Breakfast Briefs: Coffee, Iced

(This is the first in a series of posts that I’m calling Breakfast Briefs. If you’re like me, you find yourself rushing out the door hungry and undercaffeinated many a morning, the inevitable result of which is $6 spent on a bad egg sandwich and coffee fit only for war criminals. In these posts, I’m going to share my tips and tricks for getting to work fed without adding more than 5 or 10 minutes to your morning routine.)

I roll my eyes at those non-coffee-drinkers (bloody puritans) out there who look down on my habit, but I am the first to admit that I’m addicted. Whether it’s 6 AM on a Tuesday or noon on a Saturday, I need my coffee to wake up. So if I don’t get my fix before I leave the house, my wallet will be arriving at work a few dollars lighter.

So what’s my solution? A french press? A $500 espresso maker? Bottled frappucinos? Sucking on coffee beans on the 4 train?

Nope, just iced coffee, ready and waiting for me in the fridge every morning.

And how do I make it? Do I use the Times‘s excellent recipe for a less bitter brew?

No I do not.

My dark secret that will have coffee lovers shuddering in their seats after the jump.

My iced coffee, which I love almost as much as any iced coffee I’ve ever bought involves a $15 electric coffeepot and Folgers. That’s right. Folgers. In my cup.

Once a week I brew a big pot of Folgers coffee (a big, red 2.5 pound tub cost me less than $10, or the cost of three large iced coffees from the ‘bucks), let it cool, pour it into those tall quart size takeout containers, and stick it in the fridge. Then, every morning, I mix some up with milk, add ice, and drink it while I get ready for work. And if I’m in a rush, I just take it in a thermos to go.

My father has been doing this for years, and for years I’ve thought he was crazy. Drinking cheap coffee that’s been sitting in the fridge for a week? No, thank you. Then, one day, I was desperate. I did it. I drank the Folgers.

And it was good. At least, good enough for me. And here comes the major caveat: I like my iced coffee strong, but with lots of milk. And Folgers is perfect for this. If you drink your iced coffee black or with a minimum of milk and/or you don’t like strong coffee, I doubt this coffee is for you.

I also like drinking iced coffee year round, but I understand why not everyone would. But even if you only replace your takeout coffee half the year, you still stand to save hundreds of dollars.

Finally, let me declare that I have not been paid by the Folgers corporation, this would work just as well with Maxwell House, Juan Valdez, or some even cheaper coffee lurking out there for my father and I to find and purchase.

Think of me what you will, but my morning coffee for the past two months has cost less than $10 total. And it has all been good enough until the last drop.