At the time of writing, I can say we are experiencing some really great hot weather. We don’t get enough hot days where you can open up all the windows in the house and relax in the garden with coffees and getting the BBQ going. This is the time when people just start craving an iced-latte to give them the kick but to feel cooler. But if you don’t have an espresso machine can you make one? Answer is yes and we have the recipe for you on this post.

Unless the weather is really hot, I never really crave cold coffee drinks. But my wife likes to order iced-lattes when we are in coffee shops so I always end up taking a sip. In all honesty, not all iced lattes taste that great without some sort of sweetener which is what my wife tends to led towards. So she got the intention to make an iced-latte at home manually and what she made was really tasty and refreshing.

She used an Aeropress recipe which we normally use to make a hot milky coffee. This method makes 50 grams of strong coffee from the Aeropress and then we add it to hot milk. But she varied this method for the Iced-latte recipe. One thing she did was froth the milk in a French Press to make make it creamier and more frothy. You can use a electric whisk or not even froth it but I recommend it as it makes it taste better. Furthermore, this method will include adding some sort of sweetener like coffee syrups. My wife used toffee nut syrup but caramel works too. A healthier option would be to use raw honey or coconut sugar but we have yet to try it ourselves.

What you need

The Method

Before you set up your Aeropress, add 1 teaspoon of syrup into the cup that you will be adding your coffee. Add a filter paper to your basket and rinse out with water. Connect the plunger to the brewing chamber to use the inverted method. Add 15g of fine coffee into the brewing chamber and then add all the 70g of water whilst starting the timer.

With a teaspoon stir the coffee for 15 – 20 seconds and then let the coffee steep up to 1 minute 30 seconds. At 01.30, connect the filter basket to the top of the brewing chamber and then flip into a cup. Hold the cup on top of the Aeropress where the filter basket is and then flip it to avoid spillage. Then starting pressing down on the plunger. There is no limit in how long the pressing should take but it should be more than 30 seconds. Once you have pressed all the way, discard the coffee from the Aeropress and leave the coffee to cool down for about 10 mins.

When the coffee has cooled, measure out 170g of milk and pour into a french press. Then plunge up and down into the milk to expand and create foam. You need to plunge around 10 – 12 times. Then add the milk with the coffee along with 3 large cubes around 80 grams.

Ice-latte is ready, swirl and enjoy.

Summary

Final Comments

So this method is one way to make an iced-latte without an espresso machine. The Aeropress for me does not make espresso but you can get a small amount of concentrated coffee which can be used to make a milk-based drink. It is no different here and the only difficulty is really waiting for it to cool down.

If you are using syrup or sweeteners then you would want to use darker or medium roasted coffee to get that strong coffee to contrast with the sweetness. My wife added one teaspoon of syrup which seems to be more than enough but you can add more afterwards if needed. We have not used alternative sweeteners like honey or coconut sugar but I would think they work too if you do not have any syrup. Also, I would advise to add it in a cup before you brew on the Aeropress.

Although we have gone down the fun route of adding syrup, it’s not exactly unpalatable if you do not have any sweetener. We used a lighter-roasted Colombian Red Bourbon and upped the dose to 16 grams. The drink surprisingly produced hints of some of the flavour notes described with the sweetness. It was really refreshing but the downside was there was an aftertaste of slight bitterness. This is a work in progress, we may need to add more coffee or tweak the grind size. If we get this method right then we will add it here or do a new post for it.

So this is our iced-latte method that is perfect for the hot summer days. We would for you to try and let us know how you found it. Obviously, you are welcome to tweak things including how much sweetener or ice you add. But we actually enjoyed this fun drink and enjoy it whilst the hot weather lasts.

In the meantime, do need a good Aeropress method? Check out my latest simple and easy Aeropress recipe by clicking here.

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