I like coffee.  No, I loooooove coffee.  Not that hot, black and bitter brewed coffee, but that expensive stuff brewed by the tablespoonful and mixed with steamed and foamed milk.  I have lived with an espresso machine since my ex-husband moved out—it was a good trade. I am on my fourth one now—fourth espresso machine, not fourth ex-husband!  Three had to be retired—again, the three espresso machines not ex-husbands—and one was fired for making terrible, horrible, no good, very bad lattes.  In addition to hot lattes, from spring through fall, I really, really enjoy an Iced Latte in the warmer afternoons. And the best part? My lattes require no espresso machine! Is there dancing in the aisles yet?!

To make the Cold Brewed Iced Latte base, just get some good quality coarse ground coffee beans, water, and a bowl that can be covered.  Are Toffee Nut Iced Coffee’s your little bit of heaven?  Not a problem. Vanilla Iced Coffee’s?  Easy peasy… 🙂

My friends and I are loading up my Minnie Winnie and heading off to Palm Springs for the Camel & Ostrich Races, and the Blessing of the Dates. And, nooooo, I don’t know why we thought that would be a good idea! I’m also not making this up! Both are real events, held yearly in Palm Springs and, from what I understand, in Arizona, too 🙂 It’s become a tradition for us to load decaf Iced Coffee Base into the Minnie Winnie when we head out.  Iced Lattes every afternoon while touring the US, what a nice way to live!  Don’t be jealous…raise your hand! You can come on the next trip!

Cold Brewed Iced Coffee Concentrate

INGREDIENTS

• 7 cups water—you could go gourmet and use bottled water 🙂
• 12 oz. favorite rich coffee—coarse or drip grind, decaf or regular
• Strainer—mesh, a nut milk bag, cheesecloth, paper coffee filters, etc.

DIRECTIONS

1. Pour the entire 12 oz of coffee into a bowl that can be covered with a lid or a plate
2. Pour the water over the coffee. Stir to make sure all grounds are saturated with water. Cover the bowl.
3. Let the coffee and water sit, covered and undisturbed, for 24 hours.
4. Now comes the messy part.  Strain the coffee.  I put a coffee filter in a mesh strainer, balance it on top of a pitcher, and pour cups of the mixture through the filter. The iced coffee base collects in the pitcher|bowl and I throw the used coffee grinds away as I go.  You might need to use two coffee filters.  The decanting takes awhile, but it’s definitely worthwhile—messy but easy.
5. Once all the coffee concentrate has been filtered, put a lid on the pitcher, and store it in the refrigerator for up to three weeks. (Handy Tip: write dates on the container with an erasable marker.  For example:  Made 2/13/13. Good until 3/6/13.  When the container is empty, wash the dates off!  I mark all my plastic containers with erasable markers now.  It’s so handy 🙂

For Iced Latte

INGREDIENTS

• ¼ cup* of Cold Brewed Iced Coffee Concentrate
• ¾ cup of milk—if you want, you could experiment with the milk.  I use 1-2%, but I have heard of others using coconut milk, almond milk, chocolate milk, and of course soy milk. Some even like evaporated milk with a splash of sweetened condensed milk.
• 4 or 5 ice cubes
• Optional: sugar (white or raw), Splenda, Torano Syrups (Vanilla and Toffee Nut are favorites), Bailey’s Irish Creme, Kahlua, 1-3 Tablespoons chocolate syrup, sprinkles (Trader Joe’s has a “Sugar, Chocolate, Coffee Bean Grinder” that’s fun), a chocolate covered espresso bean or mini chocolate chips, etc.
• Whipped cream and a straw—I think these are musts, but some people are a bit more serious and go without!

DIRECTIONS

1. Pour the concentrate into the glass.
2. Add the milk and stir.
3. Stir in any optional ingredients (sweetener or syrups).  Stir well.
4. Plop in some ice cubes. Stir again.
5. Top with whipped cream, and sprinkles if you’d like (sprinkles, grated chocolate, a dusting of cocoa powder or cinnamon, or even a squirt of chocolate or caramel syrup), and, of course, a straw.

* ¼ cup of concentrate plus ¾ cup of milk seems to please most of my friends (A LOT!), but I do have one friend who doubles the coffee.  She has ½ cup concentrate and ¾ cup of milk. She’s German. She likes strong coffee.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today!  I hope you’ll be enjoying warm weather and iced lattes very soon!