How to Make Iced Coffee from Your Coffee Machine

Summer is here, folks! The time for curling up in a snug bed with hot chocolate or piping hot coffee is long, long gone. Instead, we can now fill our days with walks in the sunshine, sun tanning and of course – iced coffee.

Most coffee machines are designed to make piping hot coffee, because, well, that’s’ how coffee is served. Here are a few tips and tricks to make a perfect iced coffee!

Iced Coffee from a Coffee Machine

Try avoiding using Espresso’s as your iced coffee bases – unless they are meant to be creamy. The crema produced when dispensing Espresso’s, especially from high-end coffee machines, may cause an unwanted foam if you are planning on diluting your coffee with water.
Freeze filter-coffee into ice blocks. You can add this to your milk, coconut milk or water base to have an instantly ice-cold, iced coffee that stays colder for longer.
Allow your coffee to cool down first; adding hot coffee to a cold component is simply going to transfer the heat to the other liquid – meaning no more iced coffee, but instead – normal coffee. Ensure the coffee component cools down sufficiently, and then gently add it to your milk or water base.
Try flavouring your coffee; adding a drop of vanilla essence to every 500ml of coffee made will give it a lovely sweet flavour. Similarly, adding a dash of ground cinnamon will also give your iced coffee the edge.
Use various and suitable bases; if you are lactose intolerant, opt for coconut milk or coconut water. Not only will it help you avoid becoming ill, it adds a lovely undertone of coconut flavouring to your iced coffee. Using full cream milk will provide that undeniable creamy taste, and using skim milk allows the same – just more subtle.
Remember that the flavour and aroma of your coffee is directly linked to the quality of the coffee – so coffee prepared freshly with whole beans, made on a coffee machine – will taste far better than quickly slapped together Ricoffy.

Iced coffee from a Filter Coffee Machine

Prepare your pot of filter coffee as per normal. Allow it to brew fully, and remove it from the heat as soon as it has reached its optimal percolation. Allow it to cool completely. Either freeze the coffee into ice blocks, or dilute it directly with your other liquid component – i.e. –milk, water, coconut milk etc.

Iced coffee from a Capsule Machine

Many modern capsule machines have the ability to prepare both iced teas and iced coffees. If this is not the case for you, try preparing a strong blend of capsule, allowing it to cool and then following on by adding it to your base liquid.

Iced coffee from an Automatic Coffee Machine

First and foremost – do not dispense the hot coffee directly into your base liquid. This will transfer heat and diminish the taste of your coffee when it becomes chilled. Rather dispense some coffee into a cup or jug, allow it to cool completely and then add it to (ideally) a milk-based base liquid. The creaminess of the Espresso will complement the creaminess of the milk.

Remember to top off your iced coffee with some cream, a slice of lemon or even some cinnamon sprinkles to complement your specific flavour profile.

Also, don’t forget to share your recipes with us!