Iced Java

I kinda have this thing for coffee. And coffee shops.

I don't know if you knew.

Anyways, a couple of weeks ago I was looking at my budget and I realized that I also spend an obscene amount of money on coffee. Obscene. Like probably over $20 a week. Which is over $80 a month. Which is over $960 a year. Which is close to $1000.

I don't know about your life, but in mine one thousand dollars is a lot of money. A lot of money indeed.

So, I have determined that I must cut back. I must be strong. I must because that much money on coffee is ridiculous.

Although I can walk through the doors and the baristas get my drink prepared without me asking for my iced, skim, sugar-free caramel latte that doesn't mean that I need to go every day. Or even five days a week. I could cut back to three. I can do that.

Therefore, I will make iced coffee for the summer. It's easy. It's delicious. It's cheap.

First, I'm going to start with a simple syrup. Simple syrup is made for cold beverages. Because regular sugar and cold beverages don't mix.

Remember that wah-nilla bean from my vanilla bean buttercream? I saved it. There was a lot of flavor left! I stuck it in a baggie with one cup of plain, white sugar. It sat there for 3 weeks. Then I decided to use it.

See all those floaty bits? They're the deliciousness of wah-nilla.

Simple syrup is a one to one ratio of sugar to water.

The recipe:
1 cup sugar
1 cup water

Boil until all the sugar is dissolved. Pour into a container. Use in your iced coffee. So easy-peasy.

I did strain out the big bits. No one likes chunky coffee.

Now for the iced coffee. I don't actually like iced coffee from most coffee shops. They usually do a double-strength brew and then get it cold and it's just waaaaaaaaaay too bitter for me. I have delicate taste buds. This recipe is for a cold-pressed iced coffee from over at Smitten Kitchen, my prep is a little different, but her prep is more multi-tasking equipment friendly.

Here's how I roll:

Two-thirds a cup of ground coffee beans. If you're me you grind your own on your roommate's fancy coffee equipment.

These beans are from Hawaii.

Three cups of water. If you want to go all out, use some filtered H2O, but mine's straight from the tap. Thank you, Durham.

I put it all in my french press and let it sit overnight.

The next morning I push it down to strain out the coffee grounds, pour my coffee over ice, add some half-n-half and my vanilla simple syrup.

I probably saved myself $3. 50 today.

That's a savings of $17.50 for the week...$70 for the month and $840 for the year. If I make this every day. Which I probably won't.

BUT, I could do it for the summer. Or even 50% of the time. Then I'd still save myself some moolah.

Try it out! Let me know what you think.

Mmmmmm....coffee.