How to Make Iced Coffee

I remember the mornings my parents spent at the breakfast table- having conversation, drinking their coffee, buttering the toast... How I loved the smell of coffee. How I wanted to be an adult and join in! I remember that it was a no-no for kids to have coffee. We were all told that it would stunt our growth. So, to "compromise", Mommy allowed me to have coffee... with "plenty of milk". Which in reality was hot milk with a few granules of coffee. But still... I believed I was having coffee. Drinking moffee (mock coffee) with them made me feel grown-up and important! Weekend mornings, I would ask my nanny, in a very sing-song way, to give me "Little coffee and plenty of milk!!" At that early age of 4, my love affair with the latte began.

Then in the early 80's when I was about 11 or 12 , on one of our trips to Tokyo, I saw my Dad drinking something very interesting. Iced Coffee. In fact it was Pokka Iced Coffee. I took a sip. Then that was it. I knew that it was THE ONE. I knew I was in love. It was weird because I only drank iced coffee when we went to Tokyo for our summer vacations. I guess I was attempting to make it a bit more special by having it only when I visited the country. Buying it in the vendo machine for Y100 was as eventful as drinking it!

By the time I was in my teens and twenties, my sisters and I would make our own iced coffee and drink away during Sunday morning breakfasts while we talked about how our Saturday nights went. And after perfecting the formula, we even toyed the idea of bottling and marketing it! Then Starbucks arrived. That marked the beginning of the end of our Iced Coffee empire.

Aaahhh... Iced Coffee. As much as it's a great summer refreshment, it's more than just a drink to me! Be it Seattle's Best, Lavazza, or Nescafe 3-in-1 packet, iced coffee is here to stay. Try and awaken those sleepy summer afternoons with this cool beverage.

How I make my Jiffy iced Coffee:

1) Brew a pot of coffee slightly stronger than your usual pot. For me, 2 tablespoons of dark roast.

2) Do you take sugar with your coffee? If so, mix sugar to taste already in the pot. It melts better this way.

3) In a tall plastic tumbler, fill it with ice, right up till you make a mini mountain past the rim, and then pour the coffee in slowly. If desired, add your milk. Leave it a minute to chill.

4) Enjoy!


If you have more time to spare, you can try this:


1) Just like my Jiffy Iced Coffee, brew a pot of fresh coffee slightly stronger than what you usually brew.

2) Mix in your desired amount of sugar

3) Let the coffee cool down. You can either keep it in its pot or transfer it into a pitcher or carafe. After about 30 minutes, stick it in the fridge to make it colder faster.

4) After about 2 hours, it is ready to drink!

5) Fill a tall glass with ice cubes.

6) Pour the coffee into the glass and mix.

7) Add milk if desired.

If you really want to make sure your coffee doesn't get watered down, try making coffee iced cubes beforehand to use!