Perfect Iced Coffee
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Tips and tricks to make the best, most perfect iced coffee right at home. It’s quick, easy and so budget-friendly!
why i love this recipe
- Easy, fool-proof recipe. With this easy-to-follow recipe, you’ll be making coffee-shop-quality iced coffee in no time.
- Budget-friendly. A single cup of coffee can range anywhere from $3 to $7 (or more). Making coffee at home is much more economical, letting you kick that coffee shop habit.
- Convenient and time-saving. Now you can skip that hectic Starbucks drive-thru line and enjoy a quality cup of iced coffee right at home.
- So customizable. One of the best things about homemade iced coffee is how customizable it is. Add your favorite milk, coffee creamer or sweetener. The best part? An optional easy simple syrup recipe is included below (which also works great for homemade cocktails!).
what is simple syrup
Simple syrup is a liquid sweetener made from dissolved sugar and water, primarily used for cold beverages such as coffee and cocktails. Simple syrup mixes smoothly and evenly, whereas granulated sugar can leave a gritty texture when mixed in.
how to make the most perfect iced coffee right at home
- Brew the coffee using your favorite beans and preferred method (coffee maker, French press, etc.)
- Let the coffee come to room temperature or chill overnight
- Make the simple syrup (if using), storing in the fridge to extend shelf life
- Pour the chilled or room temperature coffee over ice, adding a splash of milk, creamer and/or simple syrup to taste (starting at 1 tsp)
tips and tricks for success
- Good quality beans go a long way. Grab a bag of beans from your favorite local coffee shop.
- Use coarse ground coffee beans. Finely ground coffee beans can yield a gritty cup of coffee. Purchase coffee beans that have already been coarsely ground or grind the beans at home using a grinder like this or this.
- Room temp or cold coffee is key. Iced coffee is meant to be cold. Skip the hot coffee, making sure to use cooled down coffee to start. Adding ice to already hot coffee will yield undesirable watered down coffee.
- Start the night before. This is a great recipe to make ahead of time. Brew the coffee the night before, storing in the fridge overnight.
- Store simple syrup in the fridge. Always store simple syrup in an airtight container in the refrigerator to extend shelf life, keeping up to 1 month.
pro tip
Make coffee ice cubes.
Don’t want your iced coffee diluted with water? Use coffee ice cubes! Opt for a stronger brew for coffee ice cubes for more flavor, freezing for at least 4 hours using a silicone ice cube tray for easy removal.
more favorited drink recipes
Tools For This Recipe
Saucepan
Perfect Iced Coffee: Frequently Asked Questions
Adding ice to already hot coffee will dilute the coffee quite a bit. Using room temperature or chilled coffee is ideal for the most perfect iced coffee.
Homemade simple syrup can last anywhere from 2 weeks to 1 month when properly stored in an airtight container in the fridge.
Simple syrup can be used for cocktails, mocktails, lemonade, or even whipped cream (swapping out the sugar for a smoother consistency).
Black coffee (without milk or creamer) can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Perfect Iced Coffee
Ingredients
- 1 cup coffee, at room temperature or chilled overnight
- 2 tablespoons half and half*, or more, to taste
For the simple syrup
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Serve coffee over ice with half and half and simple syrup, adding 1 teaspoon at a time, to taste.
for the simple syrup
- Combine sugar and water in a small 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.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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this is actually a revelation of an iced coffee recipe – thank you for getting me through quarantine!! Best iced coffee recipe I’ve found yet and I have been looking for a while.
Sooooo good! I hate paying the Starbucks price and don’t like all their ingredients. Also it’s pretty common sense you don’t put all that syrup in one cup of coffee? Who in the world puts 1/2c if sugar in a cup of coffee. I did about two spoons of it and added how much half and half I prefer.
how did you store your sugar syrup?
This is absolutely delicious and perfect for quarantine! I also added a dash of cinnamon in mine! YUM! My husband was pretty impressed when I had him try it!
I’m lazy so I just poured the coffee over ice, added a spoonful of sugar, and a few drops of vanilla (instead of making the simple syrup) and it was still so good!!
The perfect stay-at-home treat! So easy and better then most drive-thru iced coffees! I added a little cinnamon to the syrup, mmm I highly recommend trying the recipe that way. So delicious, Go Grab Your Brew!!
Added cinnamon to the syrup, definitely a copy cat cinnamon dolce coffee. Sooooo good!!!!!
Thank god i read the comments for curiosity and see that I shouldn’t add all the syrup, you should clarify in the recipe too bc u make it seem like all those ingredients are for one iced coffee. Anyways, I really liked it pretty good actually
It does say in instructions to add simple syrup to taste
I followed all of the instructions, but my simple syrup is not thickening. It’s still very watery. Help?
Hi Julia, I’ve been making iced coffees and simple syrup for years now. I remember I was helping a friend who was having the same problem- it’s not thickening. Simple syrup isn’t really all that thick. The ratio is what’s important, which is half sugar, have water (my taste is more 1.5:1 ratio, with more sugar so that in the long run it lasts me more because I am using less.) It will not be thick 🙂 it will just be an even consistency. Bring to a boil and it let it cool. Then you will see it thicken just a bit, not like honey or maple syrup. Transfer to your container and store. There should be no problem 🙂
Due to the covid 19 virus, I am home and not leaving my house, ice coffee is my one treat so I tried this recipe …. OMG!! So delicious!!! Better than what I buy!!!! Thank you!
Stay healthy and safe
How long can you keep the sugar/water mixture for in the fridge?
Simple easy cost effective and …good to taste!
Just made this, it’s delicious! Will tell my friends for sure.
I’m gonna give it a try.
-Toni
just made it right now and drinking it while typing this. Absolutely telling my friends this recipe. I love it
I’ll bet, like me at first, you only looked at the ingredient list since that was my initial reaction. Then I realized that the half cup sugar is to make a supply of liquid sweetener that should last “a few weeks in the refrigerator”.
I have not tried this yet, but plan to soon. Based on it’s similarity to another recipe I found, I will give it 5 stars…in anticipation!
Too much sugar beuh 1/2 cup?!?!
I’ll bet, like me at first, you only looked at the ingredient list since that was my initial reaction. Then I realized that the half cup sugar is to make a supply of liquid sweetener that should last “a few weeks in the refrigerator”.
I used 1/4 cup of sugar bc 1/2 is a lot and I didn’t really want to make the simple syrup bc I’m lazy. Turned out really good!
I did one cup milk one cup french vanilla creamer for my half and half, things are cooling now. Can’t wait to try it. Recipe was easy to do. I’m from California but just moved to Washington. Coffee shops here are really expensive this is a life saving allowence tip. Ty happy new year
5/5. It’s amazing.
it really is good i’m in 6th grade and this is a recipe shared by my good friend
Soooo good. I substituted simple syrup with Starbucks brand vanilla syrup (this stuff costs 3 bucks!), and makes it faster for me to make my coffee in the morning!
I made this today and it is so delicious! The only thing i did different was also add a teaspoon of cinnamon to the simple syrop (because I love cinnamon lol).
I love cinnamon in coffee! So good!
Holy shit.
So I used honey and water and mixed the two then added Mexican vanilla along with milk and heavy creamer with cold coffee on ice and its soo good dangg.
Cinnamon makes everything better 🙂