Very little gets between me and my morning coffee – but in heatwave temperatures even the biggest ice cubes can melt fast, leaving a lacklustre iced latte as a result.
That’s where this iced coffee hack courtesy of Jamie Oliver HQ has saved my iced coffees this past week, by freezing cubes of coffee for my drinks rather than water. Especially when using one of the best coffee machines to whip up the cubes, this is one of the easiest hacks I’ve ever tried in my kitchen.
The first part of this hack is spreading any syrup you might be having in your coffee with a handheld milk frother. I know, I know, having syrup in your coffee is very controversial (a sin for coffee purists), but I think it’s a fun treat in the summer.
I tried this step myself with a gadget I’ve recently obtained, Salter’s bargain handheld frother for just £14.99 via Amazon. As per the video, you’re meant to start by allowing the syrup to pool at the bottom and then slowly bringing the frother up from the bottom to create lines. I have to say this was a huge fail on my part, maybe because my syrup was too thin, so I moved onto the important part – the coffee.
I made my own frozen coffee cubes, which I’d prepped 24 hours earlier. I brewed an americano using my current machine, the Ninja Luxe Café Pro, which I previewed in my first look at its features. It’s very easy to use and brews a lovely coffee.
(Image credit: Future)
The cubes came out well, having a lovely glaze to them. I popped them in the cup and added over cold frothed milk made using the automatic milk features on the Ninja coffee machine.
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It was a total success and my coffee stayed cold for much longer than usual, even through my morning meeting. One thing I would say if you’re looking to avoid one of my previous iced coffee mistakes is to invest in a better cup for keeping your drink cold for longer. The one currently at the very top of my wishlist is this one from Frank Green via Amazon for £34.95 – it even features a metal straw!
All in all then this is a Jamie Oliver hack I can definitely recommend for this summer. Will you be trying this one at home to cool your coffee down?
Investing in your at-home coffee set-up can be seriously expensive, but it doesn’t have to be with the restock of ProCook’s coffee range. The brand’s range of machines, two of which I’ve tried, are now available to buy from the ProCook website again after being sold out for months.
Pick up one of the best coffee grinders with this machine and you’ll have secured a quality home café set up for way less than the usual price-tag.
ProCook
Barista Bean to Cup Coffee Machine
I loved this machine when I tried it during a loan period, especially the snazzy screen which makes it so easy to program. It looks fab too.
Procook Barista Elite Bean to Cup Machine
The USP of this machine is the dual thermoblock system, so you can pull your espresso shot and froth milk simultaneously. The colour screen is seriously nice too for the price.
These machines initially came out back in February and after being hugely successful with customers, sold out in the spring. I’ve been wanting to recommend these machines to friends looking for an affordable bean-to-cup machine for months now, so I’m certainly glad to see all three of them currently available to buy.
The customer reviews speak for themselves too. The Barista Elite has a 4.5 rating at the time of writing, with one reviewer saying ‘Overall, this machine has exceeded my expectations. It’s user-friendly, budget-friendly, and delivers barista-style coffee at home.’
Another said that the Barista version is ‘Astonishing value for money compared to brand leaders’, and added that they’d had ‘superb results’ from using it.
(Image credit: Future)
Could you be tempted into setting up a barista-worthy coffee station in your kitchen with one of these machines?
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We’re firmly locked into iced coffee season now and with a heatwave on the horizon, you might be searching for the accessories you need to improve your iced lattes at home.
When I was in that position this time last year, I stumbled across Nespresso’s leak-proof coffee cup, and I’ve been enjoying all of my iced drinks from my coffee machine in it since.
This year’s tumbler is decked out with pistachio accents, the perfect trending shade of green. It also features a spill-proof lid and a fluted look.
Allow me to start with my one drawback with this cup. I wish the tumbler was made of glass rather than plastic (tritan as the specifications say). While the material is perfectly sturdy (and mine has lasted for over a year now) I think glass or at least a partial glass material feel and look better.
The rest of the design is stunning. My favourite element are the fluted sides, tying into the fluted kitchen cabinet trend I’ve seen everywhere (and love). But there’s a practical edge to this cup too with the lid which is spill-proof thanks to the attached cap. I’ve walked to the office plenty of times with this in my bag and I have no spills to report thus far.
(Image credit: Nespresso)
Another gem in this summery Nespresso collection is the brand’s ice tray, which is absolutely on my iced coffee essentials list. The tray is £8 from Nespresso which I know is steep, but it has the best design by far of any similar product I’ve tried. The cubes are much bigger than average, weighing in at 30g each and the silicone creates the fluted effect along the ridges, with the cubes so easy to pop out.
(Image credit: Future)
The Tumbler cup is a great find if you’re looking for a cup that allows you to take your iced coffee on the go. If you’re looking for iced coffee glasses for in the home, these are my personal favourites.
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If you’re not adding anything to your kitchen that doesn’t have character, then you might just fall for this glass like I have. There are different slogans available.
If you’re an iced coffee fan like me, then I can highly recommend a cup that helps keep it cool for longer. Are there any iced coffee essentials you swear by?
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If you know me, you know that I absolutely lovecoffee, from carefully extracted espresso and frothy cappuccinos to tall glasses of cold brew, regular ol’ drip from Dunkin’, and more. However, at home, I always find myself gravitating back to pour over. For a single serving, I don’t think there’s a better tool out there than a Hario V60, but it’s a pain — and a waste — to make two cups, with two filters, with two mounds of coffee grinds each morning. I was looking into snagging a fancy Chemex or something like it, but I didn’t want to shell out for even more coffee gear, because I already have so much that my girlfriend would probably leave me if I got another piece of bean machinery to clutter our already-stacked countertops. So, when I saw the Bodum Pour Over Coffee Maker on Amazon for just 20 bones, I jumped on it.
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This super affordable machine is basically a less-expensive Chemex, but with one feature that I absolutely love — the reusable basket. It’s got tiny metal holes that actually keep your coffee grinds inside the basket, and not in your cup, as long as you have coarsely ground beans. The drawback there is that I’m not super confident using pre-ground beans would be the move here, but any good coffee shop will be able to grind your beans to a level suitable for a reusable basket if you ask. (Plus, if you’re interested in pour over coffee, you probably already have a coffee grinder of some sort at home.) And, if you’re a diehard pre-ground coffee fan, the basket fits a regular pour over filter too, which works just as well.
This bad boy has been a huge help in my morning routine, because it’s super straightforward to use, and makes a liter of coffee at a time, which is perfect for my girlfriend and I, who drink about a pint of coffee (each) every morning. For normal coffee drinkers, you can easily get four cups out of a single brew. And, it’s clear that I’m not the only one who loves this thing, since it has more than a whopping 29,000 (and counting) five-star reviews on Amazon. “This system is so simple and it produces an excellent cup of coffee,” one reviewer writes. “The filter is completely made of metal, no plastic. All you get is the pure coffee flavor.”
So, if you’re in the market for an easy-to-use, affordable alternative to more expensive, large-format pour overs, the Bodum Pour Over Coffee Maker is definitely the move. You’ll waste less, drink more, and enjoy better quality cups.
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It is no secret, us AT folk are no strangers to a good cup of joe. In fact, some of us love the stuff so much that we’ve incorporated coffee drinking into our personalities, insisting on showing up everywhere with a latte in hand (yes, I am included in that clan). I think it’s fair to assume that between all the members of our team, we’ve tried our hand at a plethora of beans and brewing machines. This year, we discovered more than a handful of gadgets, techniques, and bags of coffee that have earned permanent spots in our kitchens. So, we figured we’d be remiss if we didn’t share our findings with anyone and everyone we know. Life is too short to be drinking bad coffee! And, if we can help people upgrade their daily dose of bean juice, well, then we’ve done our job right.
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Check out our coffee making non-negotiables below:
