Thursday

Cold Pressed Iced Coffee - What a Treat!

Iced Coffee
I decided to learn how to make iced coffee. It sounds easy enough; coffee, ice cream and some whipped cream on top. How complicated is that?

After some research I found out it's not as easy as I thought. There is a process called cold pressing that must be done to get the right stuff for iced coffee. Cold pressing involves mixing a pound of coffee with 2 quarts of water and letting it steep overnight.

Once 24 hours goes by, you just take the sludgy mixture and pour it through a cheese-cloth lined strainer. That required some patience and a desire to have more than 2 hands. It was a bit messy as I tried to squeeze all the liquid through the cheese cloth. My hands were covered with the coffee grounds and it was a struggle to keep from getting the grounds into the pressed coffee but I got it done.

On a side note, a few years ago I purchased 5 yards of cheese cloth, took it home and washed it in the dish sink by hand with a drop of Dawn dish-washing liquid. After it soaked, I rinsed it thoroughly twice to get the soap out. After it was dry, I stored it in a Ziploc bag to keep it clean. So I was comfortable using some of the clean cheese cloth for this purpose.

The recipe I used for this said to put a teaspoon or two of sugar in a mug with some ice and pour the pressed cold coffee over the top. Mix it up and add half and half. Well, I don't drink my regular coffee with sugar, just cream. So I thought I could drink this stuff without sugar and boy, was I wrong! You see, the cold press process ensures that the coffee is stronger, a little more bitter with much more caffeine still in the coffee. I had to give in and add some sugar. I stirred it up, added some whipped cream and a straw and it was well worth the wait.

I could tell there was more caffeine in the iced coffee; I had a bit of the jitters after I finished it. It was fantastic. I also took some of the mixture and made ice cubes out of it. I thought it would compliment the coffee on these hot days. And luckily it stores for a month so I can enjoy the coffee for the entire hot month of August. What a treat!

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