Ahhhhh……..the sweet coffee buzz!

My blog partner Edie has been tirelessly adding to our Sips and Slurps category over the past year while I blew off this category and let her do the work. My bad! Finally, I have something to add to this category (and thank you Edie for covering us while I took my time coming up with a Sip and Slurp myself!).

My addition to this category (insert drum roll here), and I’m sure those of you who know me well could have guess it, yes, iced coffee.   Some drink iced coffee year round, some drink iced coffee only on hot days, and some drink iced coffee as a rare and special treat. Whatever your iced coffee drinking habits, I promise you, if you don’t drink cold pressed iced coffee, you will after you’ve tried this recipe. How anyone drinks iced coffee any other way is now beyond me (if you prefer to live in a state of denial, do not try this recipe and I understand that perfectly). even Cooks Illustrated, the people who test everything upside down, backwards, and sideways, call this the perfect way to brew iced coffee. Apparently, because the extraction is done at a lower temperature, the coffee lacks the bitterness and acidity of the traditional hot brew.  They are right.  Iced coffee made this way is smooth and delightful.

And so, without further delay, here it is – simple yet you need to think ahead as the steeping process is overnight. Make a BIG batch. You can keep this in your refrigerator for  up to 2 weeks and you will be happy that you went BIG as you pour a tall glass or two of this magic every day.

Ingredients

2 1/3 cups coarsely ground coffee (ground like for a French press)
7 1/2 cups cold water

Method

Place ground coffee into large pitcher. Slowly pour water over grounds.  Lightly stir together to ensure that all coffee grounds are moistened.  Cover the top of the pitcher with cheesecloth or paper towel and secure with a rubber band.  Let coffee steep overnight or up to 15 hours.

After you’ve steeped the coffee, strain the mixture into another large pitcher with a fine sieve or Melitta coffee filter and cup.  Discard the grinds and rinse out the sieve.  Rinse the original steeping pitcher out.  Place a coffee filter into the fine sieve or Melitta and strain again (i.e. double filtered). 

Next place ice cubes in a glass and fill the glass half way with cold brew concentrate. Top with cold water or milk of your choice (or a combination).  Dilute to your liking.