Raise your hand if Spring can be a seriously moody princess where you live. Here in the PNW March and April can be pretty unpredictable. Just saying, if its 65 degrees on Tuesday don’t rush to unpack your warm weather gear because by Thursday you could be waking up to snow.
No matter what it looks like out your window, warm weather is on the horizon and today I am sharing my all time favorite way to brew iced coffee and the best homemade creamer to go with it. Both are so simple to make and all together you only need 4 ingredients!
First, lets talk about why cold brewing coffee is a little better for you than brewing with hot water. Cold brewed coffee has less than half the acidity of hot brewed coffee. This is great for those people who love coffee but deal with acid reflux or anyone who wants to do their stomach lining a favor. If you’ve ever had heart burn from your morning latte–that’s the acid talkin to ya.
Flavor wise, many people prefer cold brewed coffee to hot. With the lower rates of acid in cold brew, a lot of the burnt flavor is removed. With this bitterness out of the way you may notice that your iced coffee has a certain sweetness to it that you wont get in your regular cup of joe. With this said, we don’t want our coffee to lose its signature roasty flavor. To make sure this doesn’t happen, I like to keep my iced coffee in its condensed form after brewing. There are many iced coffee recipes out there that have you add water after the brewing process. This is the step that I skip. Think of the condensed version as espresso strength, although its not quite that strong. If you keep your coffee in this ultra-flavorful state you can control its strength with your add-ins rather than diluting the entire thing. Once you’ve done that, you can never-go-back. So just keep it strong!
Undiluted coffee also gives you more options for serving. One day I might add a couple shots of coffee and some almond milk, and have more of a latte-style drink. Another day I will feel like a real pic-me-up and I’ll have, um…a lot of cold brew with a little water and the super yummy creamer. If I have someone over, I might feel like playing it super hipster and I’ll mix up an Americano with a dash of cream or almond milk. Go ahead and experiment and find the way that your drink is just right for you.
So if you are enjoying one of Spring’s sunny, beautiful bird-churpy days, sit in the sunshine, mix up your iced coffee, and enjoy while you let the rays of sunshine warm your soul but not melt your ice. If your Spring is giving you snowy attitude, mix up your iced coffee anyways and stare that beast in the face while you sip and enjoy.
Cold Brew Coffee
Ingredients
- 12 oz coffee coarsely ground
- 6 cups filtered water
Instructions
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Mix coffee grounds and water in pitcher. Stir gently to assure all grounds are wet.
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Cover with paper towel or dish cloth and allow to steep 12 hours.
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Line a sieve or strainer with wet paper towels. Wetting the paper towels rinses out any papery taste that you don't want transferring to your brew. Set sieve or strainer over large measuring cup or pitcher.
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Gently stir your grounds then slowly pour coffee into sieve. You may have to pour several times as your coffee slowly filters.
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Once all of your grounds have made it into the sieve allow to drip a few minutes. What you are left with is about 30oz of coffee concentrate that you will want to dilute to your liking when serving. I suggest starting with 2oz for a 16oz drink and diluting with your milk preference or water, and creamer. Serve over ice and enjoy!
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Will last up to two weeks in the fridge.
Homemade Creamer
Ingredients
- 1 12oz can Evaporated Milk
- 1 14oz can Sweetened Condensed Milk
Instructions
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Mix both ingredients in any container with a lid. Store in the fridge up to two weeks.
I had no idea this was a way to make cold brewed coffee! Thank you so much for making this post and making it so easy to read!
And now I’m “jonesing” for some cold brewed coffee. Excited to give this a try!