Just like Starbucks (only much cheaper)

So my ventures into the homemade have extended into making things for other people even though I can't have them myself. Prime example: iced coffee. I can't drink coffee but my husband adores it so after seeing Dana's post on The Last Iced Coffee You Will Ever Need I decided to give it a go and make it myself.

I took pictures and will outline each step for those of you who are visual learners like me! (not the best quality pics, due to cheap digital camera. So be kind...)

 First gather your materials (Wow this is already starting out like one of those grade school How-To papers... they really drill this stuff into you!)

You have to cold brew the coffee, which I had never heard of before. Apparently it makes a very strong concentrated coffee, like espresso. To begin the coffee part you will need:

• 1 lb coffee (yeah, you read that right, a whole pound!) - apparently coarse ground is better but I couldn't find it at the tiny grocery except in very expensive 1/4 pound bags. Since this was an experiment I went for the cheaper store brand. However, after the straining I understand completely why coarse is better!
• A gallon of water
• A bowl that will hold at least 2 gallons of water (I wasn't prepared enough for this step and had to divide my coffee into two large bowls!)
• Mesh strainer (not a small one, a big one)
• cheesecloth, or coffee filter (you have to change the filters often if you use them, I used cheesecloth)
• Slotted spoon or some equivalent for stirring

Now You pour the coffee into the bowl. I had a two gallon container so I just eyeballed half of it into mine.

Then add your gallon of water and mix into a slurry with your slotted spoon.

Then let sit. I left mine over night, but Dana says 12 hours in her recipe.  I placed a cloth over mine to protect from nosy cats. (Tilt head to the left to see the picture correctly... forgot to turn it clockwise!)

 

In the morning, bright and early, you get to do the straining. Fun. Luckily this whole process is only once, then you have a gallon of coffee that will last quite awhile. (In most cases anyhow!)

So Put your strainer over another bowl, or over your pitcher if it fits, mine didn't... so I had to dirty another dish.

 Then pour in your slurry. I found most the coffee had settled at the bottom, so it was pretty easy to slowly pour off the liquid until I got to the bottom portion. It can take a bit of time to drain it all. I did it in sections and when the grinds started to pile up I lifted the cheesecloth, squeezed to get the last of the liquid, dumped the grinds into a container and replaced to filter more. This would be where you would have to remove and replace coffee filters I imagine. (As a side note, worm bins like coffee, but I wouldn't give them the whole pound! They tend to get a bit jazzed up by caffeine.)

Now you have the liquid and the dregs separated! How do you make this into that delicious iced coffee? Well that requires additional ingredients and a bit more mixing.....

Creamy Stuff:

1 14 oz can evaporated milk

1 10 oz can sweetened condensed milk

Open cans, mix together in jar. Mason jar would work well here, I just used a Tupperware container.A lid is important for storing in the fridge.

Then you fill a glass with ice, pour in coffee to the half fill line and the creamy stuff to top it off. Swirl around to mix it up and Voila! Just like the expensive stuff. Only not. Individual tastes will differ. My husband likes me to add a bit of vanilla extract to it. You could add caramel or chocolate syrup for different tastes as well. Anything goes really, whatever tickles your tastebuds.

Now my husband is very lazy and since I do not want to get up early every morning to mix his coffee I went a step further and premixed most the cream and coffee into a coke bottle, the 2 liter kind, for him to use all week. Two weeks if he's frugal with it. With my luck it'll last two days.

 

Making things in the kitchen gives me a sense of accomplishment. Plus the house smelled like coffee all day. Now to do that mound of dishes I managed to create!!