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Tips for Quick and Easy Iced Coffee

by

Summertime is the perfect time for iced coffee. How do you make it at home? There are two schools of thought. One is to make a near double strength cup of hot coffee and then chill it with ice. Pretty easy, but not very quick. Especially if you making drinks for others and yourself through the hot day. And who wants to sit inside brewing coffee when you could be out by the pool or playing volleyball? Not me.

The second and superior method is to make a coffee concentrate. This method is both quick and easy. The most popular cold coffee concentrate brewing system is the Toddy Coffee Maker. Basically you let coffee steep at room temperature overnight while you are sleeping and then it gets moved to the refrigerator. Once cold you can pour yourself coffee whenever you desire. Add some ice and a splash of water or cream and you're done.

Toddy Cold Brew System
Toddy Cold Brew System

In the article Cold Brew Coffee with the Toddy Coffee Maker, I listed a few reasons for using this coffee brewing method. They include:

  1. Less acid than other coffee brewing methods.
  2. 33% less caffeine.
  3. Perfect for households where people drink coffee at different times of the day.
  4. Camping.
  5. Iced coffee!
  6. Power Outage. (I wrote this after experiencing a San Diego summer black out)

Brewing Overview For the Toddy Coffee Maker

For more details and photos on how to use the Toddy Coffee maker refer to the Toddy Coffee Brewing Tutorial. Here is a brief overview on how easy it is to make coffee concentrate.

  1. Flip the Toddy Upside down and secure the stopper into the brewing container.
  2. Wet and insert the circular filter into the inside bottom of the Toddy.
  3. Add one pound of medium (drip) ground coffee into the brewer.
  4. Slowly and evenly add 4 cups of cold water. Do not stir.
  5. Wait 5 minutes and then add 5 more cups of cold water. Again do not stir.
  6. Cover with a plate or plastic wrap. This will keep insects or dust from falling into your coffee.
  7. Let the coffee brew 10-12 hours at room temperature.
  8. Release coffee into the glass decanter.
  9. It can take 20-30 minutes for the coffee to drain.
  10. Place into the refrigerator.

That is it. Although I am a big fan of grinding my own beans, grinding a full pound at once is time consuming. This is one brewing method where I am OK with having your beans ground at the coffee roaster. Just make sure you start the brewing that evening.

Making an Iced Toddy Coffee

The title of this article makes it clear that easy is essential to good iced coffee. Since you've made the concentrate already, make the Iced Toddy Coffee is really simple

  1. Add ice into glass
  2. Pour in coffee concentrate.
  3. Add water or milk to get your own preferred level of strength.
  4. (optional) Add sweeteners.
  5. (optional) Top with a creamy alcoholic drink such as Baileys or Kahlua.

Resources

Cold Brew Coffee with the Toddy Coffee Maker - Cold brewing coffee tutorial.

Toddy Cold Brew System - Product Page on Amazon.com.

Home Cold-Brewed Iced Coffee - Article by Melanie Brault.

Published: April 2007, Last Modified: September 2011

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