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We use a Toddy:
http://www.toddyproducts.com/shop/product.php?productId=67

This is the way coffeehouses usually brew their iced coffee (albeit in larger containers). It makes a fantastic iced coffee concentrate that we keep around all week.

For hot coffee, we stick to the French press.

You can always "richen" it up with some sweetened condensed milk to make Vietnamese style and use chipped ice instead of big cubes.

Both Vietnamese iced coffee and the Bay Area's coffee superstar Blue Bottle use chicory in their iced coffee recipes. Here's a photo of Blue Bottle's iced coffee batches and there is a recipe at the bottom of the comments section:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bluebottlecoffeeco/2520362130/

My partner and I drink our coffee (and sweet tea) at very different sweetness levels. So instead of "pre-sweetening" I make simple syrups, sometimes infused with flavours, that allow for sweetening of each drink as it's made.

If you don't want to or can't brew it twice as strong, make coffee ice cubes by pouring room temperature coffee into an ice tray and freezing over night. Pour your iced coffee brewed at normal strength over the coffee cubes in the morning and enjoy! Plus, since they're being frozen, they keep forever.

I've been putting coffee and water in a french press and just letting it sit overnight in the fridge, then pressing it in the am (kind of like cold pressed coffee). It's very easy!

Thanks for the tips. Here in New Orleans I can't bear drinking hot coffee during the summer, but I don't know how to make iced coffee taste right so I always buy it. I'm definitely trying this. Thanks for the tips.

I like the tip about almond extract for flavor. I love iced coffee!

I'm with aleec on the cold-brewed method. I follow the New York Times recipe that was all the rage last summer.

i hadn't thought to make it the night before, but it makes perfect sense. the hubby and i usually just brew a pot of extra-strong coffee in the morning, then make our usual mixture in a large glass measuring cup (sugar and half&half), then pour it into a large glass over ice. recently i've started added a splash of vanilla extract for flavor, which also helps me cut down on the amount of sugar that i use.

Honestly, I never understood why " frape' " isn't a global hit... if I were BoD of Nestle I'd have everyone's ears hammered the whole day. Frape' is a greek coffee with a french name, actually it's the default summer coffee in Greece, with its taste and feel being just superb -- although it might need some getting used to since it's usually real strong.
If you google it you'll probably come across better instructions, but the general idea is that you pour a couple fingers of water, couple of spoons coffee (eg. Nescafe) and at least some sugar (or as much as you like) in either a tall glass or a shaker. If it's a glass, you use a small hand-held motor mixer, if it's a shaker (similar to barman's shaker but smaller and usually plastic) you just shake thoroughly: in both cases you must end up with the mixture turned to sturdy froth.
Then pour cool water and leave room for some ice cubes and milk to taste. Serve with a straw!
Trust me, if you like coffee you have to try it. Just a warning -- the result definitely depends on the talent and experience of the maker, so give it a second or third chance if needed.

Any leftover coffee we may have remaining in the carafe that morning goes into the freezer as coffee ice cubes. We usually have a bag of those in the freezer during the summer months and use those to make the iced drinks.

I agree with Katie in Berkley about the NY Times method. It turns our much better than just the chilled hot-brewed method. The cold brewing doesn't produce as much of a bitter flavor in the end resulting in less need for sweetening.

That NY Times method is the BOMB! And I love the French press idea to get rid of the grounds! Doing that tonight after I go to Peet's!

I make ice coffee for my husband to drink from a thermos at work. I always do it with espresso shots. I make two shots and refrigerate them then toss them in the thermos (which I refrigerate or freeze over night with the cap off so the interior is good and cold), add a tbsp. of sugar-free caramel Da Vinci syrup, about a cup or so of whole milk and a bit of liquid non-dairy creamer unitl it reaches the desired color. We tried using real cream, but my husband takes between 2-4 days to drink it and real cream separates out or gets a bit yucky. We never use ice.

Cold brewed coffee seems too "thin" even when brewed double-strength. Espresso is thicker and more "syrupy" and produces a richer result, though it may be too strong or require more milk than some folks would like.

Did you guys see this post on Re-Nest about cold brew coffee. All you need is a jar and a filter. And I am totally a convert now!

http://www.re-nest.com/re-nest/cooking/simple-green-cold-brew-coffee-057035

If you're in NYC, you can get good frappes in Astoria (which is pretty much Little Greece). I recommend the ones at Lefkos Pyrgos. They're tasty and generally really strong.

Ditto on making ice cubes out of coffee. Plus you can toss the coffee cubes in with vanilla ice cream into a blender and YUUUUUMMMMMMMYYYYYYY coffee milkshake! WOOHOO!

This is how I make it at the restaurant: Add coffee to an empty glass - only 1/5 full. Top with ice. Topping it with ice doesn't melt the ice so much, so the coffee isn't diluted. If you put the ice in first, it melts, diluting the coffee.

I use the Aeropress from Aerobie.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GXZ2GS

It normally brews very strong coffee, so I just press it into a tall glass of ice. Makes a great, great iced coffee. I find myself adding hot water to the Aeropress coffee normally, so this is just replaced with the melting ice.

I prefer espresso to regular coffee, so I just pull two shots into a glass, add ice and milk. I have tried making ice cubes from cold coffee, but mine got cloudy and oily - making my iced coffee pretty icky. Is there some trick I am missing??

Frappe's are divine! It seems that there is a difference between the Nescafe available in the states and in Europe (and even between Greece and the rest of Europe, according to what I found when I google'd for a recipe).

Anyway, from what I read, you shouldn't even bother with American Nescafe. Fortunately, I found the "real thing" in a grocery store in the Greektown area of Chicago.

I tried this iced coffee. It was great! Here's a link to my post: http://chambers61402.blogspot.com/2008/08/iced-coffee.html

Love this site! =)

Don't have a coffee maker so I use Bickford's Iced Coffee syrup which contains chicory. It's delicious and so quick and simple.

i use my cocktail shaker.

add crushed ice to the shaker, pour in creamer, add sugar and coffee and shake! pour over cubed ice.

i started this after visiting california a few months ago. now i have my hot cups in the morning and in the afternoon, with the leftover, i shake it up and have an iced coffee (or two).

my favorite way is to french press a strong batch of coffee and add vanilla almond milk. i don't measure, just eye it until the color looks right. put it in the fridge over night and it amazing!

I am also a huge fan of the cold-brew method (the recipe I use is from NYTimes via Smitten Kitchen.) Chilled hot-brewed coffee just tastes like skunk to me--like when your cup of coffee sits out too long. And cold brew doesn't need sugar (in my opinion) because it's got it's own light sweetness. I've even converted my non-coffee drinking husband to it!
--Julie at Chompsky

I grew up in New Orleans. Both sets of grandparents and my parents soaked grinds overnight, then poured them through a filter a few times the next morning to get coffee concentrate. It went in the fridge. No need to buy the Toddy. Mason jars and cheesecloth work just fine, and look way more charming on your kitchen counter. Also cuts acidity by about 60%.

NOLAzoo, thank you! People in New Orleans have been cold-brewing coffee for ages. Ever seen Cool Brew in the grocery store? ( http://www.coolbrew.com/ ) Someone finally became entrepreneurial enough to market it! I was addicted to that stuff before I moved away; so now I have to make my own.

Cold-brewed coffee lasts ages, is not bitter at all, and is about espresso-strength, if you do it right! I think I use about 10 cups cold filtered water for 1 pound of coffee. Add a splash to any chocolate dessert (cake, brownies, mousse, etc.) for a little extra depth!

Also, if you scald some milk (heat it just until it steams and bubbles at the edges), you can mix a glass of half scalded milk and half cold-brewed coffee (over ice) for one of the BEST coffee drinks out there.

I could go on and on, but I'll stop now. :)

http://www.abreadaday.com

cold brew it!

ah iced coffee, sometimes it's the only reason i decide to wake up in hot weather.
I make mine in the french press (heaping tablespoons and longer brew time by a minute or so) and pour it into a tupperware jar for the fridge. Makes life so much better really anytime.

Cafe du Monde and Cafe Bustelo brewed in the French press make good iced coffee.

In the summer I keep simple syrup on hand for making lemonade, I also use it in both hot and chilled coffee.

Never liked iced coffee til my BF made it with Starbuck's Gazebo Blend. It is crazy-citrus-y and really nice cold.

make coffee ice cubes to add!

we actually make our iced cubed out of the coffee itself (once we have sweetened it with sugar and flavorings like extracts or caramel) then when we want a blended coffee we just throw them into the blender with some milk and blend up a rich and delicious blended coffee... sometimes topped with whipped cream and more caramel drizzle... yumm

Forget the Toddy!

Let coffee grounds soak overnight in a french press, press it in the morning, and you have cold brew without another annoying gadget.

I do this all summer long...

I have a Toddy. I also keep simple syrup in the fridge to sweeten it. I wish I had thought of using my french press like the above commenter, but I don't think it would make enough to get me through weeks of coffee like the toddy does.

Also, I did try smittenkitchen's method but it was a very messy straining through cheese cloth.

i make mine with an espresso machine...two double cubanos over ice with milk. sooooo yummy!

I also do the night-before method by brewing hot coffee in a French press (such easy clean-up) and putting it in the fridge for the next morning. I also make a batch of sugar syrup to use to sweeten it up. Last summer, I started doing this when the temperatures rose to sweltering, and it has been my stand-by iced coffee method ever since.

Shayna, try using paper coffee filters to strain out the grinds. Much less messy than cheesecloth.

The only time I pull out my coffeemaker in summer is to strain the iced coffee I brewed the night before - NYT method with mason jars. I set it up with the carafe and filters and pour it through, then put it away until the next batch. I lovvvve this method of iced coffee, and it's saved me a bundle at coffee shops since I guzzle it all summer long.

I do the classic cold brew method in a Bell Jar.

2/3 cup coarsely ground really good coffee

3 cups cold water

Combine, put lid on, shake, let sit on counter overnight. Strain thru a small strainer lined with paper towels. Makes about 4 iced coffees.

If you are feeling kooky, freeze some in ice cube trays to use as non-diluting temp control. Awesome!

Back when I worked at Starbucks, we would brew the coffee double-strength and then pour it over ice. We always had fresh ice made from well-filtered water though, you don't want to use ice that's been in your freezer for a month if you use this method.

We used to use Gazebo Blend to make iced coffee in the summer, but I can't remember what we used during the winter, maybe it was Italian Roast but don't quote me on that. A lot of people like iced Gazebo Blend because it's a little acidic and is perhaps a little more refreshing. I prefer the way Italian Roast tastes with milk however.

You can always just brew it double strength and prepare it by the glass. That way you can sweeten it to your liking while the coffee is still hot, before adding ice and dairy etc. This is what I do because, you know, sometimes you don't plan ahead.

An addendum:

If you're using a standard filter-basket type coffee maker, I would brew the coffee not-quite-double strength because the coffee won't be hot enough to melt ice made from an equal volume of water. Home coffee machines won't result in coffee that is quite as hot as what will come out of a heated carafe at Starbucks. Also, keep in mind that a little more of the water will remain in the coffee grounds than usual because you'll be using almost twice as many grounds to brew the same volume of coffee (albeit almost double strength).

7th generation New Orleans native here. French Market coffee in a plastic coffee cone lined with paper or a metal-mesh filter (saves trees!) then chilled overnight.
No better coffee/chicory blend, no better iced coffee. Delicious with half & half or whole milk -- holds up better to the ice.
Also, yes to coffee ice cubes. Add more half & half as you go.