Cooling down and waking up – The perfect summer iced coffee recipe

Guest Blogger: Kia Grant

Written By: Kia Grant
FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM @kiagrant

We’re in the midst of the summer months here in the land down under and it’s only getting hotter. Hot, you know the kind of hot that makes you want to stay inside under the air-conditioner.The kind of hot that makes you consider a swimsuit as appropriate work attire ;P. The kind of hot that makes your face melt off. IT’S HOT!!!

Although the temperatures are soaring I still need to get a caffeine kick to start my day but the usual order of a scorching hot latte just isn’t as appetising when the mercury is rising so as an alternative I’ve switched to Iced coffee. I like my iced coffee how I like my men which are equally sweet as strong but I’ve come to the realisation that this just doesn’t exist from any café or coffee shop, I find they either have strength with no sweetness or sweetness with no strength. Along with this lack of yin and yang in my coffee order, I also find myself dishing up the big bucks for barista made coffee.

Why pay for an overpriced coffee when you can do it yourself?! Like I say if you want the job done properly you have to do it yourself so that’s what I’ve done.

All you have to do is brew your coffee the night before using good quality coffee beans or if coffee beans are too much of a hassle I would recommend a high-quality instant coffee like Nescafe Gold Barista style. By brewing your coffee the night before allows it to cool to room temperature by the time morning comes around. But if you do forget to prep the night before because you fell asleep watching Netflix then no worries you can also use hot coffee just make the coffee a little stronger as the hot coffee will melt the ice and dilute the strength of the coffee.

Then you can whip up a batch of simple syrup, but only if you need it. A batch of simple syrup should last for a few weeks unless you like to drown your coffee in the sugary goodness of simple syrup. This is a judgement free space. Do as your heart desires :P. Then just add a splash of milk. Now you can skip the hectic café lines and have coffee for a quarter of the price right at home. This recipe will save you both time and money.

Ingredients

½ cup sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup water
1 cup coffee, at room temperature
2 tablespoons milk or to taste
Ice

Method

To make the simple syrup, combine ½ cup of sugar and 1 cup of water in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Let cool completely. Once cooled completely add in ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract and set aside.

Brew coffee to taste
Serve coffee over ice with milk and simple syrup to taste.
 

Tip: for a little extra somethin’somethin’ add a dash of cinnamon