Brown Sugar Iced Coffee: What Is It & How to Make It at Home?

People enjoy their coffee in all different ways. Some people like it black, some people like it with cream and sugar. But today, I’m going to take things one step further — brown sugar iced coffee.

You read that right — brown sugar iced coffee is an actual thing, and it’s sweet and delicious.

Now that summer is officially here; it’s time to indulge in some iced coffee. When it comes to iced coffee, there are so many different kinds of recipes you can try.

If you’re the type of person who loves brown sugar, then this is the iced coffee recipe for you. With the addition of brown sugar, this iced coffee recipe is sweet and rich.

What is brown sugar iced coffee?

A brown sugar iced coffee is a delicious cold coffee drinking made with cold brew coffee, brown sugar syrup, a splash of milk or milk alternative of your choice, and cooled with ice cubes.

I have been using brown sugar syrup since I made the iced brown sugar oatmilk shaken espresso. Although this coffee recipe is really delicious, this brown sugar iced coffee is top-notch.

This coffee recipe features a very robust cold brew coffee, which I’ll show you how to make later. The coffee is then topped with a layer of milk and a touch of homemade brown sugar syrup.

Doesn’t that sound amazing? Well, I can tell you that it is. I’ve been testing this coffee recipe for a bit now, and I keep enjoying it time and again. But today, I’ll be sharing this recipe with you.

What ingredients do I need for this recipe?

You’ll need to collect quite a few things to make this coffee recipe completely. But you can make the required ingredients in bigger batches.

So once you make the bigger batch of cold brew coffee and brown sugar syrup, you can create multiple iced coffees in a relatively short time. You’ll need the following ingredients:

To make the cold brew coffee:

• Dark or medium roasted coffee beans and preferably a coffee grinder
• Cold water
• Large mug or French press used for the steeping period of the coffee

You can also use a cold brew maker to make it easier for yourself. You can just add the ground coffee into the fine mesh sieve and leave it to steep. After steeping, you’ll only have to remove the sieve and your cold brew is ready. You can check it out here:

I’ll be going over the steps to making cold brew coffee at home a bit further down the article. This recipe will be super easy to follow and can be done in only 12 hours. It will be absolutely delicious.

To make the brown sugar syrup, you’ll need:

• Brown sugar
• Water
• Small saucepan with handle

After the recipe card, I’ve listed a recipe for homemade brown sugar syrup. You can use this coffee syrup to make lots of coffee recipes, so it will be worth your time.

To finish the iced coffee, you’ll need:

• A glass of your choice
• Brown sugar syrup
• Cold brew coffee
• Ice cubes (or even coffee ice cubes)
• Milk of your choice

Now that I’ve covered everything you need to brew this coffee, lets me start by going over the best coffee to use for this recipe and show you how to make cold brew coffee yourself:

What coffee is best used?

Cold brew coffee is the best choice as the basis for this coffee recipe. However, if you don’t want to spend the time waiting for the cold brew coffee to finish steeping, you can use a brewed coffee of choice.

For example, you can brew a nice cup of pour over coffee, French press coffee, or even pull some shots of espresso or ristretto.

It’s all up to you, but I do suggest using a strong cup of coffee. The flavorful coffee will be the basis of this recipe, and it needs to have the strength to cut through the sweetness of the sugar syrup and milk.

When you’ve brewed your coffee, cool it down completely with ice cubes if you’re on a clock. Or cool it down in the refrigerator or freezer for a few minutes. Once cool, you can make this coffee recipe very easily.

How to make cold brew coffee at home

To make cold brew coffee at home, you’ll need coffee beans and water. That’s it. It’s very easy; let me show you how to brew some yourself.

I suggest using a coffee to water ratio of 1:10. This means for every gram of coffee, you’ll use 10 grams of cold water.

When you keep this coffee to water ratio in the back of your mind, you can easily calculate the amount of coffee you want to make.

For example, I use 80 grams of ground coffee and 800 grams of water for this recipe. This way, I’ll have quite a bit left over to drink at a later date. The just made cold brew coffee looks like this:

To make the cold brew coffee, follow the next steps:

1. Start by coarsely grinding your coffee beans.
2. Add the coffee beans to a large container. I like to use a French press instead.
3. Cover the ground coffee with the set amount of water.
4. Stir the mixture until the water has wet all of the coffee particles.
5. Cover your container or French press and let the coffee steep for at least 12 hours. You can leave it on your kitchen counter to steep.
6. You can leave the cold brew coffee for longer if you feel like it. I like to go for 15 hours. For me, this results in the best-flavored coffee.
7. Once the time has passed, filter your cold brew coffee completely. If you use a French press, place the plunger on top and press down. Otherwise, you can use a sieve with a cheesecloth added to filter your coffee completely.

You now have amazing-tasting cold brew coffee. You can use this as the basis for this coffee recipe, but if you have some left over, you can also drink it as is. It’s amazing.

Tip: If you want more information about making cold brew at home, check out my complete cold brew guide here!

Now that you know all about what you need for this coffee, let’s dive into the recipe where I’ll show you how to make the iced coffee:

Additional photos of coffee making

Once you’ve made the cold brew coffee (or brewed coffee and have cooled it down), the brown sugar syrup is ready; it’s all about the assembly of the coffee drink.

If you run into any trouble when trying this coffee recipe yourself, you can check the photos below to see where you might have made a misstep.

Add the brown sugar syrup first, then add ice cubes and the coffee, and pour the milk on top:

I suggest stirring the coffee before drinking. This will make sure that all the flavors are incorporated into the drink. It will taste amazing.

How many calories are in this coffee?

The number of calories can change depending on the kind of milk used in this recipe. I’ve used whole milk in this recipe because it tastes the fullest and is a nice addition to the strong coffee.

But if you want to use a different kind of milk or milk alternative, you can check out the table below. This table will show you the number of calories if you choose something other than whole milk for your coffee:

Milk or milk alternative:	Amount of calories:
Whole milk	158 calories
2% fat milk	150 calories
Nonfat milk	140 calories
Oat milk	152 calories
Almond milk	134 calories
Soy milk	150 calories
Coconut milk	132 calories

If you want to use another milk or alternative that I haven’t mentioned in the table above, you can calculate the number of calories for the coffee by adding the calories from the milk used with 120 calories from the brown sugar syrup.

The 120 calories are from 2 tbsp of brown sugar syrup. If you want to use more than this to sweeten up your drink a bit, you’ll have to add a bit more calories from that as well.

How to make brown sugar syrup

Brown sugar syrup is one of the best coffee sweeteners, in my opinion. I think, once you’ve made this recipe, you’ll love it as much as I do. To make the brown sugar syrup, collect the following items:

• Brown sugar: 120 grams
• Cold water: 1/2 cup (0.12 l)
• Small saucepan, preferably with a handle

Now, let me show you how to make this delicious coffee sweetener. Keep in mind that this amount of syrup will be enough to make 6-8 iced coffees.

You can make more or less of this syrup, depending on how many coffees you plan on making. If you plan on making more, make sure to start with a bigger batch. It will keep well in the fridge for a few days. To make the syrup:

1. To the small saucepan, add the brown sugar and water.
2. Place the saucepan on medium heat.
3. Keep stirring the sugar mixture with a spoon or a spatula until the sugar has fully dissolved.
4. When stirring the mixture, you keep the sugar from burning on the bottom of your pan.
5. Once the sugar has fully incorporated with the water, remove it from the heat and let it cool completely.
6. When your brown sugar syrup is cooled down, you can transfer it to a resealable container or bottle with a pouring spout to make it easier once you start making the coffee recipe with it.

That’s all there is to it. You have now made amazing brown sugar syrup. There are many ways you can use this syrup to sweeten up the coffee of your choice, so use it however you like.

For the complete guide on making brown sugar syrup at home, check out this article here!

Conclusion

This coffee recipe is something else. The sweetness of the brown sugar syrup combined with the robust flavors of the cold brew coffee is so unique. The milk is there to slightly dilute the coffee and makes for an amazing addition.

I suggest drinking this coffee on a hot summer day so you can enjoy it to the fullest. However, if you feel like drinking it any other day, I won’t hold you back; I’m already guilty of doing so.

Did you know that you can also add powdered sugar to your coffee? Check out this article here to learn more.

If you want to try out even more coffee recipes today, you can check out the coffees I’ve listed below. Either way, have a great rest of your day!

What did you think of this coffee recipe? Let me know by leaving a comment down below. If you have any other questions regarding coffee, you can also contact me directly by pressing the “Contact Me” button at the top!

More coffee recipes

• Café Con Miel Recipe: Make Spanish Coffee With Honey at Home
• Cinnamon Brown Sugar Latte: How to Make This Latte at Home
• 3 Delicious Iced Coffee Recipes You Must Give a Try