Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Not Really Engineering Related: DIY Iced Coffee

As the title suggests, this isn't really engineering related, unless of course you plan to scale this up to full production. Nonetheless, if you like or love iced coffee, but hate paying >$4 at your coffee shop for an oversweetened glass, you need this DIY. I originally acquired this recipe from GQ in Summer '09 so I can't take all the credit but I perfected it after making many batches.

Initial Impression: Easy enough, nothing can go wrong!

Tools Required: 32oz. (unbreakable) French Press, coffee scoop, butter knife, coarse ground coffee.

Difficulty: Very Easy

  1. Put ~14 scoops of coffee into French Press. I use whole bean Dark Espresso and grind it coarse. I use the unbreakable French Press by Bonjour because the glass ones seem to break way too easy and are expensive to replace.
  2. Fill the Press with cold (filtered) water and stir with the butter knife to wet all the grounds.
  3. Place the French Press lid but don't press the plunger.
  4. Let stand at room temperature for at least 12 hours. To assist with the diffusion (solid-liquid extraction) process, it is good to stir the mixture every hour for the first 3 hours. When the coffee gets saturated with water, it will begin to sink. The longer you leave it brew, the stronger the product will be. I usually shoot for about 12-18 hours.
  5. Press the plunger, and pour the coffee into a pitcher. Mix it 1:1 with cold (filtered) water and place the pitcher in the fridge.
  6. Serve with ice and (soy or almond) milk. You can sweeten it too if you desire but I can't stand sweet iced coffee.