Morning Coffee Fine Art Photograph by Kristybee

Warm summer days are just around the corner (though maybe a little further away in the Pacific NW than for the rest of you) and with them return my craving for icy cold iced coffee. Running to the nearest Starbucks every time the craving hits gets spendy, but luckily this delicious, refreshing beverage is cheap and easy to make at home.

The best way to make iced coffee is to start out with cold coffee. Not the left over coffee from the day before that sat on the burner for 4 hours, but cold brewed coffee. Why cold brewed you ask? Well, it comes down to simple science, as all well-brewed coffee does. Coffee contains oils and acids which are extracted during the brewing process. The oils are very delicate and can become burned and bitter during hot brewing methods, which is more noticeable when the coffee cools. Also, more acids are extracted during hot brewing methods than are using cold brewing methods. Cold brewing may take more time (12 hours, to be exact), but it results in a richer, smoother beverage ideal for iced coffee.

The following method requires no special equipment and produces a coffee concentrate meant to be diluted before consumption. As the cold brew process yields a much higher caffeine content than traditional hot brew methods (heat destroys caffeine, which also means lighter roasted coffee will have a higher caffeine content than dark roasted), I do not recommend drinking more than one glass of this coffee a day.

You Will Need-

• large jar or pitcher with lid

• large wooden spoon

• strainer lined with cheesecloth

• good quality coffee, ground to a medium-course grind (courser that standard drip grind, not quite as course as you would use for a french press)

Step 1-Measure out the amount of coffee and water to be used. There should be 1 part ground coffee to 4 parts of water (ex ½ cup of coffee grinds to 2 cups water). Place the ground coffee and water into the container and stir to ensure that all the coffee grinds are in contact with the water. Put the lid on the container and let it sit at room temperature for 12 hours.

Step 2-Strain brewed coffee through the cheesecloth lined strainer into a clean lidded container. Discard or compost the strained coffee grinds.

Step 3-Mix equal parts of brewed coffee concentrate and water or milk. Serve over ice or blend with ice and flavored syrup. Sweeten if desired. Store any unused concentrate in the refrigerator.

See, super easy! This concentrate can also be used to flavor foods or added to mixed drinks to lend a rich coffee flavor without watering the drink down. It also makes a great base for home made kahlua (remember to dilute the concentrate before using in this recipe).