Brewing iced coffee at home is a great way to wake up in the morning or recharge in the afternoon. Rather than spending $4+ per iced coffee drink from a coffee shop, you can brew your own iced coffee for much less cost.
The process is similar to making hot coffee but with a few changes to the brewing process.
Down below, I’ll show you how to make this coffee at home. I’ll also go in-depth about the correct coffee to water ratio to use and show you the best grind size to use for this coffee.
What is iced pour over coffee?
Iced pour over coffee, sometimes referred to as Japanese-style iced coffee, is iced coffee made with the Hario V60. By pouring less water than you’d typically use when brewing hot coffee, the remaining water is added in the form of ice cubes.
The ice cubes will ensure that the hot coffee that comes out of the coffee dripper will cool down immediately. The water’s total weight will remain the same, but it will be divided between hot water and ice cubes.
Most commonly, this technique is used by brewing coffee with the Hario V60. However, a little further down the article, I’ll also show you how to make this coffee using a Chemex.
Why add ice to the coffee brewer?
The question I think most of you have is, why do I have to add ice to the bottom compartment (or mug) of my coffee brewer instead of ditching the ice cubes and just using water instead?
When you brew regular pour over coffee, you use only hot water to brew that cup of coffee. But when brewing iced coffee from hot coffee, you want to cool it down as fast as possible.
This is where ice comes in. While ice cools the coffee until fully cold, most ice cubes will melt and turn into water again.
When not using the ice cubes as part of your total water to add, you’ll be over-extracting your iced pour over coffee. This is because you’ll be using way too much water and not enough coffee to compensate for it.
That’s why this technique uses ice as part of its total water to add. It will simply ensure a full-flavored cup of iced pour over coffee for you to enjoy.
I like to use these ice cube bags to make many ice cubes at once when I expect to brew lots of iced coffees. You can check out the link to the same bags I like to use. They’re super fast to fill and freeze really fast.
Iced pour over coffee to water ratio
To make iced pour coffee at home, use the below-listed coffee to water ratio to fit the amount of coffee you want to make:
| Amount of coffee produced: | Amount of ground coffee: | Amount of water to add: | Amount of ice cubes: |
| 1 cup (0.24 l) | 15 grams | 165 grams | 95 grams |
| 2 cups (0.47 l) | 30 grams | 330 grams | 170 grams |
| 3 cups (0.71 l) | 45 grams | 495 grams | 265 grams |
| 4 cups (0.95 l) | 60 grams | 660 grams | 340 grams |
By looking at the table above, you can make the amount of coffee you think you’re going to need for the day. Do you have people coming over? You can always produce a bit more coffee in advance to serve right away.
In the recipe listed below, I’ll be using the measurements to produce 2 cups (0.47 l) of coffee. If you want to make more or less of the coffee, you can use the amounts that I’ve listed above.
Let’s move onto the next most important thing about this technique of brewing coffee. You’re going to need to use the correct coffee grind size to produce Your Dream Coffee at home. Let’s get into it:
The best coffee grind size to use
The best coffee grind size for iced pour over coffee is a fine grind size. Because you’ll be using less water, you want the grind size to be a bit finer to extract all of the coffee flavors from the beans.
Usually, you’d use a fine/medium grind size for pour over coffee. But because we substitute about 1/3 of the water for ice cubes to cool the coffee, you want to use a finer grind size.
The coffee grind size I like to use for this coffee brewing technique looks like this:
This type of coffee grind is just a bit finer than you’d normally use, so I suggest turning your coffee grinder just a tiny bit finer from that point on.
Remember, you can always check if you have the right grind by grinding just a few coffee beans at a time and checking in between adjusting your coffee grinder.
How to make iced pour over coffee
It’s one of the simplest, most soothing things to do on a hot summer’s day. Brewing a cup of iced coffee is easy, but there are a couple of things to keep in mind.
By following this step-by-step guide, you’ll be able to brew iced pour over coffee at home in no time.
This coffee is easy to make and is absolutely delicious. Because you’re going to use less water to pour over the ground coffee beans, the total coffee brewing time will be less than usual.
To make this coffee, you’re going to need to following items and ingredients:
- Hario V60 and coffee filter
- Fresh coffee beans
- Preferably a coffee grinder
- Pour over kettle or regular kettle
- Ice cubes
As you can see from the items listed above, you’ll need the same things as you’d when brewing hot coffee with the Hario V60. The ice cubes are the only extra you’ll need for this recipe.
If you can, use fresh coffee beans for this recipe. However, it can also be made using pre-ground coffee beans if you only have this at home. Just follow the same steps, but skip the coffee grinding part of the recipe.
Tip: Not sure yet which coffee beans to pick for your pour over coffee? Check out the best options here!
To make the iced pour over coffee, follow the steps listed in the recipe card below:
Iced Pour Over Coffee
Brew some super simple and delicious iced pour over coffee. Perfect for those hot summer days!
Ingredients
- Ground coffee: 30 grams
- Boiling water: 330 grams
- Ice cubes: 170 grams
- Optionally: add a splash milk of your choice
Instructions
Are you ready to make this super easy-to-follow iced pour over coffee recipe? To start:
- If you haven't done so, finely grind your coffee beans
- Boil your water. Once boiled, leave it on the kitchen counter for 30 seconds to cool it slightly.
- Add ice cubes to a cup.
- Now, add a coffee filter to your coffee brewer and rinse it with hot water. Throw this water out.
- Add ground coffee to the coffee brewer and place it on top of the cup.
- Pour 60 grams of water on top of the ground coffee to initiate the bloom and leave for 30 seconds.
- Now, slowly pour the rest of the water on the ground coffee in circular motions. Making sure not to pour too hard as this will disturb the coffee bed.
- After the water has been added, wait until all the water has poured through the filter and into your cup.
- Remove the coffee brewer from your cup and make sure to clean it properly.
- Swirl or stir the cold coffee to completely cool it.
- You can add some additional ice cubes to your coffee to make it extra cold once you're ready to serve it.
- Additionally, you can add a bit of milk or milk alternative to your cold coffee to spice it up a bit.
Notes
You can make this recipe by using a Chemex as well. You can read all about it below this recipe. If you want to brew with the Chemex, you can skip the steps of adding the ice into a cup and place the ice cubes directly into the bottom compartment of your Chemex.
The nutrition information is based on 1 cup of coffee with just a splash of milk. Cold coffee doesn't contain any more calories than hot coffee, so you can leave this out if you want.
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Nutrition Information:
Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 10Total Fat: 0.5gSaturated Fat: 0.3gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 2mgSodium: 6mgCarbohydrates: 0.7gNet Carbohydrates: 0.7gProtein: 0.5g
Additional photos of coffee brewing
The first few steps of the iced pour over coffee are listed below. This includes adding ice cubes to the Chemex (or Hario V60), adding ground coffee to filter, and blooming of the coffee:
The next steps are adding all the water to the coffee brewer, letting it all run through the coffee filter, and finishing with a clean cup of iced coffee:
Most people have different coffee brewers at home, so the photos can differ from your coffee brewer. Keep in mind that you can make the iced pour over recipe with the Chemex as well as a Hario V60.
Can I use a Chemex to brew this coffee?
You can also make iced pour over coffee by using a Chemex instead of a Hario V60. This is great when you want to make 3-4 cups of iced coffee at once.
Because of the Chemex’s large bottom compartment, it’s very easy to brew more coffee at once and cool it down right away.
If you want to brew this coffee using a Chemex, you’ll need the following items:
- Chemex coffee brewer and filter
- Coffee beans and coffee grinder
- Pour over kettle or regular kettle
- Ice cubes
As you might’ve noticed, this technique uses the same items as you’d use with the Hario V60. You’re simply switching out the coffee brewer.
You can follow the same steps of the brewing guide that I’ve listed above. It’s actually really simple to use another coffee brewer.
The coffee grind size, the coffee to water ratio, and the number of ice cubes stay the same.
If you’re going to brew iced pour over coffee while using the Chemex, keep in mind that it might take a bit longer for the water to run through the coffee filter.
The Chemex coffee filter is a bit thicker than the Hario V60 kind. I found that it adds roughly 1.30 minutes to the total brewing time.
Conclusion
This is such a fantastic way to brewing iced coffee. The ease of brewing and the amount of work you have to do is nothing compared to brewing cold brew coffee, for example.
Although cold brew and iced coffee are two very different things, one thing is for sure, iced coffee is way quicker to make at home and tastes at least as great.
If you want to stay in that summery vibe, you can check out the iced coffee I’ve listed below. These coffee recipes are great to make during the summer or when you feel like drinking iced coffee.
What do you think of the coffee flavor of this 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!
