Now that the temperatures are warmer, my coffee is always iced! So I’ve been testing simple ways to cold brew coffee and make an easy and fast iced coffee. Here’s my favorite way and recipe that I am currently using:

Ingredients needed to make cold brew iced coffee:

• 2/3 cups of ground coffee
• 1-2 tablespoons of brown sugar (amount depends on sweetness level preference)
• 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• quart sized mason jar
• Fine mesh stainless steel strainer

This recipe doesn’t get any easier because you simply place 2/3 cups of ground coffee, 1 tablespoon of brown sugar and 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon in a mason jar.  If you prefer sweeter coffee, then go ahead and add 2 tablespoons of brown sugar.  But I personally like a splash of Coffee Mate french vanilla creamer in this recipe as well that adds a bit more sweetness.

After the dry contents are in the jar, fill it with water, shake it up, and place it in the refrigerator for 24 hours.  I’m doing this now each morning rather than filling up my hot percolating coffee maker.

The next day, after your coffee has time to “cold brew,” pull out your fine mesh strainer and place it over your cold coffee cup.  Open up your mason jar (it may be a bit sealed and you may need a can opener to pop it off) and slowly strain your coffee into your glass.

I don’t advise shaking up the jar before pouring.  If you do, more coffee grounds will be floating causing your strainer to clog up faster.  I do advise shaking up the jar once or twice while its brewing in that 24 hour time period (if you think of it – not 100% necessary) to be sure all of the flavor gets diffused from the ground beans, but it is best to pour it when the grounds are settled in the bottom of the jar.

Here is my poured coffee.  You can see small granules floating at the top.  It’s actually not ground coffee, but instead ground cinnamon that was small enough to fit through the strainer.  If you don’t like cinnamon in your coffee, then leave it out.  but I’m telling you, the addition of the cinnamon is what makes this iced coffee so delicious!!

Add some ice and add some cream if you’d like.  I mentioned above that I’m personally addicted to Coffee Mate french vanilla flavored creamer – so I added just a splash of that as well.  This will make 32 oz of coffee, and I refill my 12 oz mug almost 3 times throughout the day.

I created a recipe card that you can use to pass out to friends or attach to a mason jar and give as a gift!

A great gift idea would be to just add the dry ingredients to the mason jar and add the recipe card to the outside.  Give that to a friend (or mom on Mother’s Day or to a teacher at the end of the school year) and then all they have to do is add water, shake, and let it brew for a day!  They too will have the recipe so they can make it again and again themselves!

Fill out the form below and you can get these printable recipe labels delivered to your inbox.  Then print them off on cardstock and attach for your next frugal gift idea!

Next on my to-do list is to try this with a bit of chocolate syrup and make this a mocha iced coffee.  😉

Looking for another amazing cold summer drink?  Try this BEST Lemonade Iced Tea recipe!