Cold-Brewed Iced Coffee

On Monday, three of my college friends popped in to town for a quick visit, and it was wonderful. I weaned myself off coffee a few months ago, and the visit gave me the chance to try this simple recipe from The Bitten Word out on my coffee-loving friends. I used to make iced coffee by simply placing hot coffee in the fridge, but I recently learned that cold-brewing coffee both a) takes the bitterness out of the coffee and b) is even less work than chilling the hot stuff. I tried a cup (and got very jittery after) and would have to agree that this trumps my previous method. You should definitely try this out if you like iced coffee.

I tried a few attempts at taking interesting pictures of coffee and didn’t succeed in doing anything mind-blowing. But the morning after we tasted this Iced Coffee, we went for a beautiful 8 mile hike. And who am I to compete with nature? I love cooking and all, but, seriously, will you look at this place?

My friends, being creative and self-reliant, managed to create the best possible mid-hike meal I have ever tasted, which we ate while looking at this gorgeous lake. Hard salami and aged cheese on a crusty baguette. Pumpkin seeds. Roasted plantain chips. Fresh plums. Here we are, refreshed after our lunch, scoping out the view.

We hiked high up in elevation and stood in awe of the giant, craggy mountains surrounding us, and the enormous clouds overhead. We saw waterfalls and streams and some beautiful wildflowers. We even stumbled upon a jackrabbit. Now I don’t mean to get all introspective on you or anything, but I’ve had a difficult time this week not letting The Man (meaning my health insurance company, the traffic department, and all the details involved in moving to a new place this week) get me down. But while on our hike, Meg commented, “You know, it’s really good to feel insignificant sometimes.” This is me feeling insignificant.And sometimes, when you feel insignificant, your problems do too. Here are our insignificant problems.

COLD-BREWED ICED COFFEE (from The Bitten Word who took it from the NY Times)

Ingredients

1/3 cup ground coffee (medium-coarse grind is best)
Milk (optional).

Recipe

1. In a jar, stir together coffee and 1 1/2 cups water. Cover and let rest at room temperature overnight or 12 hours.

2. Strain twice through a coffee filter, a fine-mesh sieve or a sieve lined with cheesecloth. In a tall glass filled with ice, mix equal parts coffee concentrate and water, or to taste. If desired, add milk.

Yield: Two drinks.

NOTE: To make hot coffee, dilute concentrate one-to-one with water and heat in the microwave.