Iced Cinnamon Coffee
A smooth iced coffee with warm cinnamon running all the way through it, not floating on top as a dusty film. The cinnamon goes into the cold brew while it steeps, which is the only way it properly gets in.
At a glance
- Coffee : water
- 1:8
- Active time
- 10 min
- Total time
- 970 min
- Makes
- 6 glasses
- Serve
- Over ice
- Kit
- Cold brew jar
Ingredients
Note: Ground cinnamon stirred into cold coffee does not dissolve. It floats and sits as sludge at the bottom. Sticks, steeped, are the answer.
Method
-
Steep the coffee with the cinnamon
Put the coffee, broken cinnamon sticks and cold water in the cold brew jar. Stir, cover and leave for 12 to 14 hours at room temperature, or 18 to 24 in the fridge.
Steep 12 to 24 hours -
Make a cinnamon brown sugar syrup
Simmer the brown sugar and water for two minutes with one more cinnamon stick if you like it strong. Cool.
Simmer 2 minutes -
Strain twice
Strain out the grounds and cinnamon, then pass the concentrate through a paper filter. Keep it in the fridge for up to ten days.
-
Build the glass
Fill a glass with ice. Add 15 ml of the syrup, 100 ml of concentrate and 100 ml of cold milk. Stir and add a fresh cinnamon stick.
Why this works
Cinnamon's flavour comes mostly from cinnamaldehyde, with eugenol and other aromatic compounds alongside. These are oils, and they dissolve poorly in cold water. Ground cinnamon stirred into an iced coffee releases almost nothing into the liquid. The powder floats, sticks to the ice and sinks as grit, and you taste dust rather than spice.
Steeping sticks in the cold brew solves it by giving the compounds time. Over twelve hours or more, even cold water draws a clear cinnamon flavour out of the bark, and because the coffee is extracting at the same time, the two arrive integrated rather than layered. The paper filter afterwards catches any fine bark particles.
Ceylon cinnamon is the better choice for a drink. Its flavour is softer and more floral than cassia, the harsher, hotter cinnamon most supermarkets sell, and it contains far less coumarin, a compound that health authorities recommend limiting in large regular doses. For a daily iced coffee, Ceylon is the sensible choice.
The brown sugar syrup carries more cinnamon and adds molasses notes that suit the spice. It also solves the cold drink problem: sugar will not dissolve in iced coffee, but syrup mixes in instantly. Cold brew is used as the base because its low acidity and chocolatey body go with warm spices better than a bright, fruity iced pour-over. For a hot cinnamon coffee, see hot cinnamon coffee.
Variations
- Horchata style: replace the milk with rice milk and add a pinch of vanilla.
- With oat milk: oat and cinnamon is a natural match.
- Spiced: a few cloves and a strip of orange peel in the steep with the cinnamon.
- Vietnamese style: condensed milk instead of syrup and milk.
Made it?
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Questions
How do you get cinnamon flavour into iced coffee?
Steep cinnamon sticks in the cold brew while it brews, or make a cinnamon syrup. Ground cinnamon stirred into cold coffee does not dissolve.
Can I add ground cinnamon to iced coffee?
It will float and sink as grit. If you only have ground, stir a quarter teaspoon into the hot syrup and strain it through a paper filter.
Ceylon or cassia cinnamon for coffee?
Ceylon for a softer, more floral flavour and much less coumarin. Cassia is stronger and harsher.
How long does cinnamon cold brew keep?
About ten days in a sealed bottle in the fridge.