5 Delightful Iced Coffee Drinks for Summer

Let’s kick this off with a twist on a summer classic. This cold brew lemonade is sweet, a bit tart, and basically the coffee lover’s take on an Arnold Palmer. If you love your cold brew, this is going to be your new summer classic -- and it’s almost too easy to make!

Start by making the lemonade base - combine the lemon juice, simple syrup, and water in your cup. Now, every lemon is going to be a bit different, so we recommend alternating the syrup and water and tasting as you go. You want a lemonade that’s slightly tart and not too sweet, as the cold brew you add later will be slightly bitter and sweet on its own.

Once you’ve got a lemonade flavor that you’re happy with, add ice to the cup and top up with cold brew. Give the drink a stir, and you’re ready to kick back and sip happy! This drink is really easy to make in large batches as well, which is great because - let’s be honest - you’re going to need a whole lot more than one glassful of this stuff.

Coffee sodas have been on our radar for a few years now, but it was only recently that they really blew us away. Our friends at Steadfast have got the coffee soda locked down, and ever since we had that first sip of their Matchless soda we’ve been hooked. Want to make your very own at home? We haven’t quite perfected it, but we think we’ve gotten pretty darn close to the Steadfast soda that we’re so smitten with.

Steadfast’s secret is that they flash-chill their brewed coffee without diluting it. We’ve touched on that before in our iced coffee blog, and this time we’re utilizing Misc. Goods Co. Coil chiller to do the deed. We’re also brewing with an Aeropress to give a bit more body and strength to our coffee before we chill, and we’ll dilute just a touch more later with ice. To carbonate, we’ll use a NitroPress and CO2 cartridges, but you can make this in larger batches with kegging equipment as well!

To make the coffee, you’ll need:

• 20 g ground coffee, fine
• 250 g water, 207 F
• Coil chiller, ice bath or Hario V60 Fretta
• 100 g ice for diluting

Invert your Aeropress and add the coffee and hot water. 250 g of water will get the Aeropress quite full, so gently and carefully stir the bloom to deflate it so you can add all the water in there. Add the filter and cap, let this steep for 90 seconds, then invert the Aeropress onto the prepared Coil (or into the vessel of your choice in an ice bath). Once the coffee is chilled, add the coffee and the remaining ice to a cup and stir to chill and dilute until the ice will no longer melt. Strain into whipping siphon.

Add the syrup to the coffee (we recommend tasting as you go, it should taste sweet and syrupy, but not too cloying. The carbon dioxide will add acidity later on), along with 2-3 pieces of orange zest. Cap off the siphon, and charge with one CO2 cartridge (we like to charge upside-down for this). With the siphon upright, vent off the pressure by depressing the handle, covering the spout with a cloth. This step will remove the excess air in the chamber, allowing for more CO2 to be added. Charge with a second CO2 cartridge, then chill for at least one hour.

When ready to serve, vent the CO2 as before and full depressurize the siphon. Unscrew the cap, and wait for the foam to settle. Pour the soda through a strainer into a chilled glass with ice. If the soda is too foamy, pour first into another container, then into your glass. The excess carbonation will subside and the soda will be perfectly fizzy and crisp - just right for a hot summer day!

*The Coil has been discontinued, but we do recommend the Haro V60 Fretta.

Cow milk not your thing? No problemo. This iced latte kicks the pants off the old standby, as it’s cool, refreshing, a bit tropical, and ideal for poolside sipping. We make our own macadamia nut milk for the freshest flavor, and aim for chocolaty tasting coffees to really round out the flavors of the drink.

Combine the coconut cream, simple syrup, and vanilla with the fresh shot of espresso, and stir until thoroughly dissolved. Add your macadamia milk to a glass with ice, then add the espresso mixture on top and stir. That’s it - you’re done. Now go catch some sun and sip happy!

Espresso - it’s a bit bitter, a bit sweet, a bit tart. Tonic water - it’s also a bit bitter (sometimes quite bitter!), a bit sweet (sometimes quite sweet!), a bit tart. It seems like they shouldn’t exactly pair that well, one bittersweet-tart thing fighting another for your taste buds, but they really, really do work! Espresso tonics are a growing trend right now, so you’re sure to encounter them somewhere this summer.

Want to make them at home? Great - they’re exactly as simple as they sound. It can take a little work to find the right coffee and right tonic to suit your palate, but we’re very fond of using a tonic syrup instead of tonic water, so you can control the tonic’s flavor as well as the coffee. Jack Rudy’s tonic syrup is our current favorite, but there are plenty of other brands, and you can even find recipes to make your own!

Combine the syrup, soda, and ice in your glass, and stir to combine. Slowly pour the espresso over the ice (espresso and soda are prone to excessive fizzing if you combine too fast!), then stir to combine with the tonic. Garnish and enjoy, you classy coffee lover!

Our final recipe is something a little different: it’s got booze in it. Not too much, but just enough to make it qualify as a solid brunch-time drink. Averna is an Italian amaro - a type of herbal liqueur that’s a little bitter, a little sweet, and very complex. When combined with the right coffee, we think it tastes like a cola with orange and coffee - a quaffable combination, to say the least.

Start by pulling a shot and immediately adding the ice. Stir until the ice is fully melted and the shot is quite chilled. Add the mixture to your glass with another big ice cube, the syrup, bitters, and Averna. Stir until thoroughly combined. Top up with soda, then express a citrus peel over the glass and garnish (we particularly like grapefruit, but orange works as well). This drink is meant to be a little on the bitter side, but feel free to sweeten more to taste, or omit the orange bitters. Cin cin!