Iced Coffee

I take no credit for this recipe! You can follow this link for helpful instructions and step-by-step photos: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/06/perfect-iced-coffee/

The basic foundation of her recipe, and if you've had iced coffee and especially if you've attempted to make your own, are these two concepts:

1) iced coffee is easily diluted and therefore bland. 

2) it must be super cold; the colder the better!

First things first: the next time you make a pot of coffee, make extra or save the leftovers and freeze it in your ice cube trays!!! Make lots of them. Once they're frozen you can store them in a plastic storage bag or in a container.

The original recipe is roughly this:

In a large container (it will need a lid in a minute), combine:

1 lb coffee grounds

2 gallons COLD water

Stir to ensure all grounds are soaking in the water. Put the lid on, toss it in the fridge for a minimum of 8 hours. The longer it sits, the more the grounds can settle and therefore easier to separate it later.

Strain it through a fine mesh strainer or use what you have on hand: I used a colander with a coffee filter in it. Put it into a (preferably glass) pitcher or container of some sort to store in the fridge. I find my Pampered Chef batter bowl works well, and I did NOT start with 2 gallons of water :)

When it's time to make your iced coffee mixture, fill a glass with coffee ice cubes OR throw them into your ice crushing blender :) LOTS of ice cubes! Add your coffee. I went for about 2/3 of the mixture being coffee, 1/3 any combination of milk and/or cream, vanilla or other flavoring you love, and sugar to taste. 

I just did a batch in my blender and it was approximately 4 cups of coffee, 1 1/2 cups of milk, 1/2 cup of cream (I know! right?), 1/2 cup of sugar, 2 tsp vanilla. I gave it a quick whip with the blender to mix.

Updated May 20, 2014:
I made a batch today:
2 cups cold coffee
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup cream
1 full tray of coffee ice cubes
No milk

The coffee isn't strong enough and I didn't add milk because it would dilute it further :(