perfect iced coffee

I know I've already mentioned my great and epic love story with caffeine (in my very first post and the one dedicated solely to tea) but here I go again! It's summer, so it is iced coffee time!

Iced coffee has always been an out-of-home treat in the summer, because I have never been able to re-create the cold, creamy, caffeinated deliciousness at home. It only recently occurred to me to use my favorite mode of discovery- pinterest, of course! - to find out how other people are able to!

I found an actual insane amount of recipes and tips on how to make the perfect iced coffee but the best idea (in my humble opinion) was to make sure the cold coffee was doubly strong, either by cold brewing or by double brewing. 

My "perfect" cup of iced coffee is a mixture of the two recipes I linked above! This time I double brewed the coffee, meaning I brewed a pot the way I normally would and then took that coffee and brewed a new pot using the first brew in the place of fresh water. This makes the coffee super rich and flavorful, so that it doesn't become watered down when you add ice or milk/cream!

1. Fill a glass half-way with ice.

2. Take your strongly-brewed, chilled coffee and fill the glass about two thirds of the way.

3. Take a BIG tablespoon of sweetened condensed milk and stir it in.

(This is what really made the drink for me. While I never add sweetener to my hot coffee, iced coffee has always tasted more bitter so I usually add a couple packets of sugar. But! Sugar sinks to the bottom and gets all crunchy and separated, so the addition of the sweetened condensed milk was kind of perfect! It complements the coffee and makes it even more smooth and delicious.)

I just had to lick the spoon! I haven't used sweetened condensed milk in forever!

4. Fill the glass the rest of the way with half-and-half (or milk, I tried both and they taste very very similarly awesome)

5. Tweak to your heart's content and enjoy your summer treat!