5 Great Recipes to Make Cold Coffee Drinks in Hot Weather

We all love our morning pick-me-up. There’s just nothing quite like that first cup of coffee to get your day started off with a bang. But when the temperature starts rising, a steaming cup of Joe starts to sound a bit less appetizing. Scientifically speaking, drinking a warm beverage should actually cool you down by making you sweat. But who wants to be all sweaty? Sweating is fine if you’re at the gym or building a raised planter for your garden, but for most situations, it’s best to keep your cool.

Thankfully, there’s more than one way to enjoy your morning coffee. We’ve rounded up five recipes for great coffee drinks that will give you some extra verve while they help you chill out this summer.

Vanilla Coffee Shake

This one is a bit of an indulgence, but hey – you only live once, right? To make it, you’ll need:

• 2 teaspoons white sugar
• ½ cup of strong, quality coffee
• ¼ cup milk or soy milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 6 ice cubes
• 1 tbsp. chocolate syrup

Preparation is quite simple: just throw everything in your blender and blend it until it develops a nice, creamy texture. Yum!

The Ideal Iced Coffee

If you’ve ever tried to make iced coffee and been disappointed in the results, well, you’re not alone. Iced coffee seems simple enough: ice + coffee. But if you simply pour hot coffee over ice, you’re going to end up with a drink that is neither “iced” nor “coffee” enough.

Here’s the trick: start with half a pound of dark roasted, high quality coffee beans. Pre-ground is fine, but if you’d prefer to grind it all yourself, well, you can spend your time however you like.

In a reusable container with a lid, mix your ground coffee with four quarts water. Let it sit overnight. The next morning, strain it through fine cheesecloth, then through a paper towel to get rid of the remaining dregs.

Fill your glass with ice, then mix coffee and milk at a 1:1 ratio, and stir in a dash of sugar. The resulting beverage will be strong, refreshing and delightful.

Frozen Caramel Latte

There’s a certain ubiquitous coffee chain whose iced coffee drinks are deliciously addictive. If you’re trying to trim some extra expenses from your budget, you’ll love this convincing substitute.

Here’s What You’ll Need:

• 3 oz. brewed espresso
• 1 tbsp. caramel sauce
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 tbsp. white sugar
• 1 1/2 cups ice cubes
• 2 tbsp. whipped cream

Here’s What to Do:

With your blender set on high, blend the espresso, caramel sauce, and sugar until smooth. Pour in the milk and add the ice, and keep blending until creamy and frothy. Pour it into a tall, frosty glass, add a dollop of whipped cream on top, and voila!

Iced Irish Coffee

As legend has it, Irish coffee was invented to keep arriving visitors warm as they disembarked a seaplane in the dead of winter in County Limerick. This recipe has the opposite effect: it’ll keep you nice and cool.

Our version uses Jameson’s Irish whisky, but you can also make a nonalcoholic version if you’d like.

Start with the cold brew coffee from the last recipe. Combine a shot of whiskey (or not), two tablespoons of simple syrup and your cold brew in a shaker filled with ice, and shake it up until your hands get cold. Strain into a tall glass filled with ice, top with whipped cream and freshly ground nutmeg.

Last-Minute Iced Coffee

OK, so what if you’re craving a cold coffee fix, but you’re short on time? Well, we have a couple of tips.

If you own a pourover setup, you can try making iced coffee the Japanese way. Just replace half the water you’d normally use with a roughly equivalent amount of ice, placed directly in the brewing vessel.

Stuck at the office with a pot of hot coffee? Well, we have a trick for that, too. Put a metal spoon in the break room freezer, and then slowly pour your coffee over it into a glass full of ice. The spoon should absorb some of the hot coffee’s thermal energy. It’s less than ideal, but it should result in a stronger cup.

Stay Cool With Iced Coffee!

We hope these recipes help you stay caffeinated and beat the heat this spring and summer. If you’ve got a great iced or cold coffee drink recipe, why not share it with us on our Facebook page? We’ll look forward to reading it soon.