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Iced Coffee – plated and served
DrinksBreakfastSummerInternational

Iced Coffee

Ice-cold coffee that doesn't get watered down, thanks to coffee ice cubes and a cold-brewed base.

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Preparation
15 min
Cook/bake time
–
Total
16 hr 15 min
Difficulty
Easy
Calories
51 kcal
Servings
4
Prep
15 min
Resting
16 hr

Only 15 min of that is hands-on – the rest takes care of itself.

Ice-cold coffee that doesn't get watered down, thanks to coffee ice cubes and a cold-brewed base. Cold brew is extracted cold for twelve hours and therefore contains significantly fewer bitter compounds and acid than hot-brewed coffee that has been cooled down. The preparation takes a long time, but the effort is minimal.

Why this works

During hot brewing, chlorogenic acids and their bitter breakdown products dissolve within minutes, as they need heat. During cold extraction, they mostly remain in the coffee grounds, while sugar and aromatic oils still transfer completely over twelve hours. This is why cold brew tastes sweeter and less sour, even though it is more concentrated. Cooled filter coffee, on the other hand, has already dissolved these bitter compounds, and cold temperatures only amplify their perception.

Step-by-step instructions

  1. Coarsely grind the coffee

    Grind the beans coarsely, similar to a French press. A grind that is too fine leads to over-extraction during the long steeping time and makes the cold brew bitter, and it also makes it almost impossible to filter later. The texture should resemble coarse sea salt.

  2. Prepare the brew

    Place the coffee grounds in a large glass or carafe, pour the cold water over them and stir thoroughly once until all the grounds are moistened. Cover the container and place it in the refrigerator for twelve hours. At room temperature, eight hours are sufficient, but the result is cleaner in the refrigerator.

  3. Filter

    Pour the cold brew through a paper filter or a fine sieve lined with a kitchen towel. Do not press the coffee grounds, otherwise bitter compounds and cloudy particles will get into the coffee. Let it run through undisturbed, which takes a few minutes.

  4. Coffee ice cubes

    Pour about a quarter of the finished cold brew into an ice cube tray and freeze for at least four hours. These coffee ice cubes are the real trick of the recipe, as they cool the drink without diluting it and making it watery when they melt.

  5. Serve

    Fill a tall glass with the coffee ice cubes, pour the cold brew over them and top up with milk. Stir in maple syrup if needed, although it is better to dissolve it in a little warm water beforehand, as it hardly distributes in cold coffee. Serve immediately with a straw.

Our best tips

  • Use coffee ice cubes instead of regular ones. They are the difference between a good and a watered-down iced coffee.
  • Grind coarsely and do not press the grounds. Both prevent bitterness.
  • Dissolve sweeteners in warm water beforehand, as sugar stays at the bottom in cold coffee.

Tasty variations

Iced Latte

Instead of cold brew, pour two espressos over the ice cubes and top up with cold milk.

Vanilla Iced Coffee

Stir a teaspoon of vanilla extract and a little sugar syrup into the finished cold brew.

Nutrition facts

Per serving (1 portion)
Calories51 kcal
Protein2 g
Carbohydrates7 g
– of which sugar7 g
Fat2 g
Fiber0 g

Where the 51 kcal come from

per serving
Calculated from the ingredients – how we do it

We add up reference values for every ingredient and divide by the number of servings. These assumptions are baked in:

  • Reference values per 100 g – for the raw ingredient, exactly as listed.
  • Tinned goods count at drained weight, bone-in meat at purchase weight: you eat about 70 per cent of a chicken thigh and leave the rest.
  • Water evaporates as you cook. The energy stays in the pot, the weight does not – so the figure is per serving, not per 100 g of finished dish.
  • Anything listed without a quantity – “salt and pepper” – is not counted.

A guide value, not a lab measurement: no two onions weigh the same, and fat content varies from pack to pack.

How we calculate nutrition →

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between cold brew and iced coffee?

Cold brew is extracted cold and is milder and less sour. Classic iced coffee is hot-brewed, cooled coffee, often served with ice cream.

How long does cold brew keep?

Filtered and covered, it keeps for up to ten days in the refrigerator. It hardly changes its taste during this time, which makes it ideal for preparing ahead.

Is cold brew stronger than regular coffee?

The concentrate is, because the ratio of coffee to water is higher. Diluted with milk and ice, one portion is roughly equivalent to a normal cup of coffee.

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