Cold Brewed Coffee

It’s summer and iced coffees are everywhere. Frappuccinos are what the coffee shops are proudly advertising on big signs in the streets, hoping to lure in passersby with the idea of a refreshing cold drink to get their brain to wake up in the midst of the heat. If it’s noty raining of course. Being the UK you never know.

Frappuccinos and most iced coffees are usually made with regular coffee that’s then blended with ice. However, you can actually brew cold coffee. That’s right – you don’t need to heat the water first. If you are having a powercut, or are out camping, this might be good to know. It is also good to know if you like coffee and would like to find out what cold brewed coffee tastes like, as it will give you a different taste from regular coffee.

The best way to make cold brewed coffee is to have fresh coffee beans at hand that you then grind before you brew them. If you are out on a camping trip you might not have access to a coffee grinder and it’s preferred you bring already ground coffee. The best grind for cold brewed coffee is a coarse one.

You will need one cup of whole coffee beans per four cups of filtered water and the brewing process is simple: grind the beans, put them in a glass jar, pour over four cups of cold, or room temperature water, put on a lid, or cover with cling film and leave in the refrigerator for twelve hours. The filter the coffee using a regular coffee filter and either serve the coffee or keep it in the fridge for up to two weeks.

Cold brewed coffee can be a great alternative to regular coffee during summer as it’s nice to distinguish the flavour of summer! We offer green coffee beans as well so if you are looking to really get a coffee with a distinctive taste profile you can choose to roast the beans yourself as well!

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How to make a Thai iced coffee

A couple of years ago I spent a bit of time travelling around Thailand and became a huge fan of iced coffee with condensed milk – in other words the delicious Thai iced coffee that looks as good as it tastes.  You might not think of Thailand as being a place for good coffee beans, but this recipe is certainly one to try (when the weather perks up).

Makes three Thai iced coffees

Thai iced coffee ingredients:

70g ground coffee beans of your choice

700ml boiling water

Sweetened condensed milk or evaporated milk

Sugar or coffee syrup (if you have a really sweet tooth)

Six cardamom pods

Thai iced coffee instructions:

1. First, open up the cardamom pods and using a mortar and pestle or some sort of herb grinding device, crush up the cardamom seeds so you’re left with a fine powder.

2. Mix the cardamom seeds with the ground coffee beans, place into a cafetiere, pour the boiling water over the coffee beans and cardamom powder and leave to settle for 10 minutes.

3. If you’ve got a sweet tooth, you can add some sugar to the mixture; but condensed milk is already quite sweet so you should be fine without it. By all means add some extra sugar or a flavoured syrup of your choice once you’ve tried the drink with the condensed milk.

4. You can now serve your Thai style iced coffee dividing it equally between the three glasses.

5. Finally, using a table spoon placed over the glass of iced coffee, pour in the condensed milk slowly. This way, the milk will float beautifully into the rest of the coffee creating an interesting and rather sensual pattern.

Serve with ice, drink and enjoy sweet iced coffee, Thai style.

Buy coffee beans from Wholesale Coffee Company

Buy flavoured syrups from Wholesale Coffee Company

3 delicious iced coffee recipes

Today, I had my first iced coffee of the year – a delicious mix of espresso, milk, ice and sugar. However, as I was drinking I found myself feeling a little frustrated that all the sugar had gone straight to the bottom of the cup, so I had to keep stirring with my straw. Next time I think I’ll just abandon sugar completely and get creative with my iced coffees.

If you’ve got a bit of a sweet tooth, try some of these yummy iced coffee recipes.

1. Nutella Iced Coffee

Ingredients: freshly ground coffee beans, Nutella, vanilla essence, milk or condensed milk, cream, and ice

For the Nutella iced coffee you can either use instant coffee or freshly ground coffee beans depending on your preference. The next step is to make a regular cup of coffee, pour it into a blender, add a tablespoon of Nutella, a few drops of vanilla essence and ice. Blend for a while, chill, squirt cream over the top, drink and enjoy.

2. Amaretto Iced Coffee

Ingredients: freshly ground coffee beans, Amaretto flavoured coffee syrup (follow the link to buy from Wholesale Coffee Company), milk, cream and ice.

Follow the above instructions to make yummy amaretto iced coffee. We also sell other coffee flavoured syrups such as Irish Cream, White Chocolate and Ginger. Get creative and start experimenting.

3. Blackcurrant Tea Iced Coffee

Ingredients: brewed blackcurrant tea, one espresso shot made from freshly ground coffee beans, and honey or agave syrup (if you’ve got a sweet tooth).

Pour all the ingredients into a blend and whizz until smooth. This one might sound a bit strange, but freshly brewed coffee beans often have notes of blackcurrant – the blackcurrant tea, therefore, helps to emphasise the natural flavours. You can serve it as an iced coffee cocktail with fresh blackcurrants on top.

Watch this video from delish.com How to make Iced Coffee