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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Another idea for iced coffee: good quality strong coffee, a good favored creamer (International Delight, etc), sugar if desired and ice. This is for those of us who are lazy! At one time 10 years ago, my live-in friend was drinking as many as 5 double iced expresso’s a day from Starbucks! That was 5 expresso shots per drink! Even then the cost was a killer… about $!5.00 a day. I needed to wean him off of them. He was able to adjust, so now we only get him 3 – 4 a week from Starbucks! Enjoy bog and recipes.
This looks amazing! By far the best iced coffee recipe Ive seen! Thank you! 🙂
I love this! Thanks! Does the simple sugar mix need to be stored in the fridge?
Yes, it is best to keep it stored in the fridge. You can read more about it here.
Where did you find that glass?
I was able to find it on Amazon.com.
You can also make these for dirt cheap from the dollar store. My friend buys the mason jars along with a glass candlestick holder which he glues to the bottom and voila “Redneck wine glass” for $2.00.
Do you have any recommendations for “good quality coffee beans”?]
Thanks!
It really depends on the type of coffee that you like. I prefer to stock up on coffee beans at my favorite gourmet coffee shops like Alfred’s Coffee, Intelligentsia, and/or Blue Bottle.
How do you store coffee you stocked up on? I’ve heard to freeze, put in the fridge and just store it in the pantry but not sure which one keeps the flavor the longest!
I prefer to store it in the fridge for a few days.
What is your measurement for a cup? My morning cup of coffee is 12 oz not 8 oz. Do you mean an exact 8oz cup?
1 cup = 8 fl oz, but you can easily make adjustments as you are simply adding simply syrup and half and half (or milk), to taste.
I love iced coffee, even in winter.
A question regarding the recipe: why is water not considered an ingredient, why is it always skipped? It is so annoying to discover it later in the text. I know I am supposed to read the whole text, but I wonder how many of us do. I like to gather my ingredients first and then proceed to methodology.
Some authors prefer to write in the water as an ingredient and others do not. It’s just a matter of personal style.
Thanks. I thought it was some rule from the culinary powers that be. Is it because it’s just … water? Why not apply the same rule to salt and pepper, then, since they’re so common? What would a dough recipe look like? “Ingredients: 10 oz flour” “Mix the flour with salt and pepper and add 5 fl oz water.”
Some actually do skip over salt and pepper. I’ve seen a number of recipes that just put in the directions to add salt and pepper to taste without including it in the ingredient list.
I thought the same thing about the water in reading the recipe I thought that is going to be so sweet half as much sugar as coffee. Glad I read on
The ingredient of water is left out because the kind soul that spent her time and effort in sharing this recipe for our benifit assumes that the audience has common sense. Seriously… the ingredient of coffee naturally needs water. And if you don’t know how to make coffee perhaps you need to start at a more basic level than mixing coffee, however you come by it, with sugar, dairy and ice. Bless your heart, Linda.
To be fair…. the water in question is not used with the coffee, but with the making of the simple syrup. No need to be snarky. The author if the blog answered her quite politely.
Amen!!! I was bitting my tonge not to answer. Thanks for doing it and thank you to the lady that wrote the recipe. I can’t wait to go home and try it. My daughter LOVES iced coffee. Have a great day. P.S. to the people criticizing…When you have nothing nice to say – stay quite!