When making iced coffee with a Keurig® machine was first introduced, there were specific K-Cup® pods that you had to use to maintain a high level of quality. That has since been abolished. Now, pretty much any old pod will do! With that said, some are better than others. In this article, we will teach you which pods to choose. And, you will learn how to keep your iced coffee from tasting watered down.
The only type of K-Cup® we recommend using for an iced coffee is a dark roast. Light and medium roast coffees do not have the oomph to stand up to the ice. They are sure to taste watered down. There is nothing worse than a weak-looking iced coffee. That is exactly what you will get with most light and medium roast Keurig® coffee pods. There is one and only one exception, Tully’s. All roasting levels of Tully’s K-Cup® pods have enough body to make an amazing cup of iced coffee using your Keurig® brewer.
In addition to dark roast K-Cup® pods, look for an extra bold variety. Extra bold K-Cup® coffee pods come with up to 20% more coffee than regular varieties. This provides plenty of support to assure that your iced K-Cup® coffee maintains a rich body, even after a healthy dose of ice. Of the extra bolds available our absolute favorite is Newman’s Special Blend. This baby packs a powerful punch even over ice.
Most flavored Keurig® coffee pods are of the light roast variety. Not only will that leave you with a watered-down cup of joe but, the flavors seem to get distorted in the process. Unless you find a dark roast, extra bold and flavored K-Cup® avoid this genre altogether.
Tea is the one type of K-Cup® pod that still has separate brew over ice varieties however, you can ignore that distinction…all K-Cup® teas work fine. There is absolutely no reason to play favorites to those designated iced teas. In fact, our favorite to enjoy over ice is Twinings Green tea.
Don’t be afraid.
Go ahead, try any K-Cup® pod over ice, chances are it is going to be good! We even enjoy odd choices such as hot cocoa and cafe vanilla (doctored up with other ingredients of course) to mimic Starbucks-type drinks. We experiment with different concoctions ALL.THE.TIME. and can think of maybe twice that I have had a failure.
Most importantly after choosing the right K-Cup® to make iced coffee, there are three additional tips to follow: do not use a glass cup, fill it all the way to the top with ice, and use the lowest water setting on your coffee machine. Keep in mind, you can not make cold brew with K-Cup® coffee. This is iced coffee which will taste slightly stronger. Pick a great pod, follow those three rules and you will soon be living the life of Riley, sipping iced made in your own home!
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