Make Homemade Iced Coffee That Tastes as Good as Store-Bought

So that leaves us with: homemade iced coffee.

For true iced coffee you do not, I repeat, do not want to just brew up a pot of your regular blend and let it get cold. Hot brewed or leftover coffee will give you a bitter iced coffee. Rather you want to cold brew your coffee. By cold brewing your coffee base you will get a smoother, less bitter beverage that is perfect for combining with a variety of ingredients.

For the most part you want to use a coarsely ground coffee to make your cold brewed coffee, and for those of you with a favorite blend or brand, go right ahead and use it. Caffeine or no caffeine, your choice.  However, since most of the time cold coffee is combined with other ingredients, you can use a less expensive brand and still have the flavor of the bean come through.

The follow recipes can all be mad pareve if you want to serve them after a meat meal or if you’re allergic to dairy or have lactose intolerance. I would suggest you use rice milk, almond milk or soy milk rather than the coffee creamers, which a) for the most part are dairy and b) have bunches of additives and chemicals in their ingredients.

The following recipes all have specific amounts for the ingredients, but know with a coffee drink some will prefer a strong tasting beverage and others will like it creamier. Feel free to play with the amounts of milk to coffee to sugar to flavoring if you taste buds tell you the recipe needs a little tweaking. You won’t ruin anything; in fact, you may just invent a new way to serve yourself a cup of Joe.

Note: several recipes call for instant coffee instead of brewed coffee. The taste is a little less robust but it works just fine.

Cold Brewed Coffee (pareve)

Ingredients:

• 1 gallon cold water
• 1 lb. bag of your favorite coarse ground coffee
• Coffee filters
• Strainer

Instructions:

1. Pour a gallon of water into a large bowl. Add the coffee and stir until the coffee is completely wet. Cover and let the mixture sit for at least 12 hours (I always do this early in the evening and it’s ready to go in the morning).
2. Line your strainer with coffee filters and place it in a large bowl.
3. Gently pour the coffee over the filters, making sure not to have too much of the coffee grounds pour out at once. You may want to do this in stages, replacing the filters once or twice during the straining.
4. When you’re done you can put the cold coffee in a container with a lid.

Keeps for up to 4 weeks (it makes A LOT of cold coffee).

My files, source unknown.

Mocha Whipped Coffee (dairy or pareve)

4 servings

Ingredients:

• 6 cups cold coffee (stronger is better)
• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, plus additional cocoa powder for garnish
• 2 cups milk or non-dairy substitute
• Can of whipped cream or whipped topping (optional)
• Chocolate syrup or cocoa powder (optional)

Instructions:

1. Fill ice-cube trays with 3 cups of the coffee and freeze them.
2. Place the remaining 3 cups of coffee in blender and process until smooth. Pour into a pitcher and refrigerate.
3. When the coffee cubes are frozen place ½ of them in a blender and process until they are crushed. Place the crushed coffee cubes in the pitcher with the coffee and cocoa and mix to combine. Place the remaining coffee cubes in the blender and process until crushed.
4. Divide the crushed ice between 4 glasses and then pour the coffee and cocoa mixture between the glasses.
5. Top with whipped cream and cocoa powder or syrup.

This recipe can be doubled or tripled.

Modified from gourmetsleuth.com.

Cinnamon and Caramel Iced Coffee (dairy)

For this recipe you will need hot coffee to start the process.

Ingredients:

• 1½ to 2 cups hot coffee (the stronger the better)
• 1/3 to ½ cup caramel dessert topping
• 2 to 3 Tablespoons brown sugar, to taste
• Ice cubes
• 1½ cups cold milk
• Whipped cream, for garnish (optional)
• Ground cinnamon, for garnish (optional)
• Extra caramel sauce for garnish (optional)

Instructions:

1. In a bowl combine the hot coffee and the caramel topping (you can fudge the amounts if you prefer a more caramel or coffee flavor). Add the sugar and whisk to combine.
2. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or until the mixture is cold.
3. When you’re ready to serve, fill 2 tall glasses with crushed ice and fill about 1/3 of  each glass (or more if you prefer) with milk. Then fill the glass with the coffee mixture and stir to combine.
4. You can top with whipped cream, extra caramel sauce or a dash of cinnamon.

My files, source unknown.

Creamy Cold Cappuccino (dairy)

4 servings

Ingredients:

• 1½ cups cold coffee (the stronger the better)
• ½ cup sweetened condensed milk
• ½ cup half-and-half cream
• ½ teaspoon vanilla

Instructions:

1. In a pitcher combine the coffee and milk. Whisk in half-and-half and vanilla.
2. Fill 4 glasses with crushed ice and pour the coffee and milk mixture over the ice.

Modified from smittenkitten.com.

Instant Vanilla Iced Coffee (dairy or pareve)

1 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons instant coffee
• 1½ teaspoons vanilla
• Sugar to taste (I use brown sugar)
• 2 teaspoons cold water
• 1¼ cups milk or nondairy substitute
• Chocolate sprinkles (optional)

Instructions:

1. In a blender combine the instant coffee, vanilla, sugar, water and milk. Process until smooth.
2. Pour the mixture into a tall glass with crushed ice.
3. Garnish with sprinkles.

Note: you can always add the ice to the blender if you prefer more of a slushie.

Submitted by Angie McDonald of Kalamazoo, MI.

Orange Iced Coffee (pareve)

8 servings

Ingredients:

• ½ cup Maxwell House Instant Coffee
• ½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 6 orange zest strips (each 2x½-inch)
• ½ teaspoon ground allspice
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• 8 cups boiling water

Instructions:

1. Mix all ingredients except boiling water in medium bowl.
2. Add boiling water; stir until coffee granules are completely dissolved and mixture is well blended.
3. Refrigerate several hours or until chilled.

Serve over ice cubes in eight tall glasses.

Modified from kraft.com.

Mocha Banana Frappe (dairy or pareve)

2 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 ripe banana
• 2 Tablespoons instant coffee powder or ½ cup cold coffee (or more to taste)
• 2 Tablespoons instant cocoa mix (or more to taste)
• 8 to 10 ice cubes
• 1½ to 2 cups milk (or non-dairy substitute)

Instructions:

1. Place all the ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.
   You many need to add more milk or ice depending on the consistency you prefer.

Eileen Goltz is a freelance kosher food writer who was born and raised in the Chicago area. She graduated from Indiana University and the Cordon Bleu Cooking School in Paris. She lectures on various food-related topics across the U.S. and Canada and writes weekly columns for the Chicago Jewish News, kosher.com and the OU Shabbat Shalom Website. She is the author of the Perfectly Pareve Cookbook (Feldheim) and is a contributing writer for the Chicken Soup for the Soul Book Group, Chicago Sun Times, Detroit Free Press and Woman’s World Magazine. You can visit Eileen’s blog by clicking: Cuisine by Eileen.