Why drink any old coffee when you can drink coffee selected by a Michelin Star Chef and delivered to your door?

I came late to the delights of iced coffee and my first experience almost put me off for life.

I’d gone for an interview for a freelance job and the client suggested we do the interview in a well-known chain coffee shop. He ordered an iced coffee, and as it was a scorching hot day, I did too.

We sat down and I nervously took a stupidly big swig of my drink and suddenly had the biggest brain freeze ever, it was excruciating but I couldn’t let on. 

I could see the interviewer’s mouth moving, but no sound was coming out, I thought perhaps I was dying. Seconds passed that seemed like hours, until finally I came back to earth. My random nodding meanwhile seemed to have done the trick, and he hadn’t noticed my absence. The pain receded and I didn’t touch my drink again for ten minutes.

Once it was above absolute zero  I loved it, a really delicious drink on a hot day.

Now I can make one at home thanks to a kit from Artisan Coffee Co. It came by delivery in a pretty box with an iced coffee glass, a reusable branded metal straw with cleaner, ice tray, the all-important almond syrup, and of course, one of Artisan Coffee Co.’s signature coffee blends, either as beans or ground.

Inside the box was a recipe to create an Italian style iced coffee, plus some tips from founder and Ex-Michelin Star Chef, Ashley Palmer Watts, on how to whip up the best cold brew ice cubes.

Artisan Coffee Co does what it says on the tin; a fabulous range of superb coffees in unique blends and remarkable flavours. Choose your type and character of coffee from their fine selection, and then how much of it and how often you want it delivered in pods, beans, ground, or in bags.

First thing of course is to use the supplied coffee to make an espresso. We first ground the beans, labelled The Big Shot, I prefer to always use beans, and made some strong coffee in a cafetiere. There is an art to this, and it’s explained in detail here.. There is also  a way of doing it with espresso, using this KitchenAid Artisan Expresso machine that we tested a while back, for example.

The coffee has to of course cool down, so if you intend creating a lot of iced coffees, and you almost certainly will, it’s worth making a large quantity of coffee which, once cooled, you can keep in the fridge for at least two days ready to go. You will also need to make sure you have enough ice cubes ready.

A P-W supplies a recipe card, although it’s hardly rocket science, you do however want to get the proportions right or at least know what you like.

I did it by splash. A decent splash of cold coffee, a handful of ice cubes and then a large splash of almond syrup. Then I waited impatiently for it all to get nice and cold (but not too cold).  I added a bit of cold water to increase the drinks length.

Result, delicious. Although I can’t say I liked the metal straw. I know plastic straws are no longer acceptable, but I could taste the metal. So, not for me.

Even though the weather is turning, keeping cool with an iced coffee is still the way to go,

Why not make up your perfect coffee subscription? Just go to Artisan Coffee Co and shop by bean, by grind and by whatever is your favourite brewing style.