How to Make Iced Coffee

Dialing in a perfectly flavored cup begins even before brewing—in the careful consideration of roast degree.

A light-roasted coffee will taste fruity, tea-like even, as its sugars don’t get inordinately caramelized during roast.

Dark roasted beans are, as you might imagine, aggressively toasted—which might comes across as cozy in a hot cup, but just tastes bitter, acrid on ice. Any of the nuanced flavors that once existed in the coffee are muddied.

1. Grind.

Grind your beans for your preferred brewing method (powder-fine for espresso, medium-fine for pourover, medium for drip, coarse for French press).

2. Fill Your Brewing Carafe With Ice.

Remember, ice is iced coffee’s necessary evil; work with, not against, its dilutive powers. For pourover and drip, fill your brewing carafe halfway with ice; the brewed coffee will be chilled immediately upon drip.

3. Halve The Water.

That's simple.

4. Brew On Ice.

Brew the coffee using your chosen method—right over the ice with pourover and drip, or as usual with espresso and French press.