There’s nothing quite as refreshing as a nice glass of iced coffee to cool you off on a hot summer day. But if you’ve walked into any coffee shop and asked for an iced coffee, you’ll know how much the cost can add up! If you’re a Keurig fan, there’s an easy way to make iced coffee at home, so let’s get into it and see how to make iced coffee with Keurig coffee makers!
Can you make iced coffee with Keurig?
What’s so special about Keurig iced coffee, then? It’s the simplicity and ease of use. With a Keurig, you just pop in a pod, push a button, and you’ll have a cup of coffee ready to go in less than 1 minute.
That level of ease can’t compare with regular coffee brewing where you’d have to get freshly ground beans, brew the coffee, clean up, and so on.
That doesn’t mean that Keurig coffee is the best in the world. That’s a debate for another time, but we can safely say that Keurig does cut some corners on coffee quality while excelling in convenience.
So how do you go about making iced coffee in Keurig machines?
How to make iced coffee with Keurig (1.0, 2.0, and new models)
The following instructions will work for all Keurig machines. Keurig’s latest lineup includes the K-Elite, which has a special iced coffee option. More on that later.
What you’ll need
- Any K-cup of your choice. Go for darker, more intense roasts for better flavor
- A thermos or temperature-resistant glass
- Ice cubes (The same amount of coffee you’re planning to brew, so if you’re going to do a 6 ounce brew, you need 6 ounces of ice)
- Milk or creamer to taste
- Sugar or sweetener to taste
How to brew
- Prep the machine. Turn on the Keurig coffee maker, insert the K-Cup of your choice, and make sure there’s enough water in the reservoir
- Get the cup ready. Ideally, you can just brew directly into a large cup or glass full of ice. Remember that ice will occupy significant volume in your glass, so if you typically brew a 10 ounce cup size option into a particular glass and brew 10 ounces into the same glass with ice in it, it will overflow. Ideally, choose the smaller, stronger brew option and brew into a larger glass full of ice. One more thing to note here is to use a Pyrex or similar glass. These glasses are heat resistant and won’t crack from the sudden influx of hot coffee in a glass cold with ice.
- Press the button and brew. Just choose your brew size and press the button the get the brew going. If you don’t want to brew right over ice, you can use one cup and fill up a second cup with ice cubes. Then pour the coffee over the ice in the second cup once it has finished brewing.
- Add milk and sugar to taste. Finally, as your coffee is cooling with the ice, add a splash of milk, creamer, and/or sugar to your personal preference. Ideally, try to enjoy the coffee straight without any milk or sugar.
One thing worth noting is to use stronger K-Cups and smaller brew sizes. This is to keep the coffee as concentrated as possible. The ice and milk will dilute the coffee flavor anyway!
Is there a Keurig that makes iced coffee?
The Keurig K-Elite has a special iced coffee function that you can use. In Keurig’s current lineup, this is the only model that has a dedicated iced coffee function.
The specific instructions in this case are almost the same as we mentioned above: just put a glass full of ice under the brewer and press the iced coffee button.
Presumably the iced coffee function compensates a bit by using a lower brewing temperature to prevent a temperature shock, as well as making a more concentrated brew to preserve flavor.
It’s also likely that the volume of the brew is compensated so that the cup won’t overflow!
Can you make cold brew coffee with Keurig?
Keurig is a hot brewer by design, so you can’t make cold brew with a Keurig. The main selling point of Keurig is that it is fast. So far, Keurigs don’t have a function to slow brew with cold water.
Cold brew coffee is brewed cold over a longer period of time, so the resulting flavor is much, much richer and the unpleasant compounds that are extracted during hot brewing stay put inside the grounds during cold brewing.
You can make a cold brew that you drink straight, or you can even make a concentrate that you can dilute with milk and water. This concentrate is SUPER concentrated, and will be even more intense than the two-cup method we mentioned above.
Iced coffee tends to be a bit more acidic than cold brew, so if you want more of a kick, iced coffee will work just fine!
Best iced coffee K-Cups
Green Mountain Iced Coffee K-Cups (Dark Roast)
Green Mountain is Keurig’s own brand, and their coffees are perfect pairings for Keurig coffee makers. This arabica dark roast does really well as an iced coffee. You can even add more ice if you want to skew your beverage towards sweetness more than intensity.
Java House Colombian Cold Brew Coffee
So I know I said Keurig doesn’t make cold brew, but this is quite a unique workaround to Keurig’s limitation. Instead of coffee grounds, these pods contain cold brew coffee concentrate. You can either empty one of these pods directly onto ice or milk, or pop it into your Keurig for a hot drink.
Green Mountain Hazelnut Cream
Iced coffees taste great with added flavors. Hazelnut is a perfect pairing with coffee, so this hazelnut cream pod is a super choice for making some really tasty iced coffee at home on your Keurig.
Conclusion
Now you are an iced coffee expert! As you can see, making iced coffee at home is really easy with Keurig coffee makers. You can adjust the cup size and the amount of ice cubes you put in to vary the flavor.
The best way to make a great cup of coffee is to keep experimenting and tweaking!
Last update on 2024-06-21 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
