It’s never too cold for iced coffee!

Even though we are in the middle of winter I still enjoy a super sweet and cool iced coffee. Perhaps this is just the luxury of living in the subtropics; it’s never really that cold here.

An Australian style iced coffee is typically a dessert-like extravagance comprising cream, ice cream and even chocolate on top. As enjoyable as these are they’re hardly an everyday treat. I much prefer a simple iced coffee made with coffee, sugar, milk and ice cubes.

The perfect way to keep an iced coffee super cold is to use ice cubes made from coffee. Simply make a cup of coffee, sweeten if preferred, and pour into your favourite ice cube moulds. This technique also works well with iced tea or punch.

When you have poured the hot coffee (or tea) into the moulds you don’t need to wait for it to cool before placing in the freezer. Did you know that hot water freezes more quickly than cold water? Sounds crazy, right? It’s due to a phenomenon known as the Mpemba effect. Science is so cool!

Previously whenever I have made iced coffee I’ve simply used espresso coffee I brewed in the stovetop espresso maker (or sometimes even instant coffee!). I will confess to being more on an addict than connoisseur of coffee though. I found some great tips from The Kitchn for cold brewing. This method promises a smoother and less bitter iced coffee. I will try these soon!

Do you enjoy iced coffee? Even in winter? What’s your preferred brewing method?