Cold Brew Iced Coffee and Vietnamese Iced Coffee

Cold Brew Iced Coffee

By cold brewing iced coffee you will get a smoother, less bitter taste.

-1 (8-11 oz) package ground coffee
-1 gallon (or a little less) cold water

Place ground coffee in a large bowl, pitcher or container. Cover it with 1 gallon of cold water (I use a little less than 1 gallon because I make this in a 1 gallon pitcher so I just cover the coffee with water until the pitcher is full). Let the coffee brew/sit at room temperature for at least 8 hours. After 8 hours you will need to strain the mixture. You can do this by pouring it through a coffee filter, a few layers of cheese cloth, or a fine mesh sieve (my preferred way). Once strained, you will have a good concentrated base for iced coffee. You can keep this coffee concentrate in the fridge and it will stay good for several weeks. Fill a glass with ice, add the concentrate and add milk/ cream and sweetener as desired and you are good to go. You will always be less than 1 minute away from enjoying a great glass of iced coffee. For a more decadent treat you can add a few tablespoons of sweetened condensed milk to your glass for Vietnamese iced coffee. Or you can follow the recipe below if wanting to make Vietnamese Iced Coffee for a crowd.

Vietnamese Iced Coffee for a crowd

This is great for showers, brunches or really any party or occasion. It is addicting though, so beware!

-2 gallons (or slightly less) cold brew coffee concentrate as prepared above
-2 small cans of sweetened condensed milk (I always use fat-free sweetened condensed milk)

Pour the contents of the sweetened condensed milk cans into the bottom of your desired serving decanter/ container. Pour in a few cups of the coffee concentrate. Stir well with a spoon, scraping the bottom of the container, until all of the condensed milk has blended into the coffee and well dissolved. Add the remaining coffee concentrate and give it one final stir. You can add additional milk or cream at this point if desired, but I don't. Chill until serving. Either serve alongside a bucket of ice or add several handfuls of ice cubes to your container to keep the coffee cool.

 (When I make the coffee concentrate solely for the purpose of making Vietnamese Iced Coffee for a crowd I strain the coffee through a sieve pouring it directly into the serving container and mixing with the sweetened condensed milk. Doing so will save you a step).