Be Your Own Barista: Brew Iced Coffee at Home
The Cold-Brew Brouhaha
The best-tasting iced coffee, aficionados say, is cold brewed: Steeping grounds in cold water reduces acidity and bitterness, and the results are smooth and mild.
New ways to enjoy iced java drinks—at home and on the go
Photo: Courtesy of Stumptown Coffee Roasters
Ready-to-Drink
Pick up a bottle. Specialty coffee roasters like Stumptown in New York City, Seattle, and Portland, Oregon sell ready-to-drink varieties.
$3.50;
StumptownCoffee.com
Photo: David A. Tietz/Editorial Image, LLC
Ready-to-Drink
Specialty coffee roaster Chameleon Cold-Brew in Austin also sells ready-to-drink varieties.
$5;
ChameleonColdBrew.com
Make It Yourself
1. Use a specialized coffeemaker. Steep grounds and cold water in Bodum's French press Bean Ice Coffee Maker overnight; in the morning, just plunge the filter for iced coffee ($40;
BodumUSA.com).
2. Create your own brew. Sue McCown, a java expert with Seattle's Best Coffee, shares her recipe for DIY cold coffee concentrate: Put 1/2 cup ground coffee and 1/2 cup cold water in a glass container, stir, then add 2 cups water. Close container and let sit 12 hours. Strain the coffee grounds with a filter. If the coffee looks cloudy, strain again. You can store up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator. To serve, add cold water, ice, milk and sugar as desired.
Starbucks Via Ready Brew Iced Coffee
Cool Beans: Get your iced coffee fix with these new products, or look for any coffee bean that's lightly roasted and has Latin American origins—its smooth flavor is also great for cold brewing.
Chilled-coffee lovers were mixing Starbucks instant packets with icy water instead of hot, so the company engineered sweetened blends that dissolve more quickly in cold water and replicate the flavor of their in-store offering.
$6 for five packets; Starbucks
Photo: Courtesy of Green Mountain Coffee
Green Mountain Coffee Nantucket Blend Iced Coffee K-Cups
Pop this K-cup (designed to work in Keurig's one-cup brewers) into your machine and brew straight into a cup of ice; its strong formulation is meant to be diluted.
$15 for 22; supermarkets
Photo: Courtesy Starbucks Coffee Company
Crop to Cup Iced African Beans
These beans were chosen especially for chilled drinks, with hints of chocolate and a mix of light and dark roasts that taste better cold than hot. And the brand's direct-trade practices mean farmers are fairly paid.
$9.50 for ten ounces;
CropToCup.com
Get the recipe for an iced-coffee frappé
From the
August 2011 issue of
O, The Oprah Magazine
