Iced Coffee

I start each day with a big ol' cup of iced coffee.  In the winter, I switch to hot coffee from my french press, but lately, even on a chilly day, I am all about the iced coffee.
What I used to do was make freshly ground coffee in my french press and save the leftovers in a container in the fridge.  Then, I'd use that to make iced coffee.  I admit that I make my coffee VERY strong... one night I brewed decaff after dinner for a friend of ours, but because I make it so strong and decaff isn't 100% de-caffeinated... it still kept him up that night.  oopsie.   Anyway, my point is this: in order to make good iced coffee, you need to start with very strong coffee.

Following a "recipe" from Ree, the pioneer woman, I decided to make a large batch of iced coffee from some grounds that were given to me.  The coffee was an 8oz. bag of a ground Sumatra variety.

I used my stock pot and emptied the bag of grounds into it.  Then I poured 16 cups (one gallon) of water over the grounds, stirring them until all were wet.  I put the lid on the pot and let it seep for 12 hours, stirring whenever I thought about it.

I used a flour sack towel as my strainer.  I lined a big bowl with the towel and  poured the brew onto the towel.






 When the towel was full, I drew up the corners and squeezed out the coffee leaving the grounds in the towel.  I emptied the used grounds into a trash bag that I plan to take out to the garden 


(coffee grounds are great for your garden).





I funneled the coffee into a gallon sized drink container I had washed out and set aside earlier.  I repeated the straining until all the coffee was strained from the grounds.






 That's it.  Put it in the fridge until it's nice and cold.  It should last you a while.









How I like to drink my iced coffee:

I have a special insulated plastic cup with a straw that I use for my iced coffee.  I love this cup.  I got it for $5 at Walmart.

I fill it half full of ice then pour my coffee in leaving enough room for creamer.  I love  sugar free french vanilla creamer... yeah, yeah, yeah, I know it's horrible for me.  I'll take my chances, that's how much I love the stuff.  Okay, I put in about 1/4 cup or more of creamer and then squeeze in a tablespoon of lite chocolate Hershey's syrup. Stir with the straw and drink.

Ahhhh, Heaven.

Weight watcher peeps, this comes to 3 or 4 points plus, depending on how much creamer and chocolate you use.  Well worth it, in my book.