How to Make Iced Coffee at Home

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I love iced coffee on a hot day, and I especially love iced coffee at home —

Brewing a good at home iced coffee is something near and dear to my heart because I have spent three summers finding out what works and what does not.

In order to get iced coffee at home, you can make it in three ways that feel and taste exactly (or similarly enough to your favorite coffee houses’ iced coffee.

Let’s get started.

Keurig K-Iced Coffee Maker

I was a skeptic about Keurig coffee. Every coffee pod I would try in the early days of Keurig always tasted sub-par (and I still stand by that).

For the coffee lover, I recommend using either French Roast or Italian Roast coffee pods.

In general, the trick is to use the coffee you like the most.

If the coffee you love is not offered in a Keurig pod, you can find reusable pods and transfer your favorite blend into that for your perfect single-serve coffee cup.

What I love about the Keurig K-Iced

I bought my first K- Iced directly after using one for a few nights at an Airbnb. We were being hosted at this amazing spot for my grandpa’s funeral and the Keurig just felt like the right thing to add into my life.

My grandpa used a Keurig but I never got into it. The pods just weren’t hitting. You know?

Anyways, I get it now.

It’s fast, efficient, and super easy to use when you don’t have a ton of time.

The Iced Coffee Feature

For the iced coffee feature, I find that you need to use two glasses.

One that is empty (you’ll use this to catch the brewed coffee) and another that is full of ice — transferring the brewed hot coffee into the glass with the ice.

The taste is strong and comparable to an espresso shot.

I would liken this to an Americano – Although, I don’t recommend watering your drinks down with anything too heavy.

I have added creamer in the past (Trader Joe’s Oat Milk Brown Sugar Creamer is AMAZING), but I tend to avoid creamer as it can make me feel sluggish for the rest of the day.

To be truthful, I don’t get too crazy with espresso (even when I had an espresso machine) so I don’t know how lattes will taste, but I imagine just a good.

Overall

The K-Iced makes great hot coffee and great iced coffee.

I was skeptical of its ability to deliver, but it absolutely does. If you have not gotten yourself one, I recommend it.

However, I had to replace mine after 8 months — so be warned.

This time, however, I did get mine directly from Keurig and got my warranty for it – so here is hoping this one lasts a lot longer.

Cold Brew Coffee Maker

This is the next best thing.

Takeya has a cold brew pitcher that you keep in your fridge.

Strong?

Yes.

Delicious?

Also yes.

To use this, just fill the pitcher with water, take the attached filter, and fill it with your favorite ground coffee beans.

Slowly integrate the top with the filter into the pitcher.

Let sit in the fridge for 8+ hours.

Enjoy your cold brew the next day.

Cons

Clean-up is a little more involved and the wait time is much longer than using a Keurig K-Iced.

Pro’s

Richer coffee, strong flavor, and a more artisan experience.

Pioneer Style Brewed Iced Coffee – Cold Brew Coffee

This was my LEAST favorite way to make iced coffee.

It asks for full access to the recesses of your abilities to work within the confines of coffee and cheesecloth.

Excited as I was for the experience, I haven’t been back to try it again.

Sometimes all you need is one bad experience to let you know that something in one iteration is not for you, while a different iteration of a similar thing is.

The coffee and cheesecloth method is NOT for me.

If this is for you, please let me know in the comments how you handle the task with grace.

How to Make

I used a pitcher, but using a mason jar is far likely a better idea.

A pitcher is much too big for this method.

You’ll want to take about 4-6 tablespoons of ground coffee and then add water.

So, if you add in four tablespoons of ground coffee, you would add six ounces of water or a bit more, depending on how diluted you would like to make it.

Next, you’re going to cover the jar and let it steep for 12+ hours. I would place this in the fridge.

After that, you will want to strain the steeped coffee through a cheesecloth and into a pitcher.

Then, you will have your iced coffee ready to go.

At Home Iced Coffee Recap

Those are all of the ways I have tried to make iced coffee at home.

Some of these methods are easier than others, but the end result usually is worth it.

Let’s get brewing!

xx,

Nikita