Cold Brewed Iced Coffee

Since I posted yesterday about boozing it up, I figured that I should write something about a non-alcoholic beverage today. In addition to an evening, or afternoon perhaps, cocktail, summer is the season for iced coffee. I love purchasing an iced coffee, but I tend to feel kind of guilty about this spending habit after a while. So when the weather turns warm and I crave cold caffeinated beverages, I set about making iced coffee at home.

The easiest "method" is to just brew a cup of coffee the night before, add sugar if you like, and stick in the the fridge for the next morning. The only potential pitfall is that the resulting iced drink will get pretty weak when the ice starts to melt. This is easily fixed by choosing a strong coffee to begin with and/or brewing it stronger if you are using a regular coffee maker. I have a cute Keurig machine, so I can't really control the brewing beyond purchasing stronger blends. (Coincidentally, I just got a coupon in the mail for the K-Cups made especially for iced coffee and tea.)

But if you really like iced coffee, you might consider making a big batch of cold brewed coffee to fulfill your caffeine needs. Pioneer Woman recently posted on her method which, like most of her recipes, will yield a huge about of coffee.  (It also had the effect of making me think that I needed to purchase a Pottery Barn mason jar drink dispenser. A weary look from Dave and 24 hours of "think time" made me come to my senses, however.)

Since my refrigerator space is slightly more limited than that of a professional cooking blogger, I elected to just get a 2 quart glass pitcher to make my coffee. To get a sense of proportions, I used this "recipe" from the New York Times, courtesy of a Google search. (BTW: Google better withstand these anti-trust suits - I am not sure I can change to another search engine.)

So to save you from doing the math:
-Put 1 cup of coarsely ground coffee into the pitcher and add 4 1/2 cups of cold water. Let it sit on your counter overnight.
-Line a strainer with a coffee filter or cheese cloth. (I recommend the coffee filter, though.) Strain out the grinds.
-Wash out your pitcher, pour coffee back in. Refrigerate. Drink. Yum.

PS: I had a totally cute picture of my coffee with the morning paper, but my camera and Lightroom software are not playing nice with each other today.

Summery Drinks

 For whatever reason, summer seems to be a particularly boozy season for our family. Perhaps it is the warmer weather. Maybe it's ability to enjoy a cocktail on the patio. And it is certain that the first beer back from the beach tastes especially fabulous.

There are obvious summer favorites: the vodka/gin and tonic, the margarita, sangria, Corona with lime, of course, but if you are looking for some new additions to your summer boozing repertoire, I have a few suggestions:

If beer is your thing, you can't go wrong with a Hoegarrden. A light, citrusy wheat beer, it is our favorite just-spent-hours-on-the-beach-and-survived beer. If you want to support breweries that are more local than ones in Belgium, try Victory Brewing's Whirlwind, their summer "witbier", or their Summer Love, an ale that they introduced this year and wont be around for long. Also, if you like beer and also like your drinks on the girly side, try Harpoon's Raspberry Wheat.

I like beer as much as the next girl, but I also like not-beer too. This year I have discovered, courtesy of Jenny and Andy at Dinner a Love Story, the Dark and Stormy. Wow! This is one deliciously summery cocktail. Made with dark rum, lime juice and ginger beer (not to be confused with ginger ale), it is the perfect end to a summer day.