A refreshing and delicious cold brew latte at home that is better than Starbucks! Save money with my easy step-by-step guide that shows you how to brew the perfect cup of coffee at home on a hot day in the morning, using only 3-ingredients, with a creamy and frothy latte top!
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⭐ Why This Recipe is a Star
- Delicious: Cold brew coffee is all the rage right now, and for good reason! It's smoother and less acidic than traditional hot-brewed coffee. Perfect for making homemade cold brew lattes or Starbucks iced chocolate mocha.
- Wallet-friendly: Making your own drink is sooo much better for your budget than the daily trip to the coffee shop! Plus, it's so much more convenient too.
- Simple ingredients: you might think you need fancy coffee and all, but you don't! You can even use instant coffee powder!
Note: if you love caffeine, do check out this list of Asian coffees or this collection of copycat latte recipes!
🥘 Ingredients
You'll need a few readily available ingredients for this easy cold brew latte recipe:
- cold brew coffee, chilled: you can make it by steeping coffee beans in cold water for 12 hours/ overnight. Steep for longer, up to 24 hours, if you want a more concentrated flavor. (You can also grind your coffee beans before steeping: a medium to coarse grind is best. A cheesecloth or French press will make your life easier here!) You can also substitute with regular iced coffee, but you'll need to make it stronger to keep the flavor.
- milk: I used cow's milk but plant-based milks, such as oat milk, soy milk coconut milks, almond milk etc work too. For a frothier top, use a creamier milk such as coconut or half-and-half. (Use 2% milk if you're going the Starbucks route.) This is a super flexible recipe, so if you prefer a milder coffee flavor, just use more milk!
- maple syrup: I recommend a liquid sweetener instead of sugar, as it's easier to dissolve into the cold drink. If you're not vegan, you can also go for honey, brown sugar simple syrup or 1 of these sugar substitutes instead. You can even use pandan syrup to create a pandan latte or chai syrup to make dirty chai latte!
- optional for an iced cold brew latte: fill the cube with ice cubes before following the steps below.
- optional, mason jar: if you want the typical latte frothed top, use the mason jar hack of shaking milk in the airtight container till it's nice and frothy, then pouring the bubbly milk over the cold brew. Remember to leave space in the cup (when pouring in the cold brew) if you're adding this frothy layer!
📖 Variations & Substitutes
- for Starbucks copycat latte: add 1.5 teaspoons of vanilla extract per cup and dust with some cocoa powder mixed with cinnamon powder.
- for chocoholics: add some chocolate syrup a la Starbucks white chocolate mocha!
- for something more indulgent: spritz on some sweet whipped cream
🔪 Step-by-Step Instructions
1a. 12-24 hours before you want to drink your latte: Combine the coffee beans, coarsely ground coffee or instant coffee powder with cold water. Stir till it's mixed well then leave to steep overnight or for 24 hours in the fridge.
Note: if using beans or coarse coffee grains, strain the steeped coffee through a fine sieve or cheesecloth. You can skip this step if you used instant coffee powder.
1b. When you want to your cuppa: fill a glass with milk, followed by the maple syrup or sweetener of choice, and then the ice cubes.
2. Next, pour in the cold brew coffee onto the ice. (Don't pour it onto the milk directly, if not you won't get the brown and white layers.) The cold brew is ready to drink, but if you want a frothy latte top, continue on to Steps 3 and 4 below.
Note: if you want to copy the Starbucks recipe, add the vanilla extract now too.
3. Pour milk into a mason jar, or airtight container, then seal very well. Shake for a few minutes till the milk is foamy.
4. Pour the frothed milk into the cup and enjoy! Dust with cinnamon powder and/ or cocoa powder for more fragrance.
🥡 How to Store
The cold brew coffee (without the milk) can be stored in the fridge for 3-4 days in the fridge, but do remember to keep it in an airtight container to prevent it from absorbing other flavors!
Don't add the milk till just before you want to drink it!
👩🏻🍳 Expert Tips
Tip #1: If you're finicky about your coffees, use filtered water for a purer coffee flavor.
Tip #2: Freeze some coffee in ice cube trays and use "coffee ice" instead of regular ice for the iced cold brew coffee- this prevents the melted ice from diluting your drink! (For people who want creamier drinks and are thinking of freezing milk, note that many brands of milk will become grainy and/ or separate after freezing.)
Tip #3: If you want more distinct layers in your drink, use more sweetener.
💭 Recipe FAQs
No. Cold brew coffee is made by steeping coffee beans at room temperature for a long period of time, whilst
🥗 Other Cafe Recipes
Enjoyed this easy, refreshing and delicious cold brew latte recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟rating in the recipe card below! If you REALLY liked this drink, please consider supporting it by buying me a latte! 🙂 (No obligation though!) Thank you and have a great day!
Cold Brew Latte
Equipment
- Mason Jar Optional: if you want a frothy top
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Cold Brew Coffee Make this by steeping coffee beans, coarsely ground ones, or even instant coffee powder! ( use 4 Tablespoons of beans (coarse grind) or 1 heaped Tablespoon of instant powder per cup of cold water.) If you're finicky about your coffees, use filtered water for a purer flavor.
- 1 Cup milk You can use more or less milk depending on whether you want a strong coffee flavor or creamier drink. Vegan milks such as soy, almond, coconut work too.
- 1-2 teaspoons maple syrup or to taste. Substitute: brown sugar syrup, sugar substitutes, chai syrup, honey, agave etc
- 1 Cup Ice cubes Freeze some coffee in ice cube trays and use "coffee ice" instead of regular ice for the iced cold brew coffee to prevent the melted ice from diluting your drink! (For people who want creamier drinks and are thinking of freezing milk, note that many brands of milk will become grainy and/ or separate after freezing.)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract optional, for those who want a starbucks copycat recipe. (Also remember to use 2% whole milk.)
Instructions
Making Cold Brew Coffee
- 12-24 hours before you want to drink your latte: Combine the coffee beans, coarsely ground coffee or instant coffee powder with cold water. Stir till it's mixed well then leave to steep overnight or for 24 hours in the fridge.Note: if using beans or coarse coffee grains, strain the steeped coffee through a fine sieve or cheesecloth. You can skip this step if you used instant coffee powder.
Making Cold Brew Latte
- Fill a glass with milk, followed by the maple syrup or sweetener of choice, and then the ice cubes.
- Next, pour in the cold brew coffee onto the ice. (Don't pour it onto the milk directly, if not you won't get the brown and white layers.) The cold brew is ready to drink, but if you want a frothy latte top, continue to the next below.Note: if you want to copy the Starbucks recipe, add the vanilla extract now too.
- Pour milk into a mason jar, or airtight container, then seal very well. Shake for a few minutes till the milk is foamy.
- Pour the frothed milk into the cup of cold brew latte and enjoy! Dust with cinnamon powder and/ or cocoa powder for more fragrance.
Notes
Note: the nutritional information is an estimate automatically calculated using the WPRM recipe maker and I am not responsible for its veracity.
Nutrition
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Kyle S. says
If you prefer the taste of honey as a sweetener, I recommend making a honey syrup instead of using it fresh from the jar / bear shaped squeeze bottle. Honey does not dissolve as well at cold temperatures, but a honey syrup will work great. Use the same ratios of honey to water as you would sugar to water when making a simple syrup, and you'll have a honey that will dissolve and sweeten your cold coffee, iced tea, and cocktails way more effectively.
Zen says
Thanks for sharing Kyle, I will have to try that this weekend!
Marc says
Thank you for this post. It was perfect for me. I've never purchased a coffee drink at an espresso stand. Don't get me wrong, I do love good coffee and am picky about roasts and brew methods. But for 40 years it has always been basic coffee with cream. This weekend someone made me a cold brew iced latte and now I'm hooked. Made the cold brew but wasn't sure about the rest. Now I must experiment. I did try it with some chocolate milk and that was really good LOL. All this and I'm a Pacific Northwest guy who just discovered there is more to coffee........
Zen says
Hi Marc, thanks for stopping by, so glad you enjoyed it! I do love cold brews as, for me, I find it helps save a lot of time and tastes so good!