homemade iced coffee.

I don't know about where you live, but here, it's freaking hot. So hot that I can't stomach turning the coffee pot on at 6 a.m. no matter how exhausted I am, much less for a post-dinner brew. I feel like a jerk even offering coffee to dinner guests at 8 p.m. on a summer Tuesday night, like I want them to sweat it out on my back porch over a slice of cake.

Now I had to tell you that to tell you this - I'm all about frozen caffeine. I'll do the cliche Starbucks thing and order a caramel frappucino in a moment of weakness at 3 p.m. when I can justify spending $5 on a few swallows of coffee because I just ran a dozen errands! but even that gets pricey after a while. Then I was on to McDonald's - that's right, I said it - and their insanely delicious frou-frou coffee blends that were twice as good as Starbucks for half the price (and double the calories). But good people, I've got a baby and I gotta buy diapers and cute clothes for her, so I knew there had to be a better way.

Enter: Iced Coffee. Iced Coffee Concentrate, actually. It's like having the Nectar of Starbucks just waiting in your refrigerator, patiently waiting for you to spill it into a tall glass with lots of ice and a splash of milk and maybe a shot of that hazelnut syrup you've got on the right side of the liquor cabinet. Really, it's just a waiting game. You blitz up a bag of coffee beans to a coarse grind, then give it a good soak under a cheese cloth until it's a fully loaded, high octane power blend. Then you strain it once, strain it twice, and into the icebox it goes, ready for you at a moment's notice.

Now I didn't crunch the numbers exactly, but I only spent $5 on a bag of 8 O'Clock Coffee to make at least four glasses of the iced version. It was divine, smooth and fresh tasting without the slightest bitterness, bold without being in your face about it, and wonderfully creamy and light on a hot afternoon. I certainly recommend spilling in a slip of hazelnut syrupy if you've got it, but it's also delicious with just a bit of milk and a teaspoon or two of sugar.

So get on it. It's too hot to leave the house. Recipe here.

Oh, and before you go, a brief word of advice. This recipe requires a full 15 hours of soaking the beans before it can be strained. I didn't read that part until I was nearly finished, and it was past noon at that point. I stayed up until midnight but decided I wouldn't make it to 3 a.m. for the full 15 hours, so I only soaked my beans for about 12. It was still plenty strong and perfectly drinkable. So if you run out of time, I'd say 12 hours is plenty.