Should you make Cold brew or Iced Coffee?

“How to make iced coffee at home” is probably the most asked question during a UK heatwave, swiftly followed by, “Why doesn’t the UK have air conditioning?!”

Coffee addicts must get their caffeine fix and when it’s 39 degrees there’s only one way to do it... ICED!  Well, there are actually two options here; iced coffee or cold brew.

Iced coffee uses espresso, and cold brew is a slow extraction which delivers a smoother silkier cold coffee.

Extraction time

Quantity 

Extraction Temp

Iced Coffee

>60 seconds

1-2 Shots

Hot

Cold Brew

12 - 24 hours

Unlimited concentrate

Cold

But how do you make iced coffee and cold brew at home?

Iced coffee and cold brew is surprisingly easy to make at home, especially if you have a coffee machine (manual or bean to cup) or a Hario cold brew maker.

How to make Iced Coffee

Making an iced latte at home is just the same as making your usual hot latte brew, except you don’t steam your milk! 

Iced Coffee recipe

  • Run your usual espresso shot (ours is a double) over some ice
  • Fill your cup with ice and some cold milk - plant based or dairy are both fine.
  • Add a syrup of choice to your espresso shot - it mixes better when warm [Optional] 
  • Pour your coffee shot over into your cup filled with ice and milk. 
  • Give it a good stir and… voila!

Want to make an iced Americano instead? Just substitute the milk for water.

How to make cold brew 

Cold brew is full of flavour, intensity and is often a coffee lover's preference due to the smooth cup it produces. Making cold brew at home is simple. 

You’ll need to just plan ahead a little. It takes longer to brew than iced coffee but the finished concentrate will make multiple drinks, so you can thank your past self. 

Cold Brew recipe

  • Grab your Hario cold brew maker, or a simple cafetiere will work just as well. 
  • Grind your coffee to a medium to coarse consistency - we recommend a cafetiere grind. 
  • Add 50g of coffee to the basket or cafetiere. 
  • Pour in 600ml of cold filtered water
  • Leave to brew for 12 - 24 hours in the fridge. 
  • Remove the basket of coffee from the Hario cold brew maker, or if using a cafetiere: filter the coffee and pour the cold brew into another bottle. 

This will make a concentrate for around six cold coffees & you can store it in the fridge for up to a week - perfect!

 

Fancy making cold brew at home? Shop our Cold Brew Bundle here.

If you’re reading this in August 2022, you’re in luck! You can grab yourself a cheeky discount on our Cool Beans house coffee blend, especially blended for you ice coffee addicts. They will be in our basket quicker than you can say ‘Heatwave’.

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