'Coffee Cubes' Curb Insipid Sips

Lisa Morrison, Staff Writer

I enjoyed a personal rite of spring the other day: I made my first iced coffee of the season.

There's something about sipping a frosty version of my standard morning pick-me-up that signals to me that warmer weather and sunnier days are on the way. Let's face it, an iced coffee just isn't what you want to knock back when the thermometer is reading in the single digits. On the same token, I am not overly excited about sipping a piping hot cuppa Joe when it's sweltering outside, either. For me, the temperature of my coffee is definitely a seasonal thing.

And, like slipping on a pair of shorts or breaking out the flip-flops when the weather finally does begin to warm up, that inaugural iced coffee was quite delectable, at least until I got down to the watery, tasteless bottom.

Therein lies the problem with iced coffee: If you brew the coffee so strong that it holds up until the bitter end, it nearly takes the enamel off your teeth upon first sip. Consequently, if the coffee is the perfect strength when the glass is full, it becomes an insipid sipper near the bottom.

I was grousing about those wishy-washy final sips when I had a flash of inspiration (I am crediting the caffeine): Why not make coffee ice-cubes and have them at the ready for those chilly concoctions? You wouldn't have to make extra-strong coffee to hold up to the ice and the problem with watered-down coffee at the end of the drink would melt away faster than, well, an ice cube in July.

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