Cold-Brewed Iced Coffee & Vanilla Simple Syrup

An 8:30 a.m. playdate calls for coffee. (But that goes without saying, doesn’t it?)

My friend Amanda brought our favorite bagels from Brooklyn Bagel Bakery in Courthouse, and I brought the coffee. (And the children. Playdate, remember?)

I’d never cold brewed before, but figured I’d give it a try. My Twitter pal, Michelle, shared her delicious recipe for Cold Brew Coffee Latte. Michelle’s recipe is for a concentrated coffee that gets diluted with milk or water, so I modified her recipe a bit to dilute it up front.

Cold-Brewed Iced Coffee & Vanilla Simple Syrup

Print recipe

Ingredients

• 1/2 cups coffee (ground)
• 3 1/2 cups water
• 1 vanilla bean (split and seeded)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water (boiled)

Directions

Step 1

In a large bowl, stir 1/2 cup ground coffee into 3 1/2 cups water. Cover and let sit on counter or in refrigerator for at least 12 hours.

Step 2

Use a fine mesh sieve lined with paper towels to strain cold-brewed coffee into another container. Pour into ice cube trays and/or refrigerate. Enjoy within a week or so of brewing.

Step 3

To create simple syrup, mix 1 cup boiling water with 1 cup of granulated sugar. Stir to dissolve sugar.

Step 4

Split and scrape out seeds from a vanilla bean, if desired, and reserve seeds for another use. Place remaining shell in simple syrup to infuse with vanilla flavor. Store syrup in refrigerator for about one month.

Step 5

Pour desired amount of cold coffee into a glass and slowly add simple syrup until you achieve desired sweetness. If you'd like an iced latte, add milk or cream. Enjoy!

Have you made cold-brewed coffee before? Do you prefer your coffee iced or hot?