This is the recipe for the ultimate iced coffee
Say wine, snacks or haute cuisine and the gourmands at online food magazine FavorFlav know where to drink, how to eat it and what to cook. This time our cheffies serve you: the ultimate iced coffee: warm, cold or something in between.
How do you make the ultimate iced coffee? Hot coffee, cold drip or does it not matter to you anymore? We list the pros and cons, will you choose your favorite.
As a true iced coffee lover, food editor Cora Lee (Food52) drinks not only cold coffee in the hottest months of the year, but also in spring, autumn, and winter. She bought a cold drip machine, where cold water slowly and gradually drips through ground coffee, so that after hours of waiting you get a perfect iced coffee. At least, according to Cora Lee. ‘The coffee tastes softer, fruitier (like blueberries!) and less acidic,’ she says. ‘And: a small cup is enough, because due to the slow extraction there is extra caffeine in it.’
Kick from coffee
Iced coffee is usually made from hot coffee that cools down because it is mixed with cold milk or poured over ice cubes. Coffee brewed with hot water extracts slightly less caffeine from the beans, but more spicy, nutty flavors and especially: more bitter flavors. And that is precisely the kick of true coffee lovers.
Ice cubes are a nightmare
According to Cora, cold coffee that has been too diluted by ice cubes or shaved ice is really a nightmare. Her recipe for the perfect iced coffee takes the ice into account. She naturally uses fresh beans, not some dusty pack of coffee that has been sitting in the cupboard for weeks and has it ground or grinds it herself. Then she calculates how much water she will use, counting the ice cubes as well. Basically, she just makes stronger coffee, so that the ice cubes she later lets melt in the coffee come out at the perfect strength. She makes her cold drip with a French press, you know, one of those coffee things that you have to push down. She puts the coarsely ground coffee with cold water and some ice cubes in the jug and lets it sit for 12 to 24 hours before she pushes it down.
Italian twist
Want to go all out? Then make an affogato: a scoop of good vanilla ice cream in a cup over which you pour a steaming hot cup of espresso. A splash of marsala, done! Perfect ending to a dinner, especially if you are fully in the Italian mood.
