A summertime staple, quit wasting your hard earned wage at the coffee shop and brew up an iced cold coffee right at home. Making a refreshing caffeine jolt does take a bit more effort than just pouring hot coffee over ice, but now you can learn how to become a barista in just minutes by perfecting this great iced coffee recipe at home.

"Iced coffee is a complicated thing, and there are many different approaches. One would think that one could merely pour brewed coffee into a glass full of ice and call it a day…but I find that method extremely flawed."

– Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman

Mix together 4 litres of cold water with 250g (5lbs) of ground coffee in a large container. You are using just about double the amount of coffee as you normally would use since you want to make a very strong coffee mixture (remember, you will be diluting this mixture even more when you add the ice). Alternatively, you can also use espresso for an extra intense flavour.

Cover and place the mixture in the fridge or in a cool space and let steep, at least 4 hours, but best if it sits overnight. Once it has had time to steep, strain with a piece of cheesecloth on top of a fine mesh strainer. This may take about 20 minutes for the coffee to fully seep through the strainer.

Once strained, now the mixture is ready to serve. Fill a tall glass with ice and pour in the coffee mixture. Add in milk, a flavoured syrup, sugar (or another sweetener) and give a good stir. Stick a straw in the glass and enjoy.

250g/.5lbs good ground coffee, use your favourite kind 4 litres/ 4 quarts cold water Optional: Sweeteners, flavoured syrups, condensed milk, other milk products (Full fat, skim, soy, etc). (Yields 16 cups of iced coffee)