I’m a coffee addict. When it gets too hot in the summer, I’ll stop drinking hot and make myself some iced. There’s several schools of thought on making iced coffee at home: some make regular hot coffee, then chill it, some pour hot over ice, some cold-brew. In my younger, naive days, I would make hot coffee, let it cool, then chill it further with the addition of cold milk. But wisdom–and experience–tells me that cold-brew is the path of least resistance and provides the best buzz for your buck. Seriously. You won’t go back. And you can save a few bucks by making your own at home. The all-too-simple directions, after the jump.

You need nothing fancy for this. No french press, no percolator, just a large glass jar or similar container. This is a small step towards conservation–no electricity needed except to grind your own beans, if you so desire. Add to the jar a half-cup of your favorite (hopefully organic, free-trade) coffee beans, ground. Fill the jar with water. Shake that bad boy up. Let it sit on the counter for at least 12, if not 24 hours. When you want a cup, filter through coffee filter. Cut with a little bit of cream or half-and-half, or do like I do and go 50/50 coffee and your choice of milk. The flavor of the coffee is more pronounced, more nuanced. You taste what that coffee is supposed to taste like.

Hey, take it easy your first time. This stuff can knock you on your tail. You’re going to be feeling it if you suck down two of these in less than an hour. I recently went to a new coffee shop in town and had two iced coffees in about three hours. I was practically shaking when it was time to go. I asked the barista about their iced coffee.

“Oh, we cold-brew.”

That’s what I thought.

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Photo courtesy of Jeff Kubina at Wikimedia Commons.