Recipes • Posted by Charlotte Dibble • 27th May 2022
Vegan Iced Coffee Recipe
Make a smooth dairy free iced coffee to keep cool this summer!
Need a kickstart in the morning? A n-ice vegan coffee drink to see you through the summer? Here it is… the only vegan iced coffee recipe you need!
Sometimes, it’s too hot for anything… hot. All we want is ice cream and salad and a nice cooling breeze…
And iced coffee of course! There are plenty of summer coffee recipes out there, but iced coffee is one of the best. It’s a summer staple, ready and waiting to cool you down from the first sip onwards.
Vegan, lactose intolerant or just prefer the taste of non-dairy milk? No problem! Here’s the best vegan iced coffee recipe for you!
What is Iced Coffee? Is Iced Coffee Just Cold Coffee?
Look no further if you’re asking yourself, ‘what is iced coffee?’ It’s not a silly question!
Lots of summer coffee recipes will pop up on your Insta feed. Iced latte, iced mocha, cold brew…
So what is iced coffee, then?
Two factors define iced coffee:
It’s a cold version of your favourite coffee drink
It’s served with ice
Most iced coffee recipes feature milk for lovely smoothness and a hint of sweetness. But milk isn’t essential; the ice, meanwhile, is. It’s what sets iced coffee apart!
The ice is also what makes your vegan iced coffee different from cold brew. To make cold brew coffee, you leave coarsely ground coffee steeping in cold water for at least 12 hours. There’s no heat involved. See a difference from your iced coffee? Here, you brew your coffee with hot water and then leave it to cool!
Iced Coffee vs. Iced Latte: The Difference
And then there’s the iced latte… what makes iced coffee different from an iced latte?
Like iced coffee, you make iced lattes with hot water. However, instead of using cooled, brewed coffee as you do in your iced coffee, you make a strong espresso shot (usually a double) and pour it straight over ice to chill. Iced lattes are smoother and slightly sweeter, and use more milk than an iced coffee. Take a sip of your vegan iced coffee and it’ll have a more prominent coffee flavour, which you can adapt by adding more or less dairy free milk.
Phew, call us Detective Sargent Summer Coffee, but we think we’re cracked all these summer coffee drinks!
Making a vegan iced coffee couldn’t be simpler. Because, let’s be honest, hard work just isn’t a thing when the temperatures hit 25.
You don’t need any fancy ingredients or special devices to make iced coffee. You don’t even need much time – just a few minutes max!
For dairy free deliciousness, simply mix cold, brewed coffee together with ice, plant-based milk and a little vanilla. And there you have it: an endlessly adaptable vegan iced coffee base!
What is the Best dairy free Milk for Iced Coffee?
You don’t have to be a vegan to be a non-dairy milk drinker these days. And good job – there are so many reasons to embrace that plant-based milk moustache!
We like experimenting with dairy-free milk alternatives in our coffee because they bring scrummy new flavours. Add a splash of almond milk for subtle nutty flavours or swirl in some coconut for a totally tropical coffee drink! Fancy something more subdued? Go for soya – its neutral taste makes it a dairy copycat!
If you want a vegan iced coffee with coffee flavour loud and proud, soya milk is the one for you. Its high protein content and rich, creamy texture make it pretty much interchangeable with cow’s milk. And its I-can-believe-its-not-cow’s-milk-taste won’t impact the coffee flavour in any way!
Looking to keep the calories low in your vegan iced coffee recipe? Then almond might be more your thing. With only 30 – 55 kcal per 100ml, it’s the milk to go for if skinny iced coffee is on the menu. Almond milk also brings other health benefits, such as a top-notch vitamin E content.
How to Avoid Watery Iced Coffee
If you’re staring despondently at a watery iced coffee and wondering how you could have avoided such watery woe, you need to…
🧊 Make coffee ice cubes! 🧊
Making coffee ice cubes is the best way to avoid watery iced coffee. Simply make a batch of coffee and allow it to cool before pouring into an ice cube tray and freezing. Then just use your caffeinated cubes instead of regular ones when you make your vegan iced coffee!
Iced Coffee Adaptations
Anything is possible when it comes to iced coffee personalisation. Except maybe hot coffee.
Make iced coffee stronger (or sweeter)
You can use more milk (for a sweeter taste) or less (for a stronger coffee taste) or none at all. You can use more ice, or less (but not none at all – it wouldn’t be an iced coffee, then…)!
Use a shaker
Cocktail lover? Then grab a cocktail shaker, add the iced coffee ingredients and shake away! You can also try using a blender to mix all of the ingredients.
Make chocolate iced coffee
Make chocolate iced coffee in minutes by adding 1 tbsp of chocolate syrup to the glass and drizzling your (preferably cream-topped…) chocolate iced coffee with lots of chocolate sauce. TASTY!
Ingredients for 1 Vegan Iced Coffee
200ml strong black coffee
½ tsp vanilla extract
Ice
50ml dairy free milk
Method
Step 1
Brew 200ml of strong black coffee in your favourite device (cafetiere or filter devices are ideal here) and allow it to go cold.
Step 2
Fill a glass with ice.
Step 3
Pour the dairy free milk and vanilla extract into the glass, and give them a stir.
Step 4
Pour over the coffee, and stir again before sipping!
Want to find the best plant based milk for coffee? To make your best ever vegan coffee? Check out our handy vegan milk guide!
Meet the chimp behind this article!
Charlotte joined Two Chimps after completing her BA Hons in Graphic Communication and Illustration at Loughborough University. She also earned two diplomas: Art and Design Foundation and Professional Studies.
What Charlotte does outside of the treehouse:
In her spare time, Charlotte is a keen baker and loves to bring delicious treats for the team to enjoy during their Monday tea break. Charlotte likes to practice her drawing and painting skills to relax, usually with one of her cats sitting on her lap to keep her company!
Charlotte says…
“I’m thrilled to join the Two Chimps Troop after five years of studying. I get to write blogs, design, manage social media, and connect with our amazing customers every day. It’s always exciting, and I learn something new every day!”
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