I have a deep and abiding love for great coffee. But historically I haven’t had a lot of iced coffee. One here or there, but it wasn’t a habit. Until the last six months of being at home due to coronavirus, when all the sudden I became a total master at making iced coffee at home using my Aeropress.
And I somewhat accidentally discovered my hack for the best iced coffee ever…using sweetened condensed milk. Now it’s not like I’m the first person to ever think of that (in fact, it’s a staple of Thai and Vietnamese coffee and iced tea).
But I had some sweetened condensed milk sitting in my fridge from making a delicious bourbon milk punch cocktail, and wasn’t sure what to do with it. On a whim I decided to use it instead of simple syrup, and realized that it added a lovely rich velvety quality, enough sweetness, and didn’t water down the end result like milk does.
A long, long time ago I posted about the Pioneer Woman’s cold brew iced coffee recipe, and hadn’t really tried anything else until this Aeropress style. It tasted fine enough but not amazing, and was kind of a pain to make, so I just never ended up doing it often.
Just as I was about the publish this post, I found this article on Epicurious that explains why cold brew *doesn’t* give you the best tasting iced coffee, and it finally made sense to me. It creates a more deadened, kind of stale flavor, uses way more coffee beans, and gets oxidized over time.
The hot water used in brewing (this method and others) is critical for bringing out all the nuanced flavor notes in the coffee, and makes a much brighter, richer iced coffee. I’m definitely going to try out the shaken espresso method the article mentions too…
This takes about 5 minutes to make, since the coffee will need to steep. I grind up my beans a little coarser than I normally do for my coffee pot, and fill the Aeropress somewhere around half fill of the ground beans (sometimes close to 2/3 full though…). It really just depends on the type of bean you’re using and how strong you want it.
Boil water in an electric kettle and pour it into the inverted Aeropress, right to the top (but be careful, the grounds sometimes expand a bit). Let sit for at least 3, and up to 5 or 6 minutes.
Fill a glass about halfway with ice. Get your Aeropress plastic filter and add a paper filter to it, secure on the end, and then invert the Aeropress onto the glass.
Slowly and gently plunge the Aeropress, letting the coffee work its way down rather than forcing it (which, I can vouch, will cause it to come out the side and make a huge mess). Let it sit there for another few seconds to get the last delicious drips.
You can see how the ice melts as the hot coffee hits it, releasing delicious aromatics and also diluting it to a more normal (but still strong) iced coffee.
Mix in 1-2 tablespoons of sweetened condensed milk and stir vigorously. You can add a splash of regular milk too if you want it weaker or just longer, but make sure to taste it first.
Et voila! The most amazing iced coffee at home, in a manner that is super fast, easy, and doesn’t make a mess. What more could a girl ask for??
Breakfast goodies to complement your iced coffee at home:
- Paul Hollywood’s Chelsea Buns
- Chai Spice Banana Bread
- Banana Bread with Espresso Glaze
- Espresso Chocolate Coffee Cake
Making an amazing iced coffee at home is super easy and fast with an Aeropress. Five minutes is all you need! As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Best Iced Coffee: Aeropress Edition
Ingredients
Notes
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