Iced coffee is something I suppose I could, but choose not to live without. I am one of those crazy people who drinks iced coffee even while wearing gloves. It makes no sense, but I just love it :) And yes I am also one of those annoying people who proudly rattle off a coffee order with more descriptive words than a thesaurus which my husband teases me about every single time (but still "shares" half of my drink every time without fail too). SO what if I order a non-fat, sugar free vanilla, grande, iced latte... with whipped cream! In my head that makes sense... the calories even out... right??? Unlike what you may think THAT doesn't embarrass me, but what does is the thought of just how much money I spent in my "past life" on daily Starbucks runs! So when I decided to stay at home with my kiddos that luxury was among the first extras I knew I didn't really need! Plus even though we live in a "coffee crazed" part of the country, surprisingly there isn't a Starbucks close to me. Initially there were shakes and mood swings, like any good addict I needed to detox but within a few days I was OK. However just as I was getting comfortable on the non-caffeinated "wagon" my dearest friend turned me onto The Pioneer Woman, a really fun cook, mom and blogger and within two days I had fallen off that wagon with a deafening thud and was making her amazing iced coffee concentrate. The only issue was she made such a large amount that I didn't have the space to store so I experimented and came up with a more manageable size and can now "have me coffee and drink it too" without feeling guilty :)
First you need a strong ground coffee.. I like this Cafe' Bustelo 10oz can. You can find it on nearly any coffee aisle and it's less than 4 dollars. So for the price of one coffee you are going to make enough for weeks worth of caffeinated bliss.
Empty the can into a large bowl... and add 20 cups (or 10 of these Pyrex measuring cups) to the bowl. Stir it up well.
Cover it with some plastic wrap or a lid and forget about it for 8-12 hours. I usually do mine at night and then it's ready to bring me out of my scary slumber the next morning.
Not the most appetizing site 8 hours later, but trust me the next messy step is so worth it.
Take a strainer lined with a few coffee filters or cheese cloth, set it over a large bowl and slowly strain out the grounds from the liquid. It may be a little slow going, but be patient the pay off is coming shortly.
Then I transfer it to a big iced tea pitcher and fill my handy reusable cup with ice.....
add coffee "awesomeness"....
a little cream....
the "I feel better about the cream" sugar free vanilla....
and just because you deserve it... a little whipped cream :) So for pennies you can have as many custom iced coffees, as often as your nerves can handle!
From a very happy very caffeinated lady, have a great day!
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