This summer, I discovered the art and taste of homemade iced coffees! Making delicious iced coffees became a hobby of mine in no time. So why not share my explorations and easy iced coffee recipes with you all to enjoy?
Since university, I’ve been a coffee girl. Completely black or mixed with all different flavors and milk, I’m all for it! Those days, I always drank coffee from my Dolce Gusto or Senseo machine or went to a local coffee shop to try something more special.
Making fancy iced coffees isn’t that difficult at all, and it’s way cheaper than always running to the coffee shop to buy one.
Getting the right appliances at the start might be a little investment, but you will save money in the long term and probably enjoy yourself while creating these yummy iced coffees!
These 4 easy iced coffee recipes are all you need to start becoming a barista at home, let’s see which tools you need to have and how little ingredients you need!
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Essential Tools for Coffee Making
In the early days, when I first made homemade iced coffee, I just made it with a packet of iced coffee powder and some cold water. This is a super easy iced coffee recipe, but it really doesn’t compare to the iced coffees I make now.
If you don’t want to invest in a coffee maker, maybe the powder packets will work well enough for you! But if you want to grow and improve your barista skills to create more delicious iced coffees, there are some appliances you need to have.
Coffee Machine
You have many options for your coffee maker, varying from an automatic espresso machine to a coffee maker with cups or pads. These machines also vary widely in price range, so pick a machine that fits your budget.
I use a coffee maker with beans, just like this amazing automatic espresso machine, because I think the taste is better than the pads or cups and it feels more authentic when making my iced coffees.
If you want a cheaper option that makes great black coffee and fits better in a small place, you should get a Keurig K-Mini Single Serve K-Cup Pod Coffee Maker or a Nespresso Machine.
When you prefer a coffee machine that can make lattes, cappuccinos, etc. by just popping in another milk pod so you don’t have to buy milk or a milk frother, you can get yourself a KOTLIE Espresso Machine and use different Dolce Gusto pods.
The most important thing for making homemade iced coffee is that the coffee machine has to be able to make espresso. A double shot, please!
Milk Frother
As with the coffee makers, there is also a lot of variety in milk frothers. I will limit myself to the handheld milk frothers to keep it simple. Just like we want easy iced coffee recipes to be!
Between handheld milk frothers, it’s important to be aware of the difference between a rechargeable milk frother with a built-in battery and one with disposable batteries.
Batteries aren’t cheap, so you might want to buy a bit more expensive milk frother that you can recharge with electricity instead of one where you need to replace the batteries now and then, but this is up to you! I bought a rechargeable one because I think it will be worth it in the long run.
There are naturally also very good disposable battery-powered milk frothers available, with a beautiful classy design and stylish colors.
You can use a milk frother to foam milk or coffee (or both), and you can also use it for matcha, a protein shake, hot chocolate, and even more things.
Iced Coffee Glasses + Straws
These can-shaped glass cups with glass straws are very trending nowadays, I bought these for myself because I love the simplicity of the design and the fact that they can contain a lot of iced coffee! The glass is very sturdy and they are dishwasher safe, which is also a must for me!
If you want your glasses to be a bit more special or extra glamorous, go for ribbed iced coffee glasses or the very cute ripple iced coffee glasses for an even girlier design.
Your coffee glasses play a big part in the esthetics of the iced coffee and if you feel strongly about pretty things, get yourself cute glasses then. You could also buy disposable coffee cups, but I don’t recommend this as this isn’t good for the environment.
What you can do however if you want to take your coffee to go, is buy a reusable plastic cup (this one isn’t dishwasher safe btw) that works really great.
Ice Cube Trays
You can’t forget about the ice cubes when you are making iced coffees, it’s such an essential part! You can buy ice cubes straight from the supermarket, but who does that if you can easily make them yourself at home?
I recently bought some round ice cube trays and they work great. The ice cubes are very easy to release with a twist and it’s also easy to fill with water, coffee, or milk. Most ice cube trays are not dishwasher safe, so give them a gentle handwash if you fill them with sugary substances like milk.
Next to round ice cubes, you might also want to create square-shaped ice cubes to switch it up or even go a little more extravagant with these flower-shaped ice cube trays.
So these are the essential tools before you can start making iced coffees with my easy iced coffee recipes! Let’s get started!
4 Easy Iced Coffee Recipes
1. Super Basic Iced Coffee
Ingredients: espresso, cold milk, sugar, ice cubes.
The most basic and easy iced coffee recipe only contains 3 ingredients, namely coffee, cold milk, and sugar (white or brown). Okay, ice cubes are the fourth ingredient if you wanna be exact.
You can add all the ingredients together and stir it up to make a basic iced coffee or make it a little more special by using the milk frother. Which is how I do it.
The basis of an iced coffee is always the same, you start with one or two espresso shots, depending on the quantity of iced coffee you are making.
When I use my large 16 oz iced coffee glasses, I use two shots of espresso. Next, I add some sugar (a few teaspoons), and then I grab the milk frother to whip up the coffee with the sugar. The volume rises until my glass is half full after some time and this is the time to add a lot of ice cubes.
The last ingredient to add is cold milk, which again you add as much as you like and the type of milk can also vary to your preference.
You can buy cold brew coffee from the supermarket or use instant powder for iced coffee as well, but I like to use my automatic espresso machine. The ice cubes and the cold milk will cool the hot espresso down instantly.
And you’re done!
2. Syrup flavored Iced Coffee
Ingredients: espresso, cold milk, flavored syrup, (sugar), ice cubes.
Up to the next easy iced coffee recipe, by adding flavored syrups to them.
So for this recipe, we are using flavored syrups instead of basic white or brown sugar, which can give a more special flavor to the iced coffee.
Start with filling the bottom of the cup with syrup of a flavor you like. Depending on how hard you want to taste the flavor, you add more or less syrup at the bottom. I would suggest not using too much to begin with, you can always add some more to your iced coffee at the end.
If you want your coffee to be sweeter, but don’t want to taste the specific flavor of the syrup that hard, add some regular sugar to it. It’s try and error making iced coffees for the first time, to find the perfect one for you!
Add your two shots of espresso on top of the syrup and mix it up with your milk frother. If you want to create an aesthetic like the photo above, you should add the coffee mixed with the syrup at the end.
Don’t forget to add tons of ice cubes and cold milk to finish the iced coffee. If you want an even creamier version, you can also whip up the milk, then you have milk foam on top of the coffee foam. Frappé!
Syrups that are definitely worth a try are:
- Maple Bourbon Pecan Flavored Syrup (sugar-free)
- Brown Sugar Cinnamon Syrup (sugar-free)
- Vanilla Syrup
- Belgian Cookie Speculoos Syrup (sugar-free)
- White Chocolate Syrup (sugar-free)
3. Condensed Milk Iced Coffee
Ingredients: espresso, cold milk, sweetened condensed milk, ice cubes.
This easy iced coffee recipe is one of my all-time favorites that I’ve been making all the time recently.
If you don’t like any syrup flavors particularly and would love the perfect sweet spot for your iced coffee, I present to you: sweetened condensed milk!
Sweetened condensed milk has a rich and sweet flavor that tastes amazing in iced coffees. You can use condensed milk for many other purposes as well, but I find it delicious in my iced coffee.
Add a good bottom of sweetened condensed milk to the bottom of your glass (not too much because it’s really sweet), add two shots of espresso, and mix it with your milk frother, the coffee won’t rise as high as with the other coffees because of the condensed milk. Then add the ice cubes and the cold milk to finish it.
Bonus tip: You can easily make dulce de leche with a can of sweetened condensed milk by boiling it for at least one hour. Make sure it is covered fully with water or there might be explosion danger! This dulce de leche sauce that you created can be used on top of desserts but also in your iced coffee for decoration to the glass inside and drizzle it on top of the coffee.
4. Ice Cream Iced Coffee
Ingredients: espresso, cold milk, mocha ice cream, ice cubes, (whipped cream).
When I was a university student, I had a student job in an ice cream shop (my dream student job). At that ice cream shop, I also made iced coffees, and god were they delicious!
The ice cream iced coffee is a little higher in calories and more filling, but so worth it now and then. It’s an amazing treat on a hot day and it’s still an easy iced coffee recipe.
You do need a powerful blender to create this yummy iced coffee.
Start by making the 2 shots of espresso and take two scoops of mocha-flavored ice cream, add some cold milk until it has a consistency you like, and blend it all together.
Poor the coffee ice cream mixture into the iced coffee glass, add some ice cubes, and top it with some whipped cream if you want, to make it even more decadent!
You could also give other ice cream flavors a go if you want to try different flavors. Go for it!