<p>I often make iced coffee… 4 heaping tablespoons coffee to 300 mL water, but it’s often so watered-down after I add the milk and ice to the hot coffee. (I’m thinking that after a certain point, you actually lose coffee strength if you add less water.) I read about cold brewing over 8-12h, and how it makes really concentrated coffee that you can store for weeks.</p>
<p>I’m also trying to find the best (affordable for a college student) blender for making an iced frappe. And then there’s milk frothers (but are they redundant if you’re using a blender, albeit under 500W?). And then there’s the type of coffee to select. I drink iced coffee by the liter, so usually I use grocery store coffee, but maybe the Starbucks / Dunkin Donuts stuff will be worth it if I use the cold brewing method?</p>
<p>An alternative to cold brewing is brewing the hot coffee in advance and sticking it in the fridge so that you don’t need to use ice to bring it down from boiling temperature. Your coffee is going to be like half melted water if you’re starting with ice and hot coffee.</p>
<p>Try using good quality instant coffee. You should be able to dissolve it directly in the milk. Not frappe machine yet? Use a jar that has a tight fitting lid, and shake it well.</p>
<p>For a strong real coffee base, start with espresso, and let it cool to room temperature. You can also refrigerate it more or less indefinitely.</p>
<p>Possibly available at your local Target, try Cafe La Llave. We like it better than other national brands such as Bustelo. From your description, I do think your problem is starting with American-style coffee rather than with a more concentrated espresso-style.</p>
<p>Just read through Pioneer Woman’s recipe and see that she uses Bustelo. It occurs to me that part of the secret of the cold brewing is probably the finer espresso grind.</p>
<p>I like iced mocha lattes. I gave up trying to get the strength right and bought a Tassimo brewer. You can buy espresso pods (even decaf). Making them yourself is much cheaper than buying at Dunkin Donuts. It takes a couple of months to save the cost of the maker, but you get a good glass of iced coffee. You can buy regular flavor pods and even an iced coffee one.</p>
<p>I used to drink iced coffee a lot. Caffeine and calories killed this habit, but anyway, brew really strong coffee (I always put in an extra scoop for a full pot), let it cool, and pop it in the fridge. Wegman’s has a decent french roast, but you don’t have one in C’ville…try Harris Teeter on Barracks, they always have something on sale w/ your VIC-card. Right now Folgers Gourmet Supreme Dark is $8.49 for the large container. Try a lower quality brand and work your way up to see what you can live with. I’m a huge fan of Starbucks, but when college tuition rolled in we learned to get creative at home. If you are adding any kind of milk/flavored creamer the quality of the coffee becomes less important. I’m not saying you can’t taste and appreciate the difference, but there are decent and affordable alternatives even for those who have really loved high quality coffee’s.</p>
<p>(This is what I used to do)
Instead of throwing out the remainder of my morning coffee pot at 6pm (my deadline for consuming caffeine) , I just pour it into an ice tray, and use the cubes with coffee to make undiluted ice coffee. </p>
<p>I have also made my own frappacino by mixing coffee, ice cream, skim milk, and some ice cubes and using a handheld blender thingy to mix it up… yum!</p>
<p>Well I read that cold brewing makes very concentrated coffee, much more concentrated than hot brew (so much that you have to dilute one part concentrate with three parts of other liquid generally).</p>
<p>Does a regular blender generate frappe, or do you have to get a special type of blender or use a frother?</p>
<p>I don’t usually drink decaf – but sometimes I crave iced coffee later in the day and have to refrain because I’ve already drunk a litre earlier in a day, so I’m thinking of mixing decaf and non-decaf coffee. How worse does decaf coffee taste? I mean, supercritical carbon dioxide sounds like a pretty strong extracting fluid.</p>
<p>Cold brewing changes the flavor of the coffee. Takes the edges off. If the coffee needs that, it’s very good and mellow. If the edges are what gives the coffee it’s goodness, then no. There are lots of toddy brewers on the market. Seattle’s Best Coffee used to offer it as a regular option.</p>
<p>The only instant that will make proper iced coffee (frappe) is Nescafe European blend. I have often seen it in Mexican stores (?), it comes in the little dark or black metal can with metal lid. Not in the plastic bottle or glass…</p>
<p>There’s also the issue of how you make it. Add coffee and sugar and a few drops of water, mash together using a spoon to a wet paste so the sugar and coffee dissolve, add in the shaker with ice cubes, shake, and done. Usually no milk.</p>
<p>I make a pot of coffee and drink a cup (only one a day for me), and the rest I store in the fridge in a glass mason jar. From there it’s iced all the way. So basically one in 4 cups is hot, the rest iced.</p>
<p>I purchased this little gadget at Ollie’s Warehouse over the summer and used it all summer long. I had tried cold brewing prior to this and found it messy and kind of pain to strain the coffee but I loved the flavor. This gadget really made the whole process very simple. I highly recommend it. And for under $10 too! </p>
<p>I can’t have much caffeine, but I do like my iced coffee. Unually a few oz. of coffee left from my DH’s pot, with whole milk and some ice cubes. Even a tiny scoop of vanilla or HAZELNUT gelato if I’m feeling lavish. :)</p>
<p>I like the idea of coffee ice cubes.</p>
<p>When I’m on the road, McDonald’s iced latte will do just fine. I ask nicely and they add some whipped cream on top. No sugar in the coffee.</p>
<p>Has anyone tried those little tubes of concentrate from starbucks? I am not a big starbucks fan, but I have wondered about using that concentrate for iced coffee when I;m not at home. At home, I use leftover brewed.</p>