Delicious Home Made Iced Coffee

For those coffee loving, Starbucks addicted, caffeine addicts... this recipe is for you (and me!) First of all, it is super easy. Second, it will save you money. Lastly, it is delicious!

I first saw the recipe on Pinterest. I will have to look for the link again. Oddly enough, this process was just on the Pioneer Woman's cooking show this past Saturday. Slightly different than how I did it but I am sure it is just as good.

Here's what you need for the coffee concentrate:
1 Pound Ground Coffee of your Choice (I used Starbucks Dark Espresso Roast)
1 gallon water
1 large Bowl
Coffee Filters or cheese cloth

1) Dump the pound of ground coffee into the large bowl.

2) Pour the full gallon of water into the bowl with the coffee ground and give it a little stir just to make sure all of the coffee is saturated.
3) Cover and let sit 12-24 hours

4) When the "brewing" time is up, grab a pitcher or something you can straing the coffee concentrate into.

5) Place the coffee filter or cheese cloth in a fine mesh strainer and slowly pour or laddle coffee into the the filters.

It sounds like a long process but it really isn't. The straining only took me about 20-30 minutes. It made approx 3/4 of a gallon. It will last a month in your refrigerator.

I tried out a couple "recipes" for the iced coffee.

First one:

6oz coffee concentrate

2 oz milk

2tbsp chocolate syrup

2tbsp sweetened condensed milk

ice

I blended this one in the blender. I need to tweak the ice vs liquid ratio to make it a little thicker but it tasted great

Secondly:

4oz coffee concentrate

3oz milk

2oz hazelnut coffee creamer

ice

I didn't blend this one, Just stirred it with a spoon.

I love this recipe because it gives you the opportunity to cut down on the calories by using fat free milk and fat free coffee creamer or sugar free coffee creamer. You can also save a lot of money. The average Grande sized Starbucks drink is about $4.35. I figured the cost of my supplies for the coffee concentrate, sweetended condensed milk, and coffee filters(I didn't even use the whole package. just a few of them) and it came out to about $16. This recipe made about 96 ounces of concentrate. You will use 4-6 ounces of concentrate per serving. That's 16 servings if using 6 ounces and 24 servings if you use 4 ounces. You're looking about about $1.00-$2.00 per serving once you include the added milk, coffee creamer, chocolate syrup or whatever else you use. Not bad!

It also saves you from using the gas money to get to starbucks, plus the time. And if you're feeling lazy... you have iced coffee right at your fingertips all summer!