Orange infused iced coffee

Lydia Kautz, The Junction City Union, Kan.
·2 min read

Jul. 20—It's not nearly as hot out as it could be — at least not yet — but it's still pretty toasty out there.

On days like these, people like me prefer not to burn ourselves to a crisp if at all possible. But we still want our morning coffee.

A good cup of iced coffee can help with that, but if you're buying it at a coffee shop an iced coffee habit can become expensive. Instead of going out for your daily dose of cool caffeine, you could stay in and make your own.

One thing I like about this recipe is that it uses something that would normally be a waste product — orange peels — to infuse coffee with citrusy flavor. I'm all for recycling and avoiding waste when possible.

This is based on something I found on Pinterest. The pin was a video and, while it included ingredients, there were no ratios or instructions. I pieced this together based on what I saw and modified it to suit myself. I'll note here that the original contained some kind of powdered dietary supplement. I did not include that — or anything like it — because it sounded yucky. I mean absolutely no offense by this, if you enjoy those types of things. Everyone's mileage varies. Protein powder is probably not bad for you, so if it sounds like something you'd enjoy, feel free to toss in a scoop of it.

Orange iced coffee

The peels of two medium sized navel oranges

1 full pot of coffee, brewed to desired strength and cooled to room temperature

1/3 cup vanilla almond milk

1 tbs. honey

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Two quart sized mason jars

Instructions:

Prepare coffee and allow to cool. Pour coffee into mason jars. I ended up with about two quarts. Add orange peels to coffee, dividing evenly between jars. Place in the refrigerator and allow orange flavor to infuse the coffee for four to eight hours.

Remove coffee from refrigerator. Remove and discard orange peels. Stir in almond milk, honey and vanilla extract, dividing ingredients evenly between mason jars.

Drink or refrigerate until ready to drink.

Serves between one and four people, depending on if you're the sort of person who can down an entire pot of coffee in a day.