PW Iced Coffee, Lauren Style

Disclaimer: All of the following photos were taken on my phone. A certain preschooler I know got into my purse and opened my perfume and it made its way into my Nikon. It still works, but I have to figure out how to make the pictures NOT look like they have dried perfume all over the lens. :)

Onward! Let me just start out my saying how much I am in love with coffee. Seriously. I. Love. Coffee.

When I first moved back home two years ago, my parents used instant coffee. I could deal. I did the instant thing until Last Christmas, Mom got a Keurig and I had my first cup of REAL coffee in a long, long time. I fell back in love. So, I started buying my own K-Cups. Seeing as how I am not able to function on less that two cups a day, K-Cups aren't practical for me, especially since my income is so limited and K-Cups are so, well, expensive. I stopped buying the K-Cups.

One day, I rediscovered the Gevalia coffee maker stashed in an upper cabinet. And asked Mom if I could use it. It turns out they were out of K-Cups and they had some Gevalia coffee stashed in the back on the pantry. So, for the next couple of weeks, we used the Gevalia coffee. When we ran out, they bought more K-Cups and I bought a pound of regular ground coffee for the coffee maker. The past three weeks, I have been trying different ratios of water to coffee and even bought regular filters (Gevalia makers use a filter that is cone-shaped when used). Apparently, this coffee maker is partial to only Gevalia coffee and if clearly of the devil! Just kidding. Maybe. Not really.

So, as an avid follower of Pioneer Woman's entire LIFE (not kidding, I'm kind of her stalker), I decided to try her iced coffee recipe. Except I didn't have cheese cloth or a fine sieve. Whatever. I made it work!

For the original recipe and photo tutorial, click {here}.

This following is my take and (not really) variation on it. I only had about a 1/2 pound of coffee left from all my experimentation, so I worked with what I had and did some math to make it work for me.

The supplies I used were:
*an emptied wine jug (I washed it twice to get all the wine smell out of it) - yea, repurposing!
*funnel
*measuring cup for dippin'
*paper towels
*large tub
*hot water
*ground coffee
*wooden spoon
*TONS of patience

Before I went to work last night, I put the grains in the bottom of my large tub and covered them in hot water. P-Dub says to use 2 gallons, but I only used 1, since I had only roughly half a pound. I didn't grab a picture of it because:
1. I forgot.
2. I was in a hurry to get ready for work.
3. I have a 2-year-old that was climbing on the counter.

After I had started the process, I didn't even think about blogging about this. It just kind of hit me. I was thinking to myself, "Look at me go! Ree would be so proud!" And then WHABAM! I thought, "I should blog about it!" And here we are. Moving on.

So, I just let the grains soak overnight until I was ready to deal with them this morning. I was pretty excited about it, but I did manage to get all my laundry folded and put away.

I just stuck the funnel in the top of the jug and smooshed (that's a technical term) the paper towel to fit the funnel. Then, I would just slowly dip the measuring cup in the sludge (also technical) and then would pour it straight into the funnel. Ree recommends using the sieve and cheesecloth, but I had neither. My process worked well until I tried to squeeze the extra liquid from the paper towel into the funnel with my hand. The paper towel of course ripped and a few grains fell into the jug. I then fell to the floor, screaming, "NOOOOOO!" and cried for an hour. Just kidding. Kinda.

After I recovered from my meltdown, I just grabbed a wooden spoon and squeezed the extra coffee from the paper towel like that. Easy. And grain-free.

Can I just take a second to say how much I hate the word "grain." I loathe and despise it, but it's the only word I can think of to use for it. I could use granule, but I hate that word even more. What a conundrum. Anywho.

This is what filtering the coffee looks like. Gross, right?

Almost done!!

I was pretty bummed that I didn't get more out of it, but I'm sure I'll have it filled next time whenever I use a whole pound.

So, there you have it. Stick it in the fridge until it's cold. Or you can be like me and immediately pour a glass. Not addicted. Not at all.

Whenever you're ready, add ice and creamer of your choice and enjoy. Yessss.

And for those of you who are anti-coffee, here's a picture of my insanely cute child sleeping! :D

xoxo,