With warmer weather comes the craving for something colder and sweeter for your afternoon caffeine fix, and sometimes the only thing that will do is an iced caramel latte, but how do you make an iced caramel latte at home?
Consumption of cold and iced coffee has exploded in recent years, reflecting changing tastes and the need for something slightly more refreshing to drink in the sunshine.
We have been enjoying iced coffee beverages since they were first drunk in French Algeria, some time in the late 1800’s, but they have only really become mainstream in the last 20 years or so. Craving one yet?
Let us show you how to recreate the classic and make an iced caramel latte at home.
What is an iced caramel latte?
Step inside any coffee shop nowadays and you are met with a huge range of coffee based drinks, especially iced lattes and frappes, available in a variety of flavours. It can be easy to get overwhelmed, or to believe that complex recipes and special ingredients are needed to make such delicious tasting beverages. That is just not so.
Long gone are the days when only retail companies could buy professional standard ingredients; the exact flavoured syrups that certain high street coffee chains use are readily available online, or sometimes to purchase in store. With some good quality coffee and a few other basic ingredients, you can now recreate your favourite iced caramel latte at home.
First of all let’s look at what the two main varieties of iced coffee are:
Frappe = an ice and milk blended drink with thickener, either with a coffee base or a cream base for caffeine free flavours.
Iced coffee = a cup of ice with coffee added, either with or without milk, but not blended.
How to make an iced caramel latte at home:
To make an iced caramel latte you will need:
- Ice cubes
- Milk (any variety will do, but may affect the overall taste of the drink)
- Two espresso shots ( or the equivalent filter etc )
- Caramel syrup or sauce. The difference is the thickness: syrup is watery and best for drinks, you’ll find it in the coffee & tea aisle of the supermarket, sauce (or drizzle as it is sometimes called) is thicker and will most likely be near the ice cream toppings.
- Fill your cup half way with ice, this is purely to cool the milk so there’s no need to fill it to the top.
- Pour in milk to about 2cm from the top of the cup.
- Measure out a shot of caramel syrup (this is standard, but you can alter it to your taste. If you have a pump, it is equivalent to three pumps.)
- Mix the contents of the cup together.
- Pour your coffee over the top. There is no need to let it cool, the ice and milk will do that for you.
- Add a biodegradable straw and enjoy!
Not a fan of milk? You can make a caramel iced americano by following the recipe above, but replacing the milk with cold water.
How to make an iced caramel latte: frappe version
Do you prefer the frappe variety of iced coffee? Well that’s just as easy too:
You will need:
- Ice
- 1-200ml milk (dairy, oat, coconut, soya, almond, any will do)
- Two espresso shots ( or the equivalent filter etc )
- Caramel syrup or sauce. (syrup is vegan, sauce is not)
- Frappe thickening powder or vanilla ice cream.
Place the above ingredient in a blender and blend for 30 seconds or until it is the consistency that you like. Too thick? Add more milk. Too thin? More ice.
Serve immediately as the blended liquids do begin to separate fairly quickly.
Don’t have ice or powder? At a push you can make a passable frappe with vanilla ice cream instead, especially if you have good quality coffee, but prepare for it to have the consistency more akin to milkshake than that of the blended ice drinks you usually get in store.
Other variations:
- The best thing about this recipe is that it is adaptable. If you find caramel too sweet, you could try swapping it out for vanilla or hazelnut syrup, you can even put some delicious coffee liqueur in it for a pick me up!
- Want a frappe mocha? Add chocolate ice cream instead of vanilla.
- Kids wanting a taste but don’t want to give them caffeine? You can swap out the coffee for strawberry syrup for something more akin to a milkshake.
- Craving an iced caramel latte but not wanting the caffeine hit? These can be made with decaf coffee too.
- To make the glass look extra fancy, swirl some caramel drizzle around the inside of the glass before pouring the drink in.
- Diet friendly versions can be made with skimmed milk & sugar free syrup.
- Get creative! Do as the coffee shops do and mix and match different ingredients until you find what you like best. Iced chai latte? Why not. Mint and chocolate? Sure! Almond milk and gingerbread? Absolutely.
*Extra tip: if you are looking to replicate a certain popular green-logo coffee shop’s best selling caramel drink, it’s actually made with vanilla syrup, using the recipe above, then topped with whipped cream and caramel sauce.
The best thing about these sweet drinks is that you have a fair amount of scope with what coffee you can use. Ideally you would use freshly ground espresso extracted shots, but iced coffee can be made with any pour over, Aeropress, drip or filter coffee, just make it on the stronger side to cut through the sweetness, and make it short so that the water doesn't dilute your drink. We sell all of our coffee beans in every grind possible, suitable for whichever way you make your brew, simply use the drop down menu when selecting your grind type.
Has that settled your craving for an iced coffee, now that you know how to make an iced caramel latte at home? We've got other popular coffee based recipes over on our blog, so take a browse if you want to keep learning.
However you like to get your caffeine hit, Coffee Bean Shop is always here to ensure you get the very best coffee to work with and the very best for this has to be our Peruvian Tunki.