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Author:
Franco Salzillo
Starbucks is a huge, international chain, and let’s face it; they know coffee. Of course, few people can just walk into their neighborhood Starbucks and get a cup of coffee every single day. It’s just too expensive.
Coffee is a beautiful drink, yes, because it’s mood-boosting and tasty, but also because it’s quintessentially a cheap product. That means leveling-up our home barista skills is paramount, and we’re starting with Starbucks’ famous iced coffee.
A good iced coffee doesn’t get diluted by the melting ice cubes. It holds on to its flavors and lovely creaminess as you enjoy it, even during the warmest of evenings. That means there’s a right way of preparing it, and here’s mine.
There are two classic styles of iced coffee, the plain one and the milky one. Today we’re making the original non-dairy iced coffee, where the flavors of coffee shine the most. As stated on Starbucks website, their Iced coffee is nothing more than ‘coffee served chilled and sweetened over ice.’ So, how to make our own?
This one is easy; you just need awesome coffee. Forget about instant coffee for this one; you’ll want to brew a deep, aromatic cup of coffee. French press coffee will work beautifully, but you can also use your kitchen percolator. We’ll need a cup of coffee per serving, so feel free to make a whole batch.
The secret comes after brewing the coffee. We need chilled coffee to avoid unnecessary dilution from the ice, so brew your coffee, pour it in a lidded jar or container, let it cool to room temperature, and then chill it in the fridge overnight.
Once you have icy coffee, it’s game day. Now, you only need a sweetener, and here’s where we take a play from Starbucks’ book. We’re using simple syrup. Buy a bottle of simple syrup or make your own by dissolving sugar in hot water with a 1:1 ratio, then let your syrup cool down. You’ll find the home-made version much more pleasing.
The last thing to consider is that we want to sweeten our coffee before pouring it over the ice. Otherwise, the syrup will precipitate in the glass. This is also an opportunity to adjust the sweetness to your liking; just remember you’ll want it a bit sweeter than usual because the ice will dilute it the moment you pour your coffee into the glass.
Brew your coffee and let it chill overnight in the fridge.
Made your simple syrup and let it cool or use store-bought.
Add the simple syrup to the coffee and dissolve entirely by stirring.
Fill a glass with fresh ice cubes and pour your sweetened coffee.
