Drinking Iced Coffee Can Be a Refreshing Experience

While not quite as possible as iced tea, coffee poured over ice cubes can be just as tasty and refreshing to drink.

Iced coffee is just what it sounds like, a cold version of coffee. Many people who love the taste of coffee but do not want a hot drink, especially in the summer, will often drink their coffee cold.  It is refreshing and still provides the taste and the kick that only coffee can.

Preparing iced coffee is not difficult. Just follow these simple steps to make some great tasting iced coffee at home:

1.   Start by brewing up a pot of coffee. Make it slightly stronger than you would normally. Iced coffee tends to lose some of its flavor when the ice begins to melt in your drink.
2.   Once the coffee is brewed, place it in a carafe or pitcher. Never place a pot of hot coffee in the refrigerator. The glass will most certainly crack or burst.
3.   If you like sugar in your coffee, sweeten it while it is still hot. It takes a lot longer for sugar to dissolve in a cold drink.
4.   Leave the coffee standing at room temperature for three to five hours or place in the refrigerator for one to three hours.
5.   When the coffee has chilled, pour into a glass and add ice cubes for an even colder drink.
6.   You can now add cream or milk if you desire.

If you don't like your iced coffee watered down with the melting ice cubes, you can pour coffee into ice cube trays and freeze them ahead of time. For an added touch, you could place a coffee bean in the ice cube trays before freezing. Just be sure to warn everyone that it's there so they don't choke on the coffee beans.

Another neat thing you can do is to add something like a rock sugar swizzle stick. These are simply stir sticks with thick rock candy on the end. You can usually buy these in most candy stores. Another idea for iced coffee drinks is to use a cocktail shaker. Mixing your iced coffee drinks in this will make them extra frothy.

When making iced coffee it is important to remember that the taste depends on the bean. A darker roast coffee blend yields a better iced coffee. Experiment with different roasts and flavors to see what you like the best. Maybe you could mix a couple of flavors of coffee together and use this custom blend to make your iced coffee with.

Search the various recipe web sites for different types of iced coffees. The possibilities are endless! Do a search for iced coffee recipes and just see what you can find. Flavor packets are also available to add to your iced coffee for additional flavor combinations.

If you have never tried iced coffee, why not give it a try. And the good news is, you don't have to wait for the hot weather because it's good anytime you want coffee!