French Press + Iced Coffee = Heaven

For my birthday this year, M got me an awesome gift - a french press! I'll be honest - she got me the 8-cup, which I exchanged for the 12-cup...damn those European cup sizes! Someday I want to try coffee in Europe...a cute little 4 oz. cup of coffee that is really espresso and not coffee. Of course, here in the U.S. we like everything to be bigger and badder, so we'll guzzle 24 oz. of coffee while the rest of the world sips 4 oz. But I digress...

So, now that I have a french press of my very own, I decided to try the DIY iced coffee thing, too. I found a great blog post with the recipe from the NYT that started it all, and it is SO EASY!!!! This recipe says to put in room temperature water and leave it sit over night (or 12 hours). Seriously...it could NOT be easier! It takes a little experimenting to figure out how much ground coffee to use based on the amount of water you add, but it really is a matter of taste. I always use filtered water, and obviously you don't "plunge" the grounds until the next morning after it's sat over night and had a chance to "brew." This results in a very smooth coffee that doesn't have the bitterness or acidity hot coffee can sometimes have. I don't think it requires as much cream/milk or sugar, either.  Ohmygoodnessitissofreakinggood!!!!! :)

The Bodum Chambord 12-cup coffee press...magical!