It's Time To Stop Wasting Money On Iced Coffee Because This Is A Perfect DIY

In the spring and summer who wants a sweaty cup of hot coffee? Well, I guess I do sometimes;), but most of the time during the spring and summer iced coffee is where it's at.

Sometimes I'll make a pot of coffee and then I don't finish it and it just seems like such a waste of money (because it is) and now rather than throwing it out I'm going to put it in a container and slurp it up later as iced coffee. (I so wish I would've had this recipe down-pat when I ran into this problem awhile back.)

"While it's no surprise that making your own cup of coffee is cheaper than buying it on the outside, the savings over time are eye-opening. Here's a telling contrast: A 6-ounce cup of coffee made at home, at about 17 cents a cup per day, adds up to $1.19 a week and $62.05 a year. A 16-ounce grande coffee from Starbucks, at $2.29 per day, adds up to $16.03 per week, and a hefty $835.85 per year -- the price of a mini vacation."

(quote/stat via The Daily Finance) 

Just last week I perfected my iced coffee recipe and now I feel like a total schmuck for ever paying that crazy price ($4.00 !??!) for the fancy coffee shop version. Plus, have you ever noticed that iced coffee is (usually) more expensive than the already expensive regular hot cup of coffee-shop coffee? Wanna know why? It's because they "double brew" it.

So, what does "double brew" mean anyway, and can the homemade stuff be just as good (or better) than the expensive stuff?

Yes.

Totally, totally, yes it can. 

Here's how it's done. 

How To Make Perfect Iced Coffee At Home - The Recipe:

1. Make your coffee like you usually do

2. Pour the whole pot of coffee into a bowl (this will free-up the coffee maker if you're going to do a double brew)

3. So, what double brewing does is it makes the coffee super strong, and it also helps to the coffee to continue to have that "coffee" taste when the ice starts to melt and water it down.

How-To Double Brew: Dump out the grounds from the 1st pot of coffee (or even better, save them to re-use later as a coffee grounds exfoliator) then scoop fresh coffee grounds into the coffee maker/french press. This time though, instead of using fresh water, pour in the coffee that you just made. There you go, you just double brewed. Super easy, right.

On a side note: I've made a couple of batches of iced coffee and I tried the single/normal/one-time brew and the double brew just to see if it really did make any difference (because if it didn't I didn't want to spend the money on the extra coffee). Turns out, double brewing is much better for iced coffee, but then again, I like crazy strong tar-like coffee so if you don't like your coffee like that then a single brew might do you just right. 

4. Next, it's time to make the Simple Syrup. I never knew this stuff was so easy to make either. I've made the mistake of using regular old granulated sugar in my previous attempts at iced coffee and then I would get a mouthful of sugar grit, which sucks and then it's like, "Why am I eating raw sugar? Oh yeah, because I don't know that Simple Syrup exists." 

Simple Syrup: Boil 2 cups of water, then pour in 2 cups of granulated sugar. Stir it up until the sugar dissolves completely. 

5. Pour the Simple Syrup into a container. There's no need to buy something new to put it in. I looked around my apartment to see what I could use. This 24 oz water bottle was the perfect fit, and I was sure to label it to make sure no one accidentally downed the sugar syrup, dumped it out or... watered a plant with it.

6. Then, pour the coffee into a bowl, pitcher or some other container to store it in. I used an old orange juice jug that I rinsed out twice and it worked great!

7. Put the coffee and Simple Syrup into the fridge to cool down. I let it mine chill overnight and then got into it the next morning.

8. My husband got a water at a coffee shop and they gave it to him in a large plastic cup with a straw (lucky me) so I've kept that cup and straw and have used it for my iced coffee for a few days now. It's amazing how putting off-brand or generic stuff into name-brand containers makes some things seem not so rickety (this is a great tip to use with kids who love having name-brand stuff). 

9. Fill up the cup with ice, pour in your ice-cold coffee, and then add creamer and Simple Syrup to taste. 

I can hardly believe how easy iced coffee is to make and it really does taste as good as the coffee shop version. I'm so glad I've got this recipe ready to go for the summer! 

Do you have any tips or tricks for making iced coffee? Do you make anything now that you used to buy and were surprised to find how easy it was to make yourself?