The Chilling Tip To Make At-Home Iced Coffee Last

Iced coffee is a given in the summertime — or any time, really. But, when it's warm and sunny out, you have to take extra precautions to ensure the ice doesn't melt too fast. If you don't, all you'll have is a watered down version that doesn't taste nearly as strong as you were hoping. In this case, the chilling tip to make your at-home coffee last is in line with a mixologist's tip for ensuring your boozy slushies don't melt: chill the glass. It's almost too easy.

Simply store your coffee glasses in your fridge, that way they'll be nice and cool — keeping your ice frozen just that much longer. Or, if you forget, pop it in your freezer while you're doing the other steps (although, unless you're giving it a Scandinavian twist, with iced coffee there aren't that many). If you want, you can even go the extra mile and chill your glass straw while you're at it.

Obviously, this isn't the only way to keep your coffee iced and not watered in the summertime. Adding a koozie, for instance, never hurts. Nor would pouring it into your Stanley tumbler, which is supposed to keep your ice frozen for up to 48 hours. The best method, though, takes a bit more prep, but can be used in conjunction with any other of these tips to keep your coffee chilled and tasty for as long as humanly possible.

It's not rocket science. Ice is frozen water, and when it melts it waters down your drink. The simple trick for ice cubes that won't water down your iced coffee, is then, to make ice out of something else — something like coffee. Not only will they keep your iced coffee nice and chilled on those hot summer days, but they'll only make your coffee taste stronger as they melt. The best part is that all you need is an ice cube tray and the best store-bought iced coffee, and it's as simple as pouring and freezing.

If you want, you can do half coffee and half milk or a milk alternative in your ice cube molds if you want your drink more on the creamier side. You can also experiment with using different shapes and sizes of ice cubes. Some people say that larger ice cubes melt slower than smaller ice cubes or crushed ice, as do spherical shaped ice cubes. If you're worried about being able to use your Stanley straw to drink your iced coffee, you can actually purchase Stanley ice molds off of Amazon that will fit it perfectly.

To really have fun with it, you can go as far as to add flavors to your coffee ice cubes, too. Caramel is a well known accompaniment to coffee, as is chocolate or vanilla. Sweeteners are also welcome, and you can mix in anything from maple syrup to agave to give your cubes a bit of sweet release.