Recipe

The only way to start the day for most of us is to drink a cup of hot coffee. There’s nothing more uplifting than a cup after waking up in the morning or whenever you feel like it. However, don’t you find that there are days when you find yourself thirsting for a cold drink rather than something that’s piping hot?

What you need during those days is iced coffee, and there’s no better way to prepare it than with a French press! Making a perfect cup of iced coffee using your French press coffee maker isn’t rocket science.

The Right Way of Brewing

While it may be tempting to utilize the same technique that you do to prepare your traditional hot coffee and just add ice cubes at the end to cool it down, you’ll soon find that it’s just not the same. After all, ice dilutes your coffee’s depth of flavor.

The secret to that perfect cup of iced coffee is to rethink your brewing process completely. Thus, you must first learn how to cold brew.

Aptly named, cold brewing is the method of preparing coffee with cold instead of hot water. As such, it will take longer (the process that we’ll share with you in a bit requires prepping the night before), but it is crucial in achieving optimum results.

Be forewarned, though. The finished product is strong and very flavorful. While you might enjoy it as it is with ice cubes, you can tame it down with water or milk later on.

How to Make Iced Coffee With a French Press

Making a perfect cup of iced coffee using your French press isn’t rocket science. Here are the simple steps you need to follow:

1. Grind Your Beans

You will need to grind ⅓ cup of your preferred coffee beans. You want your beans not to be too coarse so that your French press can filter them properly. It should also not be too fine to steep well and infuse.

We use the middle setting on our burr grinder, but feel free to experiment until you get the texture you prefer.

2. Put the Beans in the French Press and Add Water

Pour your freshly ground beans into your French press first, then add one and a half cups of room-temperature or hot water. 

3. Stir

Stir everything until the beans and water are well-blended, then cover your French press with its lid. Keep the plunger up.

4. Let It Steep Overnight

Put your French press in the fridge and leave it there to steep and infuse into the water overnight. If you used hot water, let it reach room temperature before placing it in your refrigerator.

5. Pour Yourself a Cup

Your cold brew should be ready the next morning. Take it out of the fridge and bring the plunger down to strain the ground beans from your coffee.

Put some ice on your cup first, fill halfway with your brew, and if you want to, pour in your chosen liquid to dilute it. If you want your brew pure, then just fill your glass all the way and enjoy it!

Brewing More Than Just a Cup

You can certainly make a larger batch than the one we shared with you above. Use the same ratio of ground beans and water we have used in our recipe. You can use this if you’re brewing for more than yourself or expecting to share a cup or two with friends in the morning.

Can You Brew in Advance?

This method of preparation also allows you to brew in advance. Just follow our tip on how to brew a large batch above, separate the coffee from the grounds to prevent over-steeping, transfer it to a separate pitcher and keep it in your fridge. It can last refrigerated for a week.

Going Beyond Just a Cup of Coffee

Want to level up your brew and make it cafe-quality? Here are some ingredients you can add to your cup either on their own or in combination, depending on your taste:

● Cajeta Caramel

● Chocolate Fudge

● Sea Salt

● Cinnamon

Or, if you’re feeling slightly more indulgent, you can even add ice cream on top!

Making Iced Coffee with a French Press

Preparing iced coffee is not as simple as adding ice cubes to your hot cup. It takes a lot more care to cold brew your coffee in advance to achieve that same depth of flavor without being diluted against your taste.

You can do so by grinding your coffee beans and letting it sit and steep in your French press overnight while inside the fridge. Filter the grounds from your brew using your press’ plunger and keep your coffee in a separate container if you want to save some for later.

You can refrigerate your brew for a week. Pour your coffee to a cup, add more ingredients if you want, and enjoy your perfect cup of iced coffee!

Photo by Lisa Fotios from Pexels