No need to run to Starbucks when you can make the easiest iced coffee at home

It may be late November, but I’m still drinking iced coffee. And why not? It’s so easy to make at home – and even cheaper than buying it at Starbucks, Dunkin’ or a local coffeeshop.

Even if you’re usually a hot coffee or espresso drinker, I encourage you to step out of your comfort zone and try this iced coffee recipe. It’s always a good time to tap into your inner barista and learn a new recipe. Here’s how to make your own iced coffee at home in a few simple steps.

Learn more: Here’s how much you’ll save making coffee at home

Ingredients for homemade iced coffee

Here are the essential ingredients and supplies you’ll need to make a delicious batch of iced coffee at home:

1. Freshly brewed coffee. (You can use your Keurig, automatic coffee maker, pour-over, or other preferred brewing method.)
2. Ice
3. A launcher
4. Optional additions: sugar, simple syrups, flavored syrups, cream and milk for example to spice up your coffee

How to Make Delicious Iced Coffee at Home

Here’s a simple 3-step method for making iced coffee:

1. Brew several cups of coffee according to package or machine instructions. Let your freshly ground coffee cool completely. You can achieve this by letting it sit until it reaches room temperature. Better options, however, are to pour the coffee into a pitcher and place it in the freezer for 30 minutes or to plan ahead by refrigerating the coffee-filled pitcher overnight. (I recommend the latter.) And if you’re going with the freezer pitcher method, it’s best to use plastic, because glass can explode from extreme temperature changes, like going from scalding to freezing.
2. Fill a glass with ice and pour the cooled coffee over it. It’s best to wait until the coffee is completely lukewarm or cooled to avoid ending up with weak, diluted coffee.
3. Customize your iced coffee by adding desired extras, like cream or flavored syrup.

Bonus Tips

First pro tip:

Freeze your brewed coffee in ice cube trays. When making your next cup of iced coffee, simply drop a few ice cubes into the coffee and pour them over your coffee to prevent water from diluting your coffee.

Second pro tip:

If you constantly forget to prepare your coffee in advance and are too impatient to wait for your coffee to cool (I’ll be the first to admit that I just can’t wait for my morning coffee), then you should consider to buy a HyperChiller. . This is a real game changer.

All you’ll need to do is store your handy HyperChiller in your freezer. Then, when you have a piping hot cup of coffee that you want to brew chilled, simply pour the hot liquid into the HyperChiller’s central chamber, swirl it for less than a minute, and voila, your coffee is perfectly cold.

Iced coffee or cold brew

Iced coffee is not the same thing as cold brew coffee, although they are often confused. Iced coffee is less concentrated and contains less caffeine. It’s also much quicker and more practical to make.

Cold brew is delicious but more complicated. Brewing often takes an entire day and may require a specialized cold brew machine. (You can also use this method, which only requires two mason jars.) But if you’re interested, CNET also has a guide to making the perfect cold brew coffee at home.

To learn more, find out how to properly clean your Keurig and how to prevent coffee and tea from staining your cups.