As anyone who has a toddler may know, having a piping hot cup of coffee is a pretty far-fetched dream. I either spend so much time keeping his grubby little hands from dumping it and burning himself or I spend so much time keeping his grubby little hands out of everything else (ie the trash &, dog food) that by the time I have a chance to sit down & enjoy my coffee...Its cold. Introducing the concept of iced coffee!! And I have become extremely tired of paying over-priced coffee houses and fast food joints for my morning jolt! I tried several recipes before I found the PERFECT one. Since many of you have the same morning obstacles...I decided to share. This recipe came from Pioneer Woman (whom my friend Katie speaks highly of and has been encouraging me to use for a year now) but required some tweaking on my part due to my lack of oversized kitchen containers. The original recipe can be found here.
You will need:
Your favorite brand of ground coffee
2 large containers (1 with an airtight lid)
Water
Measuring cup
A fine mesh strainer
Cheesecloth (or paper towels work just fine too!)
An airtight jug or pitcher for storage
Any "fixing" your little heart desires
Make:
I used a cheap brand of 5 O'Clock coffee with a net wt of 11 oz. Pour 1/2 of the bag into a large container with 1 1/2 qts of water (I prefer my coffee to be pretty strong. Adjust the water to your desired level. But you can always adjust the strength later with ice) & stir to make sure all of the grounds are saturated. Seal with a lid & set aside for 8 hrs.
Once your coffee has "brewed" place your fine mesh strainer over another large container. Line your strainer with cheesecloth (or paper towels) & slowly begin pouring your ground coffee mixture into the strainer. Don't shake the paper towels or they may rip...As the grounds collect, the liquid will drain slower. Just be patient! Once you have drained all of the heavenly goodness out, gather all 4 ends of your paper towels & toss your coffee grinds. Pour the coffee into your airtight pitcher or container (I use a dispensing jar for quick, spill-proof dispensing lol) & chill overnight.
My new morning routine now includes filling an insulated cup with coffee & ice! Individualize it as you prefer, but my favorite is an iced mocha with a Vietnamese twist! I use 1 T of raw organic sugar, 1 T of homemade chocolate syrup, 1 T of vanilla rice milk & 3 T of sweetened condensed milk. Obviously, you don't have to use organic & homemade syrups but they ARE healthier! Of course, I'm pretty sure that they are cancelled out by the sweetened condensed milk (aka heavenly goo lol). Stir it all up, sit back & wait for your jolt to kick in!! Enjoy a little taste of heaven :)
