kiki b. omi designs: Cold Brewed Iced Coffee

I love, love coffee. And I don't just mean the sweet coffee drinks at coffee shops. I love a good strong cup of joe. In the summer I love a slightly sweetened iced coffee. Again, I don't mean the 500 calorie sugar bombs with a hint of coffee flavor. This summer I tried an iced coffee at Caribou that was almost perfection in my mind. So, I set off to see if I could replicate it at home minus the $3 price tag. After looking on the internet and a little tweaking, I have become quite happy with my version. So happy, in fact, that I no longer like to purchase iced coffees from coffee houses. I thought I would share my process with you so that you too can master the art of cold brew iced coffee at home.
When I first started making this, I bought some bold (but cheaper) ground coffee. I figure since I am adding sugar and cream, it didn't have to be high quality coffee. However, Mr. Cherry gifted me some whole bean coffee from Pete's for our anniversary and one of the bags was an iced coffee roast. I was wrong, it does make a difference. The Pete's was better. In the future, though, I might go back to the cheaper variety.

I start with a 4:1 ratio of water to ground coffee. (You can just use room temperature water here.) I have found that my Pampered Chef Quick Stir pitched works great for this step. I just add the coffee and water and then use the plunger to make sure all of the coffee is submerged in the water. Then I let the concoction sit overnight (or at least 8 hours.) I do use the plunger to stir it a few times, but I don't think this would be necessary.

Now you get to filter the coffee from the grounds. I have a coffee cone that I use at times to make our regular coffee. It helps to pre-moisten the filter before inserting it into the cone. I then carefully start to pour the coffee into the filter. I try to avoid getting lots of the grounds into the cone and have found that keeping the pitcher set to the filter setting really helps. If you do get too many grounds into the filter, it takes a longer time. You might also have to switch filters if it gets too clogged. I found my glass carafe at Target in the kitchen section for a couple of dollars, but also saw some that would work in the dollar spot recently.

Once the majority of the liquid has been poured out of the pitcher, I call it good and throw away the grounds. Another tip I have picked up is to sweeten the coffee to your liking now. I had been adding sugar to each individual cup I made, but since it gets chilled it was hard to get it all stirred in. I am still working on my sugar to coffee ratio and you will have to experiment with this as well. Once I have added the sugar I give the carafe a good shake and then refrigerate until it is chilled.