food to glow

Japanese-Style Iced Coffee is the summertime coffee shop drink of your dreams, but made at home. This ice-cold cup of Joe is easy to prepare in a fancy pour-over carafe, wide-mouthed Kilner jar, or any heat-proof jug. Smooth, bright and deeply flavoured, this five-minute coffee drink will be your new summer ritual. Great on its own or with your favourite creamer.

My Mother’s “Iced Coffee”

My mother is no longer here but I always think of her when I drink iced coffee. A bit of a long-standing family joke, really. And, with the thermometer in the mid 20s, we are fairly getting through the iced coffee these days. So she is on my mind a lot.

Pretty much every morning growing up in southern Florida she would put on her General Electric drip coffee machine, drink a mug or two, then leave the pot sitting on its little hot plate throughout the morning – coffee strengthening to a bitter crescendo as the hours passed.

At some point in the morning, and no matter where she was in the house, my mother would invariably hear one of us rattling around in the kitchen. With her “mom ears” she would shout from up the stairs, “Don’t throw that out. I’m going to make iced cawfee.” A reflexive response. Like I might fuss, “you’ll have someone’s eye out with that” even if what is being thrown was a towel, into a laundry basket.

Obediently I would transfer the bitter brew to a mug – a film of coffee oil already slicking the surface – and pop it into the fridge.

The Joke Was On Me

I never saw an iced coffee emerge from the kitchen. Iced tea, yes. Quarts per day. Condensation dripping off the ever-present jug of iced black Pekoe. But never iced coffee. I don’t know if she made any when we weren’t around, but I am pretty sure I never saw her kick back on a hot afternoon (which they always are in Florida) with a frosty glass of iced coffee. And having actually tried to make iced coffee from cooled down, hot-brewed coffee I can understand why. It’s pretty crap. Too acidic and just plain wrong. Maybe my mother knew this all along. Her little joke on me.

So, What Is A Japanese-Style Iced Coffee?

Simply put, it is hot water poured over coffee and onto ice. So no waiting overnight for a “proper” cold brew. Or letting your hot coffee go cold and bitter a lá Bonnie (my mother).

You can of course just wing it and not use any measurements. But I’ve tinkered with a “recipe” – as much as this is a recipe in any case – and think I have a winner. Try it this way first and then do your own tinkering. I’ve used this method for the past five or six summers. It’s one I originally found on counterculturecoffee. Back when I originally saw it the website was just a place for coffee nerds to share essays, but I see that they’ve gone commercial. I’ve not tried their coffee though.

Why Should I Make It?

This Japanese-Style Iced Coffee recipe is for anyone who misses/can’t afford/can’t access a professionally made iced coffee drink. If you use top-notch roasted beans, this might even be better than pro.

•  It is very easy and quick to make – about five minutes.
• The pour over method releases all of the subtle aromatics of good coffee. And probably of bad coffee. But we won’t go there. 🙂 If you already make pour over coffee you will know this to be true. Assuming you are getting small batch coffee – whole beans to prep at home, or medium ground – you will access the hitherto undetectable aromas and tastes that quality coffees tend to list on the (handwritten) pack. You know, chocolate, spices, berries, stone fruit, sweet herbs, nuts, or brown sugar. All the good things! I’ve found an excellent American article that may help you decide what kind of coffee suits your tastes.
• As with the taste complexity, your pour over iced coffee will also have just the right amount of acidity, but no bitterness. No bitterness whatsoever. Bitterness is always in the way it is prepared. It is not the beans’ fault. Even if you normally drink milk with your hot coffee you may want to take this drink black just to experience the true complexity of good coffee. And, for me at least, there is always a faint background sweetness. Perhaps this echoes its past life as a sweetly jasmine-scented flower.
• It’s much quicker than slow-drip cold brew, which takes about up to 12 hours. Or even my own Pinterest-favourite, Cold Brew Coffee In a French Press/Cafetiere, which takes 6-12 hands-off hours. My past recipe gives a very similar result to this Japanese one, but is more suited to the patient or organized!.
• It tastes flipping gorgeous.

What Do I Need To Make Japanese-Style Iced Coffee?

You will see that I have a fancy-ish Chemex pour-over brewer/carafe. I feel very fancy using it, too. But honestly you can make this with ice in a Pyrex jug, a paper filter – or even a fine muslin cloth – nestled into a fine-mesh sieve laid over. Or even a large Mason or Kilner jar with a ceramic or stainless steel pour-over coffee cone placed snugly on top. You just need room in your vessel for the ice and the gently dripping coffee.

Good quality roasted coffee beans – whole to grind yourself or pre-ground. For a 6-cup Chemex Coffee Maker like I have, choose medium ground. For a smaller vessel, choose a finer grind or the filter might get a bit clogged as the cone is usually quite narrow.

Digital weighing scale – if you are going to make a truly great iced coffee, weighing is superior to cup measures

Your vessel – pour over brewer (like I have), wide-mouthed jar, or heat-proof jug

Pour over cone (for atop a Mason jar or similar) or fine-mesh sieve (for a heatproof jug)

Appropriate filter paper, if needed. The ones I bought are too big for my carafe, but it doesn’t affect the brewing. You could also get away with a fine muslin cloth if using a sieve over a jug.

Kettle to boil the water

Ice cubes – large ones if possible. Like you get in a bag at the convenience store.

I will have an Amazon UK product list below. Any purchases made on one of these links doesn’t cost you a thing, but gives me a few pennies to help keep this site ad-free. Thanks for your support. 🙂

Product List

Chemex 6-cup Coffee Maker (what I use)

Chemex 1-3 Cup Wood Neck Coffee Maker

Chemex Bonded Unbleached Pre-Folded Square Coffee Filters, 100 Count

Pact Coffee Medium Ground Filter Coffee – House Blend Dark Roast (500g) – Ethically Sourced Award Winning Coffee Beans

Gooseneck Kettle – Coffee Gator Pour Over Kettle -1.2 Litre This hob-top kettle great for if you plan on making lots of Japanese-style iced coffee as it is much easier to control the water flow. But I use an ordinary electric kettle.

Salter Digital Kitchen Weighing Scales – Stainless Steel – this is the one that I use

Time To Brew

While the sun is shining I will go and get my own brew going. Do join me by trying this simple recipe, adjusting to your liking. I like mine – a robust decaf – fairly strong. But you do you. If you like yours a bit tamer, either use a little less coffee – so down to 25g – or more water. Play around with the ratio.

The recipe makes two small glasses or one big glass. Do up the quantity if your carafe is big like mine. I usually make double and keep the rest in a flip lid Kilner bottle to finish off the next day – if I’m not sharing with Andrew. But honestly, I could legit drink it all in one go!

PS If you want to know more about coffee, here is a helpful article covering 41 coffee stats and facts.

I hope you all are keeping well and enjoying some nice weather. Next time I’m coming back with a flavour-packed easy dinner recipe. Look out for it. Until then, thanks for reading and cooking Food To Glow!