How to Make Iced Coffee

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Save money and make perfectly sweet and delicious iced coffee at home with easy step-by-step instructions. Plus, get tips on how to sweeten and flavor your iced coffee to make it delicious.

Pouring half & half into a cup of iced coffee.

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Recipe Highlights

Delicious and refreshing, nothing is as good as iced coffee on a hot summer day. It’s made with just 4 ingredients (coffee, ice, simple syrup, and half & half).
The best way to sweeten iced coffee is with simple syrup, which is liquid sugar (half water and half sugar). Add flavoring like vanilla and cinnamon and you’ve got flavored simple syrups. This is how Starbucks flavors their hot and cold beverages.
Iced coffee is made by brewing hot coffee, then cooling it down in the refrigerator or freezer. It’s a little different from cold brew coffee, which is made by steeping ground coffee in cold water for hours.

Ingredient Notes

Strong coffee: Make coffee in a drip coffee machine, or a Keurig. Strong coffee is key to making great iced coffee so that the ice doesn’t dilute the drink. Chill hot coffee in the refrigerator.
Simple syrup: Brown sugar simple syrup is what I add to my iced coffee but you can use any kind of simple syrup (including flavored) you like. Stirring sugar into a cold drink doesn’t do a great job in sweetening a drink since the sugar just sinks to the bottom. The easiest thing to do is to make a batch of simple syrup at a time and store it in the refrigerator. It’s ready to use whenever you want!
Half & half: Half cream and half milk, it’s creamier than regular milk but not as rich as heavy cream. You can use any milk you prefer including oat or almond.
Ice: Use filtered water to make ice if possible.

For full ingredients and detailed instructions, please see the recipe card at the bottom of the post.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Pour strong, cooled coffee over ice.

A good balance is half strong coffee and half ice.

Step 2: Stir in simple syrup.

Iced coffee in a cup with half and half.

Step 3: Add half & half.

Expert Tips

Don’t pour hot coffee into a cup of ice since the ice will melt too quickly, leaving a drink that’s too watered down. Use coffee that has cooled down a bit.
A quick way to cool down hot coffee is by putting it in the freezer for 15 minutes or in the refrigerator for an hour.
No need to use the most expensive coffee to make iced coffee unless you’re not adding any sugar or sweetener.
If the iced coffee is too strong, dilute it by adding cold water.
The coffee and the simple syrup are great to make ahead of time and both can be stored in the refrigerator in airtight containers. Make coffee the night or two before and let it chill in the refrigerator. The simple simple syrup will last 2-3 weeks in the refrigerator.

Serving Suggestions

Flavored syrups
Vanilla syrup, cinnamon syrup, and brown sugar syrup all taste great with iced coffee. They flavor and sweeten at the same time.
Chocolate syrup
Add chocolate syrup to turn iced coffee into an iced mocha.
Coffee creamer
To cream, flavor, and sweeten all at once replace the half & half and simple syrup with coffee creamer like my easy, homemade French vanilla creamer.
Cold foam
Instead of just pouring half & half directly into the drink, make cold foam using a French press.

Questions You May Have

What’s the difference between cold brew and iced coffee?

Cold brew coffee is made without heat, letting ground coffee and water steep in cold water for hours in the refrigerator. It results in a smoother, less acidic coffee. Regular iced coffee is made with heat, by making hot coffee then cooling it down in the refrigerator.

How can I cool down hot coffee in less than 2 minutes?

If you don’t want to wait for hot coffee to cool down in the freezer or refrigerator, put 1/2 cup of ice and a cup of hot coffee into a cocktail shaker and shake 10 times. Pour cooled down coffee into a cup and add 1/2 cup of more ice.

What size cup should I use to make this drink?

The drink should be made in a 16 ounce cup, which is a grande cup size at Starbucks.

What kind of coffee should I use to make iced coffee?

Any kind you like! You can use light, medium, or dark roast. The lighter the roast, the more caffeine there is.

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