With summer coming up, there is no better time to give your iced coffee game a makeover. Iced coffees are great because they are easy to make and can be taken on the go.
The only downside is they can get boring after a while. That is why I’ve put together 3 delicious iced coffee recipes you must give a try in 2023.
If you’ve never given it a go at home, you’re missing out. Knowing how to make iced coffee is something everyone should know how to do. Are you ready to learn how to make some delicious iced coffees? Let’s get into it.
Everything you need to make these recipes
Iced coffee is a great standby drink for the warmer months. It’s refreshing and, when done right, packs a lot of flavor into a glass. It’s also incredibly easy to make.
All you need is coffee, milk, sweetener of choice, and ice. That’s it!
My coffee sweetener of choice for iced coffees is a simple syrup made of water and sugar. This is the perfect basis to make these coffees much more flavorful. I’ll show you how to make it yourself after the recipes.
What kind of coffee is best used in these recipes?
Coffee plays a big part in the flavoring of iced coffee. Most iced coffees are made with espresso shots and topped with the remaining ingredients.
But there are so many more ways to spice up Your Dream Coffee. You can use the following coffees in the iced coffees listed below:
- Espresso shots
- Ristretto shots
- Brewed coffee
- Cold brew coffee
The most commonly used coffee in iced coffee recipes is espresso, and everybody can make these delicious shots of coffee at home.
If you’re wondering how to do so, you can check out these articles on how to brew espressos using a Moka pot and AeroPress.
You can also brew an even more concentrated form of espresso, the ristretto. This coffee is made by using the same amount of ground coffee but use half as much water. It will give you an even more flavorful coffee drink.
You can check out this article to find out all about the ristretto, what it is, and how to brew some concentrated coffee yourself.
Moving on, you can also use a brewed cup of coffee. This works great when you don’t have the equipment to brew espresso at home.
A brewed cup of coffee will have the same coffee flavor as an espresso, but you need to use a bit more coffee to get the same amount of flavor.
You can brew excellent coffee by using a French press, Chemex, or even a Hario V60.
The best way to incorporate brewed coffee in iced coffee is by making ice cubes out of them. But more on this later on.
If you feel like you need the caffeine and instantly want to make these recipes, you can best use cold brew coffee or cold brew espresso as the basis for these coffee recipes.
Cold brew coffee has already been cooled down, and you can easily add this to your ice cubes and move on from there. And the best part about using cold brew coffee is that you get more caffeine when you need it the most.
What kind of ice cubes work best?
As I’ve discussed above, you can freeze brewed coffee and even espressos in an ice cube tray to later add to your iced coffee.
Imagine you’re sitting out in the sun with your iced coffee. The ice cubes will start to melt slowly and dilute your coffee drink. Your iced coffee will taste more watery the longer you wait.
What better way to freeze some delicious coffee and add those instead of regular ice cubes to your coffee? When your drink heats up, more coffee will be mixed with your iced coffee, leaving even more coffee flavor.
The best ice cubes to use are medium and large ones. You can also use crushed ice to cool your drink, but they will melt way quicker because of their smaller surface area.
I usually freeze these plastic bags filled with water. Once fully frozen, you can easily pop out a few ice cubes and place the rest back in the freezer. It works great, and I can highly recommend having a few on hand.
An ice cube tray will work great as well. A water-filled ice cube bag looks like this:
Down below, I’ll go over my favorite iced coffees for this summer. Let me first go over the iced coffee with vanilla. After that, I’ll tell you all about the coconut and mocha-flavored iced coffee:
Iced coffee 1: vanilla flavored
The first iced coffee that I’m going to show you is a vanilla-flavored kind. Almost everyone likes vanilla and what better way than to incorporate that delicious flavor with coffee, milk, and ice?
For this recipe, you’re going to need the following ingredients:
- 1/2 cup (0.12l) milk of choice
- Vanilla extract 1 tbsp (15 grams)
- Simple syrup 2 tbsps (30 grams)
- Two shots of espresso or other coffee
- A handful of ice cubes
These are all the ingredients you’re going to need to make this recipe. You can switch out the coffee for the different coffees I’ve talked about before. To make this recipe, follow these steps:
- Add the simple syrup and vanilla extract to an empty glass and stir until thoroughly combined.
- Brew the coffee of choice.
- Fill your glass to about halfway with ice cubes.
- Pour the freshly brewed coffee on top of your ice cube-filled glass.
- Add the milk of your choice and stir until all the coffee flavors are combined.
Your vanilla iced coffee is now made and ready to be enjoyed. Serve right away so you get the fullest and coldest iced coffee you can possibly drink.
If you want to know how many calories this coffee recipe contains, you can have a look at the table below:
| Milk or milk alternative: | Amount of calories: |
| Whole milk | 125 calories |
| 2% fat milk | 113 calories |
| Soy milk | 96 calories |
| Oat milk | 122 calories |
| Almond milk | 82 calories |
If you want to use a different kind of milk or milk alternative, keep the following things in mind when calculating the number of calories for your coffee drink:
- The simple syrup (2 tbsps) will be good for 50 calories.
- The vanilla extract (1 tsp) will add an additional 12 calories to your coffee.
Add the above-listed number of calories to the milk of choice, and you now know how many calories your coffee will contain.
Iced coffee 2: coconut flavored
The second iced coffee will be coconut flavored. You’ll have to love the taste of coconut for this recipe as you’ll add coconut milk to the coffee. If you love the taste, this will be an incredible recipe for you.
You’ll need the following ingredients to make the coconut flavored iced coffee:
- 1/3 cup (43 grams) of coconut milk
- 1/3 cup (43 grams) milk of choice
- Simple syrup 2 tbsps (30 grams)
- Two shots of espresso
- A handful of ice cubes
This recipe combines coconut milk to flavor the coffee drink with a milk of your choice (I went with whole milk) and adds the same sugar syrup, coffee, and ice cubes. To make this drink:
- Brew the coffee of your choice and pour it into an empty glass.
- Add the simple syrup and stir until thoroughly combined.
- Now, add a handful (or more) of ice cubes to cool down your beverage.
- Pour the coconut milk and milk of choice on top of the drink.
- Stir the coffee to combine all the flavors and serve.
The flavorful, simple syrup will help sweeten the iced coffee, while the coconut milk will bring a unique flavor to the table.
The extra milk is to dilute the coffee drink just a bit; otherwise, you’ll not taste the coffee and other flavors to the fullest. You want to have a balanced and delicious coconut-flavored iced coffee.
The number of calories that this delicious coffee contains are as followed:
| Milk or milk alternative: | Amount of calories: |
| Whole milk | 169 calories |
| 2% fat milk | 164 calories |
| Soy milk | 156 calories |
| Oat milk | 157 calories |
| Almond milk | 153 calories |
To calculate the amount of calories using a different kind of milk or milk alternative then I’ve mentioned above, keep in mind the following things:
- Coconut milk contains 92 calories.
- The sugar syrup (2 tbsps) is good for 50 calories.
Now, you can easily add the calories from the milk of your choice to these calories and know exactly how many calories the coconut flavored iced coffee contains.
Iced coffee 3: mocha flavored
The third and last iced coffee is mocha flavored. This third ice coffee is the easiest to make out of all.
You’ll need the following ingredients to make it:
- 1/2 cup (0.12l) milk of choice
- Cocoa powder 1 tbsp (15 grams)
- Simple syrup 2 tbsps (30 grams)
- Two shots of espresso (or other coffee)
- Ice cubes to serve the coffee
To make this easy-to-make recipe follow the steps listed below. This will be the easiest to make out of the three, and I’ll go through it step by step:
- Brew your coffee and while the coffee is still hot, pour into an empty glass.
- Add the cocoa powder to the coffee and stir until it dissolves.
- Now, add ice cubes and simple syrup to the coffee. Make sure to use enough ice cubes to make the coffee nice and cold.
- The last step: pour the milk of choice into the cold coffee and stir it.
You now have a delicious mocha flavored iced coffee waiting for you. Make sure to drink it straight away to prevent diluting the coffee, or use the coffee ice cubes to cool down your drink.
It’s always important to know the number of calories of a coffee drink so you can see if this is something that you want to enjoy today:
| Milk or milk alternative: | Amount of calories: |
| Whole milk | 125 calories |
| 2% fat milk | 113 calories |
| Soy milk | 96 calories |
| Oat milk | 122 calories |
| Almond milk | 82 calories |
If you want to use a different kind of milk or milk alternative, keep the following thing in mind when calculating the number of calories:
- The simple syrup (2 tbsps) will be good for 50 calories.
You can now add the milk of choice to these calories and enjoy your mocha flavored iced coffee!
How to make simple syrup
Simple syrup is the basis of these iced coffees and is so easy to make. It makes sense why they called it “simple” syrup.
To make the syrup yourself, you’re going to need the following items:
- White granulated sugar 1/2 cup (120 grams)
- Water 1/2 cup (120 ml)
- Small saucepan with a handle
This will be enough syrup to make 8 to 10 iced coffees of your choice. Keep in mind that you can easily make more of this at once and store it in a resealable container. The simple syrup looks like this:
If you want to make more iced coffee, double the amount of water and sugar but follow the same steps as listed below:
- Add the sugar and water to a small saucepan, preferably with a handle.
- Place the pan on medium heat and stir throughout the process to prevent burning.
- The water will start to bubble away, but the sugar has not been dissolved yet.
- Keep the heat on until the sugar is fully dissolved in the water.
- Remove from heat and let the sugar syrup cool down completely.
- Once fully cooled down, you can transfer it to a resealable container or into a bottle with a pouring spout for easy access.
The simple syrup can now be used as the basis for all your coffee drinks. It’s super easy to incorporate the flavor you’d like into the syrup and move on from there.
Conclusion
I’ve made these iced coffee recipes, so you can choose a different kind every day if you’d like. These coffee recipes are amazing to drink during those hot summer days.
These coffees’ flavors are very different from each other, but they contain about the same ingredients. It’s great to have a batch of simple syrup on hand so you can make one of these iced coffees in no time.
If you’re interested in trying out even more coffee recipes, you can check the links below. I’ve listed a few recipes that might be of interest to you.
Are you a fan of iced coffee? 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!
