carafes of water through our 12-cup coffee maker and put it in a pitcher. Then we cool it, add sweetener, and put it in the fridge. Usually last us about 3 to 4 days. It's a lot cheaper than going to McD's or Starbuck's everyday!

Either way... by the cup or the gallon... iced coffee's a great treat!

Terry S.

If you want your coffee iced without wating an hour or so for it to cool off, you need to brew the coffee "double strength" by putting in twice as much ground coffee or half the water you would usually use. Then you pour your extra strong coffee over a ton of ice. As some of the ice melts, it waters down the coffee to a normal strength, and it is nice and cool instantly! No waiting necessary!
I work at Starbucks and thats how we do it there.

Cold brew coffee for ice coffee is much better tasting than using old hot drip coffee.  It does take some time but it is so worth it if you truly love iced coffee. 

The easiest way to make cold drip is with a Toddy Maker http://thecajunconnection.com/toddy.html   This also gives you enough for multimple servings through the day.

At one time I was the GM of a coffee franchise, this is how we made our iced coffee.  We also added a little vanilla to the premade iced coffee for smoothness. 

Have fun with it!

You can also brew regular coffee, chill it (in a covered pitcher so it doesn't taste stale later), and use some of it to make coffee ice cubes.  Just pour some coffee into an ice cube tray and freeze.  I do this the night before, so in the morning when I go to work it's all ready... anyway, then, when you make yourself a glass of iced coffee, pour it over coffee ice cubes and your drink won't get diluted as they melt.  If you use creamer/half-and-half, pour it over the coffee cubes before you add your chilled coffee; a little bit of the creamer will adhere, frozen, to the coffee cubes and melt back into the coffee later... I love iced coffee.

I love iced coffee and drink it every day, but it was getting so expensive to buy it (and frankly, I like the MacDonald's iced coffee, but it was like nailing Jell-O to a tree to get them to give it to me without cream and sugar in it).  I have never had luck making regular hot coffee and cooling it off since it would get sour or bitter.  Blech.

I did a little research and started cold brewing my own coffee.  I put about 6-7 ounces of ground coffee (I use roughly half of a 13 ounce "brick" of coffee) into a gallon pitcher.  I fill the pitcher to the top with water and pop the whole thing into the fridge overnight.  Make sure all the grounds are wet, though.

In the morning I take a large Pyrex measuring cup and a sieve lined with one paper towel to strain the coffee.  Once the measuring cup fills up, I pour the coffee into another pitcher.  I tried it with a coffee filter, but it took forever and the paper towel works wonderfully.  Sometimes I change the paper towel halfway through when things start slowing down, but I only do that if I'm in a hurry.

I use decaf coffee so I can count the cup of soy milk in it towards my calcium for the day and so that I can drink it any time of day instead of just the morning.  I've done this with regular coffee and it works well either way (I just couldn't enjoy it all day long when I was brewing the kind with caffeine).

I have been doing this for about a month now and I haven't had the usual sour or bitter flavor that I sometimes get even when I go to Starbucks.  I've read that the cold brew method releases less acid so it's less likely to cause stomach upset.  There's just something about hot brewing that can make iced coffee taste bitter or sour, but I haven't had that problem with cold brewing.  And with the way I do it, I only needed to spend $3 for a gallon pitcher.

-Megan-

Megan you are doing the same thing I suggested only I use the Toddy Maker, it comes with a filter that allows it to drip out without grounds. 

You are correct cold drip has less acid.  Starbucks hot brews their ice coffee which is why I never get it.  There is no consistency to their product by doing it that way.

pea- why dont u go to starbucks and brew the coffee they sell up front, it may be pricey but just think of how long it will last u and atleast youll know its good quality...add whatever flavor creamers u want

Here's how you can make a low calorie coffee smoothie that is healthy for you, too:

Freeze half a banana (50 calories) and add to a cup of black coffee. Add ice until desired amount or consistency. I have one of these smoothies every night (the coffee is decaf, and I add chocolate protein powder to it for a chocolatey-coffee taste) and it really fights away snack cravings for very little calories.

Oh Yeah! Toddy coffee is the best hot or cold! Soooo SMOOOTH!!! Yumm-0!!! Less acid like ismile67 said! She knows her coffee too!

ismile67::: Thanks for the Toddy site! I needed a new plug for mine! Oh yeah! Toddy here I come!

When I make iced coffee all I do is take cooled coffee, put it in a glass, add a teaspoon of caramel hazlenut creamer and add a lot of ice or frozen coffee cubes. Add sweetner if you like, I don't usually as the creamer adds a sweetness on its own. It only comes out to about 15ish calories. I heart iced coffee.

starbucks makes a good iced coffee. it comes in a can. there is original for 100 cals or light for 35 cals. i always buy the light and just add a pack or two of sweetener. so good.

Mmm, I saw a commercial for that and I've been dying to try it.