Perfect Iced Coffee
This recipe is quick, easy, budget-friendly, and tastes just like the gourmet coffee-shops, if not better!
When you live in California, you have a ton of options for great coffee. But whe you start hitting all the hottest coffee shops around town, it gets to be quite expensive. At one point, I ended up splurging on a $10 latte at Alfred’s Coffee!
But as always, nothing beats the homemade version – taste-wise and money-wise. And with this easy perfect iced coffee recipe, you won’t have to overpay for coffee ever again.
All you have to do is brew your coffee the night before using good-quality coffee beans. That way, it can come to room temperature by the time the morning comes around. Now I have personally never been a fan of pouring hot coffee over ice but if it doesn’t bother you, then you can whip this up in the morning – it’s up to you!
Then you can whip up a batch of simple syrup, but only if you need it. A batch should last you for a few weeks, unless you like to douse your coffee in sugary goodness. No judgment here. Then you can add a splash of milk or half-and-half, although I highly recommend the latter.
Now you can skip the hectic Starbucks line and have quality coffee for a quarter of the price right at home!
Perfect Iced Coffee
Ingredients
- 1 cup coffee, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons half and half*, or more, to taste
For the simple syrup
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- FOR THE SIMPLE SYRUP: Combine sugar and 1 cup water in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Let cool completely and stir in vanilla extract; set aside in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
- Serve coffee over ice with half and half and simple syrup, adding 1 teaspoon at a time, to taste.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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Amazing, going to give this a run today!
I have been drinking iced coffee for a couple of years and making my own here at home. I have been making a pot of coffee then pouring it into a pitcher and keeping it in the refrigerator. When I’m ready for a big glassful, I add ice, pour in coffee, add a little stevia, then I have always Silk Dark Chocolate Almond Milk. I have even changed coffee flavors and used Vanilla Almond Milk
ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!
CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF THIS PERFECT ICED COFFEE. THANKS!!!!
lol, what the hell is half and half?
If you know please tell me
It was milk
Half and half is a mixture of half heavy cream and half milk. You can buy it in a carton at the store in the dairy section or make your own. Hope this helps! 🙂
You’re an adult and you don’t know what half and half is?
Not everyone knows what it is brook….and thats totally fine.
Some countries don’t have half and half. Parts of Australia for instance.
You’re an adult and you can’t even act like one?
yall- not the drama on the iced coffee recipe comments lmfao
I feel like Im on tiktok lol
it usally called single cream in the UK
this recipe is AMAZING!!!
how many calories are in here?
456!!
456 for 1 portion????????
It was absolutely amazing I loved it so much 🙂
It was absolutely amazing 🙂
this was soooo amazing
It’s my new favourite
Yea nice, it is kind of a variation of cold brew. The other way I like making iced coffee is just putting coarsely ground beans in cold water in the fridge for 12-24 hours and then drinking black. Delicious but admittedly pretty strong
good, added chocolate syrup and caramel and way more coffee lol might die
Lol defiantly trying
hey! it’s the syrup supposed to be liquid? or should i add more sugar? it has a nice golden color to it though
Should be completely liquid!
Making mine with “fake” sugar, Anthony’s Goods Erythritol Sweetener in place of real sugar and sometimes instead of vanilla using Jordan’s Skinny Syrups (sugar free)…comes in multiple flavors. Even Torani Caramel! This recipe is fun to play around with. Thank you for giving me the basic easy recipe. Being diabetic, I am able to tweek this so that I can enjoy a treat. Directions were great! I like using heavy whipping cream….high in calories but ok for diabetics!
Is that half a cup of sugar a typo? Youre telling me 1 cup of coffee to half a cup of sugar?
I believe Half and half is a brand, cream. Thickened milk.
no, half-and-half is actually a product. 50% milk and 50% heavy cream,available in many brands of dairy.
That’s to make the simple syrup. Half cup sugar + 1 cup water. You add the simple syrup to taste
No. that’s how you make a type 2 diabetic. 1/2 cup of sugar???? and then 2 tablespoons half and half*, or more, to taste???? Do you realize the serving size for half and half is 1 tbsp??? 2 tbsp is ridiculously bad. But hey, why stop there, keep going til you like it. OMG.
You would only use 1 or 2 tbsp of the simple syrup and then store the rest in the refrigerator for your future iced coffees. She doesn’t mean to use all the syrup in 1 cup.
Oh no, it’s 2 tablespoons instead of one? Do you know how many people glop on ten times the amount per serving of ranch dressing on a salad? You gotta pick your battles, buddy!
😉
No it makes simple syrup, and you use a little simple syrup (like a tablespoon) and save the rest to use over time.
Delicious. Definitely make sure that when you add the syrup, you taste it after you add a small amount – I accidentally made it way too sugary by assuming how much I wanted. Definitely worth the time!
soooooooooooo………. try DALGONA COFFEE its the absolute best coffee THERe is.
This is much better than the expensive stuff!! I freeze leftover coffee in cubes so it doesn’t get watered down.
It’s the summer time and I work overnight. I looked up how to make iced coffee at home and this recipe popped right up. I am pleasantly surprised! This is absolutely delicious and tastes like it came from a barista! I used Maxwell House coffee, made the simple syrup as directed and used creamer instead of half and half. I’ve already texted this to my family in our text message thread and sent it to my employees!
I have tried this, and it’s brill.
Stop trying to make brill happen, its not going to happen
Wait do you use like the powder coffee or you make the coffee
I enjoy iced coffee especially on these warm summer days. I added a sprig of rosemary to the simple syrup for extra flavor. Thx for great recipe.
This was so simple and delicious! I used milk instead of cream and it was yummy! The bit of vanilla gives it an extra kick (ok, I used bourbon vanilla, but still). Quick and tasty!