Iced coffee has moved on from being a beverage designed more on a chocolate milkshake than a serious caffeinated beverage.

Many cafes are now re-inventing the definition of iced coffee. The whipped cream, ice cream and chocolate topping is on the way out. So what’s on the way in? Let’s explore 3 types of iced coffees you may see in your local café, or would like to start experimenting with at your own establishment.

METHOD 1: ESPRESSO

1- Grab a large glass (or a clear 12oz take-away cup – like the one smoothies come in)

2- Fill up the cup with 1/3 ice

3-Add full-cream milk, leaving a 3cm gap at the top of the glass

4-Extract and pour a fresh shot of double espresso over the top

Enjoy!

Why no cream, ice-cream or chocolate syrup? Sure, it’s tasty. But the added sugar is often too much for people to handle day in day out, especially when the weather heats up over summer.

The goal of serving delicious iced coffee is to try to get your customers to switch to this drink everyday – rather than a one off treat.

METHOD 2: COLD BREW

Commonly known as cold drip or cold press. This is a method for brewing coffee with cold or room-temperature water.

Cold brew coffee has lower acidity than hot-brewed coffee so you can brew it in bulk and store it in the fridge without the worry that it will go off.

The downside: it needs time to brew overnight & it is more expensive per ml compared to a hot brew.

There are all sorts of different methods but the ‘bucket’ method is a common one that produces a great tasting iced coffee.

Equipment:

• saucepan
• paper filter bag or some fine muslin / cheesecloth.

To make 1L of cold brew:

1-Weigh out 400g coffee beans of your choosing (single origin is bestGrind it to a medium-coarse texture

2- Add it to the filter bag

3- Put the bag in the large saucepan

4- Pour 1.8L of cold, filtered water over the coffee grinds and stir using a wooden spoon

5- Tie off the top of the bag, put the lid on the saucepan and leave on the counter to brew for between 12 hours – 24hrs

6- Take the bag out and squeeze out the liquid

7- Store in an airtight container

You can serve up cold brew as a shot (50-100ml) over ice, or mix it with milk (1 part cold brew to 2 parts milk) or experiment with other ratios.

METHOD 3: ICED FILTER COFFEE

Iced filter coffee is a simple method of pouring pre-prepared filtered coffee over ice. When filtered coffee is brewed well, it lets the full flavours of a light roasted coffee come through.

The goal is to avoid watered-down coffee flavour. If you experience this then the trick is to reduce the amount of water you’re using in the brewing ratip.

Here’s an example using an Aeropress:

• Weigh out 15g (roughly 1 Aeropress scoop worth) and grind it on a medium (paper filter) setting
• Fill a large glass with ice
• Put the brewer on the glass & pour 100ml water from the kettle over the coffee until
• Stir the coffee and wait 1 minute
• Put the plunger onto the brewer and press down smoothly, but not too quickly
• Add a small amount of milk or thickened cream and stir

Iced coffee is a great beverage to have next to the traditional favourites. Everyone will love the unique taste over the hotter months and the fact that it tastes like ‘real’ coffee – not like a coffee flavoured milkshake.