Iced Coffee

Recently on a trip to Kmart I spotted these plastic mason jar drinking glasses for sale.

Of course I had to have one. It was $9.99. I'm so glad I bought one because since then I've been back to Kmart a few times and haven't seen any left. I have a love/hate relationship with Kmart. Sometimes you go there and think "I don't know how these stores stay in business" - they are that bad. But other times I go there and see all kinds of neat things that I've never seen at other "box" stores.  The drinking glasses are double insulated with a plastic straw. The lid is metal. They are made by Aladdin. I have seen mason jar drinking glasses made of clear plastic for sale at Walmart. Also by Aladdin. That version has a plastic lid in vibrant colors like orange, pink or teal. They are cute too. I happen to prefer the blue ones myself because they remind me of the vintage blue ball jars.

One of my favorite drinks in the summer is Iced Coffee. I have bought some lately at both Dunkin' Donuts and McDonalds and was disappointed in the taste. I decided to try making my own. Another benefit is it is much cheaper - and more convenient to do it yourself.

I'm sure there are tons of recipes for making iced coffee available on Pinterest and the internet. Here is my version.

To make my recipe I used a French Press coffee maker. I found mine at a yard sale. They sell them at Target. They aren't very expensive so if you don't already own one it is worth the investment. We also use ours when we go camping to make coffee by the camp fire.
 

(You will want to make this the night before the day you will drink it because it needs to sit in the refrigerator for 12 hours or more).

1. Scoop 5 or 6 Tablespoons of your favorite coffee into the bottom of the press. Pick a nice dark roast. Adjust amount according to your taste.

2. Add water to the grounds. Fill up to the top. (leave about an inch of space at the top for the lid).

3. Mix the water and grounds with a spoon.

4. Put the press in the refrigerator and let sit overnight.

That is all.

5. The next day when you are ready to drink your coffee, use the plunger/press part of the french press to push the grounds to the bottom of the carafe and trap them there. I am using a Bodum brand coffee press - which is a quality brand (available at Target). It trapped all of the grounds and I didn't find any floating in my drink.

6. Pour black coffee into a glass.

7. Add milk or cream and your sweetener. I sweetened mine with sugar but you could add flavored syrup instead. (I didn't have any syrup on hand so that is why I went with granulated sugar.)

8. Mix with a spoon.

9. Add ice and enjoy. Simple as that.

The entire carafe of coffee gave me three full glasses of iced coffee in one day.

If you try this for yourself let me know how you liked it!

KayteeJane