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The Best Healthy Iced Coffee at Home

This method of making iced coffee at home allows you to enjoy that fresh coffee shop flavour at home for a much smaller price tag. It tastes great, even when the ice melts a bit. This method will give you a concentrated coffee brew that you can easily make ahead of time and store in the fridge to use the next day. I make it using a french press for best flavour and to avoid microplastics, but use your favourite coffee maker if needed.
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Prep Time:1 minute
Cook Time:15 minutes
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: canadian
Keyword: drinks, summer
Servings: 4 servings

Equipment

  • 1 stainless steel ice cube tray (do not use silicone)
  • 1 french press (I use a large stainless steel one)
  • 1 kettle for boiling water

Ingredients

  • 4 cups filtered water
  • 9 tbsp organic ground coffee
  • 1/4 cup almond milk (per serving) (or your favourite milk/cream- adjust to suit your taste)

Instructions

  • Refer to the recipes notes section below for KEY TIPS that give the iced coffee good flavour.
  • Brew your coffee with the French press- put the ground coffee into the French press, add boiling water, and allow to steep for 10 minutes (reduce time if desired, but 10 minutes is what I like to do). Press the coffee.
    4 cups filtered water, 9 tbsp organic ground coffee
  • After the coffee has finished steeping/brewing, pour all of it into heat-safe glass jars or coffee mugs to allow it to cool off more quickly. Allow it to cool for 5 minutes, or longer if desired (this helps to take the "edge" off the heat before we pour it over ice). This step is important if you are using an insulated stainless steel French press like mine. Leaving the hot coffee sitting in the insulated French press for hours causes the flavour to change, and keeps it hot for hours.
  • To serve right away: After the coffee has cooled slightly from sitting in the glass jars or mugs, completely fill a glass with ice made from filtered water. Slowly pour the (still warm) coffee over the cup of ice, leaving some room for your desired milk or cream. Top it off with your milk of choice, and stir together if desired. If you like it sweet, add a drizzle of maple syrup over the top.
    1/4 cup almond milk (per serving)
  • To serve later: With any leftover coffee, leave it sitting in the jars/mugs you poured it into to cool down more. Once it has cooled enough, transfer it to the fridge. I like to transfer it to glass jars with lids. You now have a concentrated and flavourful coffee that can be used the next day. Just pour over ice (you don't need to add as much ice if the coffee is already cold), and add your desired milk!

Notes

  • Filtered water: Use FILTERED water to make both the coffee and the ice with. We have this reverse osmosis under-counter filter system in order to remove fluoride, and it makes the BEST tasting water. I recommend RO if you can, but even if you use a pitcher filter like a Brita or ZeroWater, the coffee will taste a lot better. Just don't use regular tap water.
  • Stainless steel ice cube tray: If using an ice cube tray, use a stainless steel one. Do not use silicone- they make the ice taste gross. Remember to use the FILTERED WATER to make the ice too. This makes a BIG difference for flavour when the ice starts to melt.
  • Fresh coffee: Use FRESH coffee, not the coffee that was made 5 hours ago and has been sitting in your coffee pot on the counter. I use this stainless steel french press in order to make a large batch of coffee at one time.
  • Make it strong: Make the coffee STRONG... unless you like your iced coffee to taste really watered down, make it strong so that when the ice melts, it still tastes good. The right ratio for me is to use 1/3 more coffee than I normally would for hot coffee.