Remember when we used to have a plain cup of coffee brewed in our Mr. Coffee machine or percolator? Coffee was typically Folgers, always hot, and if it cooled, you nuked it in the microwave. God forbid, I would EVER drink iced coffee, or so I thought.
I clearly remember when my perception of coffee changed…twice. In the 1980-1990s I traveled on business to Seattle quite frequently and small, gourmet coffee shops and trucks were everywhere. Seattle was the hot-bed of gourmet coffee yet to hit my home in the Mile-High City. (Thinking back…why didn’t I invest in Starbucks?)
Ordering a coffee was far beyond the typical ‘I’ll have a cup of coffee, black to go’. Now there were terms like tall, grande, venti, Americano, espresso, skinny, Macciato, half-caf, blends, etc., etc., etc.. It was an anxious moment when I tried to figure out what to order without embarrassing myself. I can still imagine the people in line behind me rolling their eyes at this out-of-state novice. Despite my initial fumbling, I started experimenting with difference blends, flavors, iced coffees and loved it!
My second perception occurred when I traveled to Finca Esperanza Verde, a coffee plantation in Nicaragua, in 2012. My ‘cup of Joe’ would never be the same as documented in my 6/12/12 Fork-Lore post. My daily iced latte is simple: One packet of Starbuck’s Via, a packet of Stevia with 1/2 cup of boiling water. Stir. Add cold water to the cup, stir. Pour contents over a large glass full of ice. Top with about 1/4 cup of Almond Milk and stir again. Add a splash of vanilla or cinnamon to taste. My easy version of an Iced Latte!
When my daughter and fellow blogger, Megan, asked me to join her to make Iced Vanilla Latte I jumped at the chance to 1) spend time with my daughter and 2) make (and drink!) my favorite summer morning picker-upper. Our recipe follows and I’ve enjoyed our creation for the past two days. Megan’s blog, Lifeloveandgarlic, also features the Iced Vanilla Latte AND includes a Seattle’s Best give-away. Check it out and perhaps you’ll win The Hot Iced Giveaway noted at the end of this post. 
Easy Peasy Iced Vanilla Latte
Ingredients:
2 tbsp. vanilla simple syrup (see recipe below) 1/3 cup whole milk coffee ice cubes (see directions below) Seattle’s Best Level 4, Medium-Roast Coffee brewed (we used 3.5 scoops for a pot)
Directions:
1.) Fill your cup (or fancy tumbler) with coffee ice cubes. 
2.) Pour simple syrup and whole milk into the bottom of the cup 
3.) Fill the rest of the cup with your coffee of choice. Stir! 
4.) Voila! Enjoy a delicious, easy and perfect drink for summer mornings. *This is the simple syrup, which actually looks sort of like coffee. The brown sugar + vanilla give it the darker hue.
Vanilla Simple Syrup
Ingredients:
1/4 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup white sugar 1/2 cup water Pinch of cinnamon 4 tbsp. vanilla extract
Directions:
1.) Put both sugars, water and pinch of cinnamon in a pot over medium heat. Bring to boil. 2.) Pull the pot off the stove and pour the vanilla into the syrup. Allow to cool. You’re done! Note: Don’t be alarmed that your syrup is quite dark in hue (almost coffee colored). The brown sugar/vanilla have that effect – it’s perfectly normal.
Coffee Ice Cubes
Directions:
Take your left over coffee and pour it in your ice cube tray and freeze! They’re perfect for cooling down your coffee without watering it down!
And, you know the best part — A GIVEAWAY!!.
The Hot Iced Giveaway prize pack includes:
- One-month supply of Seattle’s Best Coffee® (4 bags!)
- Seattle’s Best Coffee Tumbler for your iced and frozen coffee drinks
- Seattle’s Best Coffee Hot Travel Mug to enjoy their brewed coffee on-the-go
- Melitta coffee brewer and recipe for a totally new way to make a single cup of coffee
- Simple Iced Coffee recipe featuring their go-to cold brew method
- Coffee scoop to measure the perfect amount of coffee
Find out how to enter the contest by visiting: Lifeloveandgarlic.com and entering by 10:00 PM MST on July 24, 2013!
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