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Avoid watered-down and diluted iced coffee drinks by learning how to make coffee ice cubes! Simply pour, freeze, and enjoy the rich flavor of coffee cubes in your favorite iced latte and iced coffee recipes. Find instructions below for how to make frozen coffee cubes using both cold brew coffee or leftover brewed coffee that can be sweetened to your liking.
There’s nothing worse than wanting to enjoy a cool glass of vanilla iced coffee only to have it lose all the rich and delicious flavor when the regular ice cubes inevitably melt.
How do we fix weak and watered-down iced coffee drinks? By using coffee ice cubes! They help keep coffee drinks cold and richly flavored and take virtually no effort to make!
Ingredients and Supplies You'll Need
- Coffee – I like using my homemade cold brew coffee to make frozen coffee ice cubes, but you can also use leftover brewed coffee from your regular morning pot.
- Sweetener – This is totally optional, but if you want to sweeten your coffee before freezing you can add a splash of homemade simple syrup, maple syrup, agave, or other liquid sweetener to the coffee before freezing.
- Measuring Cup – A nice glass measuring cup with a pour spout makes it easy as can be to fill the ice cube trays.
- Ice Cube Trays – Plastic or silicone, whatever you have or want to use. Try fun shapes and sizes to make a variety of different frozen coffee cubes!
Step by Step of Making Coffee Ice Cubes
This is just a quick overview of the process. More detailed instructions are in the recipe card below!
- Make the coffee. Either a batch of cold brew or regular brewed coffee. Heck, you could even make French press, pour over, or instant coffee. Or buy cold brew at the store.
- Sweeten the coffee. If you'd like. A liquid sweetener, like vanilla simple syrup, will be easiest to mix in. I actually prefer to leave my coffee cubes unsweetened.
- Fill the ice molds. Do this over the sink or on a rimmed baking tray to catch any spills. Also, leave a teeny bit of room at the top of the trays to avoid spilling or overflowing while freezing.
- Freeze the coffee. It takes at least four hours to freeze the coffee into ice cubes. I like to take my leftover coffee from the morning and freeze until the next day when ready to use!
Storage Instructions
Once the coffee cubes are frozen solid you can either store them in the trays if the trays have a lid (many silicone ice cube trays have covers) or remove from the trays and store in freezer-safe plastic bags.
Coffee ice cubes will keep for four weeks. Any longer and they may start to taste a little freezer burnt, just like regular ice cubes!
Can you put dairy in coffee ice cubes?
I’ve made coffee ice cubes a variety of ways and I’ve found the adage of “less is more” to be true when it comes to preparing them.
While you absolutely can add milk, cream, or a dairy alternative to your coffee before freezing it in cubes, I don’t recommend it.
Dairy products tend to separate when frozen and thawed. While the cubes look fine and unaffected when frozen, as you can see in the above photo, once they begin to thaw in your drink (say, an iced maple latte) you’ll notice flecks of separated dairy starting to speckle your drink.
If you look closely at the above photo you will see the flecks of separated dairy floating in the coffee. It’s perfectly safe to drink, but the look and texture of the drink will be affected.
The same can happen when using dairy alternatives, such as almond or oat milk, as the stabilizers in those liquids may separate and become unstable when frozen.
Ways to Serve Coffee Ice Cubes
Enjoy these frozen coffee ice cubes in pretty much any coffee recipe you’d use regular ice cubes in! How fun!
They're perfect in classic iced coffee but are also great in a glass of peppermint mocha cold foam cold brew, an iced pumpkin spice latte, classic vanilla sweet cream cold foam cold brew, or salted caramel cold foam cold brew!
Did you know you can also use coffee ice cubes to quickly cool down hot coffee?! Drop a coffee cube or two into your morning mug before stirring in your favorite creamers and sweeteners!
Now that’s pretty cool.
How to Make Coffee Ice Cubes
Equipment
- Ice Cube Trays
- Measuring Cup
Ingredients
- 2 cups cold brew coffee (or regular brewed coffee that’s been cooled)
- 2 tablespoons simple syrup, or other sweetener (optional)
Instructions
- In a glass measuring cup, combine 2 cups cold brew coffee (or regular brewed coffee) with 2 tablespoons of simple syrup or other liquid sweetener, if using.
- Carefully pour coffee into prepared ice cube trays, cover if the tray has one, and place in freezer. (I like to fill the trays on a rimmed baking sheet in case of spills!)
- Freeze for at least four hours, or overnight.
- Serve cubes in your favorite coffee drinks!
Notes
- Coffee ice cubes will keep, stored properly, in freezer for up to four weeks.
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