While iced coffee is a hot item in the summer, and this may be a hot take, it’s not too cool for winter either.
And you can easily make iced coffee at home using the Keurig coffee maker for some quick and delightful caffeine boost without having to pay an obscene amount of cash each time at fancy coffee shops.
In this article, I will show you how to make iced coffee with a Keurig machine at home.
You can jump straight to the ‘how to’ in the article by clicking here,
What Is A Keurig
Keurig is a single-serve beverage brewing system fundamentally consisting of a coffee maker and K-Cup pods, though most people generally refer to them as K-Cups.
K-Cup, usually in the form of a plastic cup lined with a paper filter, is filled with grounds suitable for one serving, sealed, and covered with a foil lid and a plastic ring.
How Does The Keurig Work
After filling the water tank with water, all you have to do is popping one of your choices in the brewing machine, press start, and wait for a little bit.
When the pod is put into the brewer, the machine pierces the foil lid and the bottom of the pod, so that the hot water can pass through the seal, meet the grounds and extract the goodness before exiting through the bottom puncture.
What Is So Special About A Keurig
As seen from the above description of the coffee maker, it’s a simple and quick way to get a cup of coffee at home on busy mornings. Moreover, it’s already conveniently portioned in K-Cups that you can buy at any supermarket.
If you are concerned about the environmental impact of daily consumption of single-use packaging, you can always opt for reusable K-Cups like the My K-Cup Universal Reusable Coffee Filters instead.
They are compatible with a wide range of coffee makers, last a long time, and allow users to use their own grounds to spice up coffee recipes.
Though the price of this coffee maker is not the most budget-friendly, having Keurig coffee at home is still only a fraction of the cost of buying a cup of coffee at a coffee shop every day.
Can You Make Cold Drinks With A Keurig
Though these machines and drip coffee makers are better used for hot coffee, your brewing options are not limited to those coffee drinks.
There are even K-Cups designed to be prepared cold, which is usually indicated on the packaging.
As the beverage taste gets diluted when poured over ice, the marked K-Cups are simply filled with more grounds than the standard ones.
So, do you need a special K-Cup for Keurig iced coffee? Though they’re available for sale, they aren’t necessary.
You can make your own Keurig iced coffee at home with what you have following our recipes below.
How To Make Iced Coffee With Keurig
Finally, the recipe that you came for. Making iced coffee is very simple. It’s just coffee poured over ice.
What you need
- My K-Cup Reusable Coffee Filter and coffee grounds of your choice/Any pre-packaged one that you like (opt for dark roasted coffee instead to retain some strength after diluted by ice)
- A tall glass (taller/bigger than usual to accommodate the ice cubes)
- Ice cube tray
- A spoon
- Optional: A measuring cup/Any cup that is big enough
- Optional: Caramel syrup, chocolate syrup, vanilla creamer, cold milk, almond milk, etc.
Recipe
Step 1
Fill the water tank and turn on the coffee maker and wait for the water to be heated up. In the meantime, onto the next step!
Step 2
Fill your serving cup with ice cubes.
Step 3
If you’re using the reusable K-Cup, fill it with your favorite grounds. For those unfamiliar with the machine, go with dark-roasted Green Mountain Coffee products, the first roaster to offer K-Cup coffee that later acquired Keurig.
Once the machine is ready, pop the pod into the machine.
Step 4
If you want to skimp on the number of dishes to wash and are confident that the coffee won’t splash or overflow, feel free to place your cup of ice onto the tray. The hot coffee will directly fall over the ice after extraction.
For this method, the glass cup may shatter due to the significant temperature difference, so opt for other materials.
Some, however, prefer to pour the hot coffee later themselves to avoid splashes and having the ice water dilute the coffee brew right away. For the latter, place a big enough measuring cup or any other type onto the tray instead.
If you’re doing this for the first time, go the extra mile and follow the second route.
Step 5
Press the iced coffee button if it’s available, like the Keurig K-Elite model. Or else, pick the smallest brew size available to ensure the strongest brew.
Step 6
If you use the second method in Step 4, you can go ahead and pour the coffee over your cup filled with ice right away.
Or put the brewed coffee into the freezer for a bit to cool it down before pouring. This can help further delay the dilution that inevitably happens over time.
Though the basic recipe of iced coffee stops at coffee and ice, you can always add more to spice up your coffee at home! You can add milk, especially cold milk to cool down the coffee faster.
Go for almond milk if you’re lactose intolerant or vegan. To each their own. Add some vanilla syrup or caramel syrup if you like your coffee sweet.
Then grab a spoon, stir it around, and voila, your cup of iced coffee is done!
How To Make Keurig Coffee Taste Better
Below are some bonus tips to hack the Keurig coffee machine brew.
Double The Brew
If you’re worried about the coffee getting too weak for your taste, double the brew. Never settle for less!
This is where a separate cup comes in handy.
Rather than just brewing once directly over ice, use 2 K-Cups and brew twice at the smallest cup size to enhance the coffee strength.
Coffee Ice Cubes
Another approach to deal with this issue is using coffee ice cubes instead of regular ice cubes. Brew some beforehand and put it in the ice cube trays to make coffee cubes that revolutionize your delicious iced coffee at home.
Sure, it takes more effort, but they will make your morning. A free refill with no dilution? Killing two birds with one ice cube if you ask me.
Salt
A pinch-ful of salt helps the coffee go down! While many add sugar to neutralize the bitterness, like Mary Poppins, salt is actually better at the job.
It not only helps cut down the bitter taste that is often the signature of Keurig coffee but also alleviates the stale taste of tap water. So a pinch of salt in your coffee can go a longer way than you think.
Iced Coffee Alternatives
If you’re craving cold coffee, your options are certainly not limited to making iced coffee. I’ll list some bonus coffee recipes for those interested in something more.
Cold Brew
I’ve written an article comparing cold brew and iced coffee before.
While preferences are subjective, if you’re looking for satisfying cold coffee, cold brewing is the superior brewing method that eliminates the risk of dilution entirely together with the supreme coffee taste.
However, in terms of convenience and time, iced coffee wins, as it takes at least 12 hours to steep grounds in cold water.
Though the latter can be stored up to 2 weeks afterward, it still takes more effort than the easygoing iced coffee.
Check how to make cold brew in detailed steps here.
Mazagran
Mazagran is a Portuguese iced coffee recipe, featuring… lemon as the star of the show.
But don’t knock it until you’ve tried it! You can pull it off with a Keurig as well.
Add sugar to the fresh brew and stir to dissolve. Let it cool down before adding lemon juice and stir it up again.
Pour the coffee over ice cubes and enjoy it with some fresh lemon slices.
If you use cold brew concentrate for this, use sugar syrup instead.
Mocha Cola
Mocha Cola is a Brazillian iced coffee method. The fizziness of the cola adds a nice kick to your taste bud.
And it can be pulled off with a Keurig!
First, double the brew at the smallest cup size and let it chill in the freezer for a bit before adding cola and chocolate milk to the mix.
Stir, pour it over ice, and serve with whipped cream for some extra creaminess.
I hope that gave you enough variety to experiment with iced coffee using Keurig. Stay caffeinated!