How to Make Barista-Quality Iced Coffee at Home
By Avana Team
June 17, 2021
A fun-yet-factual guide to making chilly goodness in a glass.
Iced Coffee can be basic, or it can be barista-worthy. In our humble opinion, just like relationships, uncomplicated iced coffee is actually the best. However, a few key points are critical in how to make iced coffee that’s both simple and simply delicious.
To start with, you’ll need a tall glass and a long spoon. Better yet, get a metal straw—like the all-new Avana® Straw in reusable stainless steel with a food-grade silicone mouthpiece. The straw works double duty when it comes to iced coffee. It’s long and lean—precisely what you need for stirring your coffee concoction—and it’s something you can feel good about using, again and again and again.
Now for the second-most important step: brewing the coffee. Any type of brewed coffee will work. Typically, whichever coffee-brewing method you prefer will be the same type of coffee you’ll enjoy when it’s cold. Unless you go for instant coffee, in which case you need to stop that—right this instant. (See what we did there? But seriously, if you’re stuck on drinking instant coffee, you need to take a good long look at your life choices.)
But what about cold brew coffee, you say? Oh, friend. That’s so 2015.
Let’s get back on track and make the perfect iced coffee. There are a few tricks to transitioning your hot coffee into a cold cup. Here’s what you can do:
- Brew regular-strength coffee and let it cool. Make extra in the morning and save half for your afternoon iced-coffee fix. Or make it the night before if you want a cold cup the next morning.
- Brew double-strength coffee or espresso and pour it directly over ice while hot. With this method, the hot coffee will melt much of the ice, effectively watering down your extra-strong brew.
- Plan ahead and make coffee ice cubes. Cute, right? Fill an ice cube tray with coffee and freeze overnight. This way, your iced coffee will never be watered down.
Now, fill that tall glass of yours with plenty of ice. Pour the coffee in, stopping one inch from the top.
Next comes the most important step in making iced coffee. This is where the magic happens—the best part of the process, and as we see it, the real reason iced coffee even exists. It’s called adding the milk. Any milk or cream will do: full-fat cream, whole milk, low-fat milk, skim milk, almond milk, oat milk, coconut milk, or even one of those wacky-flavored coffee creamers.
Take your time with this step, as it is truly a thing of beauty—art in motion, if you will. Slowly pour the chosen milk into the chilled brew. See how it swirls, ebbing and flowing like ocean surf? Let the moment fill you. Be mesmerized. Be one with the whirling, swirling brown-and-white masterpiece.
Then, when you’re feeling full of Zen and mindful as heck, stick the straw in and stir. The swirls will vanish as the coffee and milk become one. The magic is fleeting, which makes it all the more precious and powerful. You’re ready to sip!
That is, unless you like sweetener in your coffee, in which case you can add it now.
How do you brew? Think we’re off-base with our iced-coffee making technique? Tell us where you think we went wrong in the comments below. We may not agree with you—but we’d still love to hear from you!