Quick Iced Coffee
Instant coffee, a splash of hot water, cold milk and a glass of ice. It takes two minutes and no equipment, and done with a little care it is genuinely good rather than a compromise.
At a glance
- Instant coffee : milk
- 1:50
- Active time
- 2 min
- Total time
- 2 min
- Makes
- 1 tall glass
- Serve
- Over ice
- Kit
- Glass and spoon
Ingredients
Note: A pinch of salt in the hot water makes cheap instant coffee taste noticeably less harsh.
Method
-
Dissolve in a splash of hot water
Put the instant coffee and sugar in the glass and add the hot water. Stir until there are no granules left.
Instant coffee does dissolve in cold milk, slowly and unevenly. Hot water first takes ten seconds and leaves no specks.
-
Fill with ice
Fill the glass with ice.
-
Cold milk and stir
Pour in the cold milk and stir well. Taste and add more coffee or sugar next time if you want it stronger or sweeter.
Why this works
Instant coffee is brewed coffee that has been concentrated and dried, usually by freeze drying or spray drying. That makes it the ideal ingredient for a fast iced coffee for one reason: it dissolves completely, in any amount of water, so you can make a concentrate in seconds with no brewer, no grounds and no waiting for anything to cool.
The hot water step is the only technique. Cold milk dissolves instant coffee and sugar slowly, so granules float and sugar sinks, and the drink is uneven. A small amount of hot water dissolves both completely in a few seconds, and because it is so little water, it barely warms the drink.
Freeze-dried granules generally taste better than spray-dried powder. Freeze drying happens at low temperature and keeps more of the aromatic compounds. Spray drying uses hot air and loses more. Neither will taste like fresh espresso, which is why a little sugar, a pinch of salt and plenty of milk suit it. Salt suppresses bitterness perception, which takes the harsh edge off cheaper instant coffee.
This is the same chemistry, used more lazily, as dalgona coffee and Greek frappé, both of which whip instant coffee into a foam. If you have an extra thirty seconds, shake the dissolved coffee with ice in a jar before adding milk and you get a light foam on top.
Variations
- Shaken: shake the dissolved coffee with ice in a sealed jar for twenty seconds before adding milk, for a frothy top.
- Black: cold water instead of milk.
- Condensed milk: a tablespoon in place of the sugar.
- Mocha: a teaspoon of cocoa dissolved with the coffee.
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Questions
Can you make iced coffee with instant coffee?
Yes. Dissolve the instant coffee in a little hot water first, then add ice and cold milk. It takes about two minutes.
Does instant coffee dissolve in cold milk?
Slowly and unevenly. A splash of hot water first makes it dissolve completely in seconds.
How much instant coffee for iced coffee?
About two teaspoons, or 4 g, for 200 ml of milk. Adjust to taste.
How do I make instant iced coffee taste better?
Use freeze-dried granules, add a pinch of salt to the hot water, sweeten a little, and use whole milk rather than water.