Cold-Brewed Iced Coffee

No Free Lunch has returns with a recipe to bring us into the warmer months. Grandpa loves iced coffee, and he definitely passed that on to me. Depending on the temperature outside, a visit to Grandpa's house will almost certainly result in either a hot or iced coffee. If it's iced, expect a scoop of ice cream, too. My variation is a coffeehouse favorite; instead of cooling off hot coffee, here we cold brew overnight. Heat brings out the flavor faster, but with it more acidity. That's why we need to brew for so long. Another good variation is Vietnamese style, adding sweetened condensed milk.

Ingredients

Coffee (makes 4 glasses)

• 4 cups cold water
• 90-100 grams coffee beans, ground

For each glass

• 1 cup coffee
• 3 ice cubes
• 1 tbs half and half
• 2 tsp sugar

Instructions

The coffee is made in advance. You can brew it in any kind of container - a bowl, carafe, pot, whatever works, as long as you can strain out the grinds later. The most convenient way is to use a large French press, since you can easily strain out the grinds. Add the grinds to the French press and pour water over them. Stir gently with a chopstick. Leave to brew for at least 12 hours. Once the coffee is ready, pour into a carafe. You can keep this refrigerated for quite a while if you want.

To prepare a glass of iced coffee, combine ice, coffee, half and half, and sugar, and stir. You may wish to crack the ice with the back of a spoon first. For a special treat, add a scoop of vanilla ice cream to your iced coffee.