I know summer is here when I reach for a light, cold glass instead of a hot and heavy mug for my morning coffee fix. There is nothing like sipping an ice-cold coffee on your way to work or keeping cool and caffeinated in the afternoon. This spiced cold brew coffee recipe takes cold brew up a notch without adding syrups, sweeteners or heavy flavored creamers. And you still get delicious flavors! This simple cold brew recipe adds hints of cinnamon with a little natural earthy date sweetness to keep your summer coffee light, flavorful and healthy.

With temperatures hitting almost 100 here in Arizona, keeping jars of cold brew in the fridge is almost a form of survival. Using the cold brew method of slowly steeping coffee grounds creates a smooth, flavor and my unique cold brew method is easy with a quick clean up. This recipe is so simple and will have you chilled in no time. Check out this recipe below!

Spiced Cold Brew Coffee:

Ingredients:

-3 Tablespoons Ground Coffee

-2 Pitted Dates, finely chopped

-2 Cinnamon Sticks

Equipment:

-Mason Jar

-Kitchen String (about 20 inches long)

-Disposable Coffee Filter

Step 1: Gather and prep your ingredients

Step 2: Add ingredients to the Mason jar and create the cold brew coffee pouch

The idea of cold brew is to slowly let the coffee grounds steep in chilled water for 12-24 hours to infuse the coffee flavor. By filling a coffee filter with coffee grounds and submerging the bag in water, you are essentially making a 'coffee tea bag'. Tie the string around the coffee filter a few times, making sure the string is tight. You also need to leave extra string (like the pictures below) that will hang out the lid of the jar, so you can easily fish out your pouch from the Mason jar after it's done steeping.

Tip: Add more or less coffee grounds in the coffee pouch depending on how strong you want your cold brew coffee.

 

Step 3: Fill mason jar with cold water, add the coffee pouch, attach the jar lid, and steep for 12-24 hours in the refrigerator

Step 4: Remove dates, cinnamon sticks and coffee pouch. Add your favorite milk

I suggest a splash of almond milk because it compliments the cinnamon and dates more than soy milk or dairy creamer.

Have fun with your cold brew, mix and match flavors and fall in love with new combos.