How To Make Iced Coffee

On rare occasions the British weather is warm enough that you might fancy yourself a cool drink, rather than a hot drink. Read on for our top tips on how to make iced coffee.

Mr Beans

Method #1 – Simple

You can wheel this method out if you’re short on time. You only need three ingredients:

1. Milk – we recommend chilled whole cow’s milk for this
2. Ice cubes – whole cubes works best
3. Great quality coffee – medium and dark roast coffees work best for this as the flavour notes in lighter roasts can get lost when milk is added. We recommend our House Blend which you can find here.

And now for how to make it:

1. Start by drawing your coffee. Iced coffees are usually served in a glass so an espresso measure could be sufficient depending on the glass you’re using, if not then a lungo measure should do the trick. Doing this step first gives your coffee chance to cool slightly while you deal with the next steps. If you don’t have a single measure coffee machine, a stove top or cafetière can also be used.
2. Fill your glass with ice cubes to just under the halfway point. In an ideal world you would use a Boston-style cocktail shaker for this bit but if you don’t have one you can just add the ingredients straight into your glass.
3. Give your shaker a good muddle, if you’ve added ingredients straight to your glass you can stir instead – but do so vigorously! This step chills the milk right through which is essential for a good iced coffee.
4. Add your coffee to the glass – for best results pour slowly from a low height and pour around the edge of the glass
5. Enjoy!

Method #2 – Complex

For the person who likes to plan ahead, this method delivers a more refined end product with a sweeter finish. Ingredients are as follows:

1. Milk – again, we recommend chilled whole cow’s milk
2. Ice cubes – whole cubes works best
3. 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4. 1/2 cup of caster sugar
5. 1 cup of water
6. Great quality coffee – medium and dark roast coffees work best for this as the flavour notes in lighter roasts can get lost when milk is added. We recommend our House Blend which you can find here..

This method involves creating a syrup from the sugar, water and vanilla extract which is then added to the coffee and milk:

1. Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan over a medium heat. Stir this until the sugar has fully dissolved. Let this cool and then add the vanilla extract. This is your syrup.
2. Once cooled, draw your coffee into an espresso mug or cup and set to one side.
3. Add milk to a glass half filled with ice cubes and give it a good shake or stir until the milk is chilled all the way through.
4. Slowly pour in your coffee from a low height, pouring at the edges – rather than the middle – of the glass
5. Add a teaspoon at a time of the syrup and taste as you go
6. Enjoy!