Cooking At Home: The Perfect Iced Coffee

On hot summer day's I rarely want hot coffee, hot coffee on a hot day or even warm evening= an uncomfortable stickiness to the skin (for me anyways). So, for one warm Friday evening I decided to prepare an after dinner coffee, iced.  This drink is refreshing and absolutely delicious, you may ask "how can iced coffee be delicious?" Well, just wait until you try this iced-coffee recipe.

The downside of this iced coffee, you'll have to prepare a couple hours ahead of time which means you'll need to either wait for your coffee or know before hand that you're going to want it.  On the upside, it's totally worth it.

let me first begin with directions for simple syrup (for those of you who don't know about simple syrup). I always keep a bottle of simple syrup in my refrigerator, it seems to last a while bottled up and I always have it in handy when I need to make cocktails or in this case, iced coffee. Therefore, I never always make just a little simple syrup but a whole jar full, not that simple syrup is hard to make but just a hassle for... something so simple.

For simple syrup I heat up equal parts water and sugar. You can use any sugar you want but I always use organic cane sugar which is a bit darker in color (almost tan).

Directions for simple syrup:

Put equal parts water & sugar in a pot and heat it up on low stirring every now and then to dissolve the sugar.  I try not to bring the water to a boil or even a simmer but let the mixture slowly heat up, stirring often.  After a few minutes you'll find that the sugar has completely dissolved, if you're using organic cane sugar that is a bit darker in color then your simple syrup will also be darker in color (this is normal). - And that's it!  Easy as that.  After cooling the simple syrup for about one hour I store it in a glass jar in the refrigerator for future use.

What you will need to make the perfect iced-coffee:

• Decanter (or any large glass container to store your coffee if making more than a single cup)
• Drip cone & coffee filter (or any other device needed to brew coffee)
• Coffee ground of your choice (always remember the better the ground the better the coffee)
• Simple syrup (I use homemade simple syrup made from organic cane sugar)
• Ice (I use three cubes per glass)

Directions on how to make the perfect iced-coffee:

1.  Whether your using a drip cone or a coffee maker you will need to first make your coffee. I always use a drip cone to make my coffee (probably due to the fact that I actually don't have a coffee maker but I also like to believe that drip cone coffee tastes much better).  Because I'm using a drip cone I'm making my three cups of fresh coffee in a wine decanter.  For three cups of coffee I'm using roughly three tablespoons of coffee ground. Of course you will be adjusting your measurements depending on whether or not you like your coffee stronger or lighter.

2.  Once your coffee is made you will need to refrigerate it in the glass container chosen for 2-3 hours (or until your coffee is cooled all the way).

3.  When you're ready to prepare your iced-coffee, put three cubes of ice (more or less to adjust to your liking, I like the way three cubes fits nicely in the glass with room to spare).

4.  Fill the cup with coffee and then add 1/2 -1 tablespoon of simple syrup.  Give it a stir and taste.  Should you like your iced-coffee sweeter simply add a little bit more simple syrup (but always add a little bit at a time, remember you can always easily add more).

And now you can enjoy a nice refreshing after dinner iced-coffee (out on the patio, if you have one)!