How to make the perfect iced coffee at home

Long hot summer days, lounging about in the garden reading a book can be hard work and sometimes you need a little something to cool you down so you can carry on.

Handily there’s a little caffeine-based pick-me-up that’s perfect for the job, iced coffee.

At Farrer’s we’ve put our expert baristas to the task of making iced coffee at home. They’ve come up with 2 of the best homemade iced coffee recipes that you can try yourself. Whether you’re a fan of cold brew coffee or iced coffee we’ve got the perfect recipe for you to make at home.

(Image by @tabithabrooke on Unsplash: https://unsplash.com/photos/F0Wd4djYvSA)

COLD BREW COFFEE RECIPE

Makes: 2 glasses of cold brew coffee

Prep time: 5 mins (excluding 12-15 hours steep time)

Cold brew coffee is perfect if you have a sweet tooth; it’s less bitter and acidic than iced coffee. The cold water extracts the sugars, oils and caffeine to deliver a smooth tasting delicious cold coffee with flavours that develop gradually over time. If you’re looking for instant refreshment check out our iced coffee recipe below.

This cold brew coffee recipe will keep you feeling refreshed in the Summer months. Ideal for ‘grab and dash’ or lazy weekends making cold brew coffee is very easy. Simply prepare it the night before leaving it to brew overnight in the fridge for at least 12 hours. When it’s ready transfer it into a glass or thermos to keep it chilled. The concentrate lasts up to 3 days so you can make cold brew coffee in bulk if you’re planning on sharing it with friends.

Our recipe uses real coffee beans to help replicate the coffee shop style experience so you’ll need a few things in order to make this at home. When you choose your coffee we’d recommend you pick a blend, espresso style blends work best as the coffee flavour will come through better once you’ve diluted it. If you select a ‘cafetière’ grind from our website you won’t even need to grind the coffee yourself.

 

COLD BREW COFFEE INGREDIENTS:

 

COLD BREW COFFEE PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Grind your coffee beans into a coarse grind.
  2. Combine the ground coffee with 400ml of still water in a glass jar and then stir to mix together.
  3. Brew the coffee overnight in the fridge for 12-15 hours.
  4. Remove from the fridge and strain the coffee concentrate through the muslin to remove the coffee grounds.
  5. Transfer to the cold brew concentrate to a clean jar and store in the fridge. It will keep for 2-3 days.
  6. Dilute to taste with water, suggested ratio: 50/50.
  7. Pour over ice and add milk to taste for a deliciously creamy chilled drink.

(Image by @pariwatt on Unsplash: https://unsplash.com/photos/SnbEXxIj6wk)

HOMEMADE ICED COFFEE RECIPE

Makes: 1 glass of iced coffee

Prep time: 5 mins

Making iced coffee at home is quick and easy. Unlike our cold brew coffee recipe there’s no additional brewing time required so you can drink this immediately.

The trick to making delicious iced coffee is all in the beans you choose; make sure you use quality coffee beans. We love using Farrer’s Classic Espresso for iced coffee recipes. Classic Espresso is our signature espresso blend made with coffees from South America, Vietnam and Guatemala delivers dark and milk chocolate flavours with a vibrant deep body.

 

ICED COFFEE INGREDIENTS:

  • 18-23g ground coffee
  • Cafetiere / French Press
  • Hot Water (off the boil)
  • Milk
  • Tall Glass
  • Your choice of syrup / sweetener / sugar

 

ICED COFFEE PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Brew your coffee hot as you would normally, we think a cafetière works well for this. 
  2. Once brewed half fill a tall glass with the hot coffee and let it cool a little.
  3. Add your choice of sweetener, syrup or sugar at this stage and sweeten to taste.
  4. Once sufficiently cooled add as much ice as will fit in the glass and then stir to cool the coffee down further.
  5. Top up your drink with your favourite cold milk.
  6. Enjoy!

Alternatively if you have ice moulds, you can even make coffee ice cubes so that your coffee won’t dilute when the ice melts.

 

WHO INVENTED ICED COFFEE?

Mazagran believed to have originated in Algeria in the 19th century created using coffee syrup and cold water it was just the thing to combat the oppressive desert heat. It’s reputed that the locals consumed Mazagran in copious quantities and French Foreign Legionnaires stationed in Algeria rapidly picked up a taste for the drink, finding time to enjoy its cooling properties in between lulls in fighting the Berbers. Soldiers returning to France took the fad with them and it took off becoming known as Café Mazagran.

With Café Mazagran rapidly taking off in France it’s probably no great surprise that it rapidly spread to other countries, with each adding their own little flourishes. In Spain it’s served with a slice of lemon, in Japan hot coffee is brewed and then poured of lots of ice to chill it right down and apparently keep the coffee flavours intact, in many countries in Asia its served up with sweetened condensed milk over ice, and in Germany it’s served up with a dollop of ice cream… nice!

Iced coffee has many forms the world over and is constantly developing but there are generally a number of defining factors, espresso filtered coffee and coffee syrup mixed with milk and ice cubes.

 

THE ORIGINS OF MODERN DAY FRAPPE

A Greek gent, Dimitris Vakondios, took Café Mazagran down a different route quite by accident. He was attending the Thessaloniki International Fair on behalf of Nescafé in the late 1950’s couldn’t get his mitts on any hot water to brew up his Nescafé instant, so he decided to experiment and ended up adding cold water and ice and giving it all a really good shake to mix it together – the frappe was born.

In the 1990’s Starbucks wade into things and create the Frappuccino® mixing frappe and cappuccino together with syrups, ice and whipped cream. It’s been a stellar success for them!  While it’s a portmanteau word, Frappuccino® is actually a registered trademark of Starbucks which is why you can’t find this drink under the same name in other mainstream coffee shops.

These days cold brew is doing the rounds too despite the fact that its origins are much older than you might imagine. Originating in Kyoto in Japan in the 17th century. Cold brew isn’t to be confused with iced coffee – to make cold brew coffee grounds are brewed in room-temperature water for up to 24-hours, this produces concentrated coffee, which is usually diluted with water and then served chilled. People have upped the artistry and are now serving cold brew chilled using nitrogen from a trendy bar pump dispenser.

Back to Recipes

Share this