Instead of spending an extra few bucks at the drive-thru coffee window every day, why not purchase delicious Hawaiian Ka’u coffee beans and make your own (much tastier) iced coffees at home?  Plus this is the perfect drink to make in the morning to take with you to the pool, lake, river, or beach!

There’s no better way to spend a half hour (or longer, if you got it!) on a hot summer’s day than sipping iced coffee and resting up for the rest of the days’ adventures. Here are tips for getting the most from your iced coffee experience.

Start with good beans.

The key is to start with a really fabulous brand of coffee bean that’s roasted just the way you like it.

Have some time and the inclination?

If you have the time, we recommend cold-brewing your coffee beans overnight. Most people are completely unaware you can cold-brew coffee grounds – it just takes longer. In addition to saving your ice from melting immediately (which makes for horridly diluted iced coffees), cold soaking your coffee grounds cuts the coffee’s acidity and preserves the flavor of freshly brewed coffee when chilled. Refrigerating hot-brewed coffee can sometimes result in a coffee with a slightly sour flavor.

Coarse grind your beans the night before and soak them in a large container. Filter it in the morning and voila! The cold coffee is ready for ice and your milk and sweetener/flavor of choice.

Use a ratio of 1 part coffee to 4 or 4.5 parts water to start; with experience you’ll be able to vary the ratio to suit your tastes. That ratio should produce a coffee “concentrate” that can stand up to melting ice. If the coffee seems too strong, feel free to add some cold water.

We use a fine mesh strainer fitted with a “basket” style paper coffee filter to strain out the coffee grounds, but you can also use cheesecloth if you don’t have the right size coffee filter handy. And remember to add your filtered grounds to your compost pile! You can store your cold-brewed coffee in the fridge in a tightly closed container for weeks, so feel free to make a large quantity.

In a hurry?

Brew an extra cup or two in the morning and let it cool in the fridge. It will be cold and ready when you need your p.m. pick-me-up.

 Bonus tip: 

Rather than using regular ice for your iced coffee, freeze leftover coffee in an ice mold to keep the caffeinated goodness from getting too watery.  There are even a huge variety of novelty ice molds available, so you can enjoy iced coffee with dinosaurs or sinking ships floating in the glass if you have the inclination.

Grab some delicious Hawaiian Ka’u coffee beans for your perfect iced coffee from us here at Hawaii’s Local Buzz.

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