Good morning. Any tips on making great iced coffee? We especially love the flavor of McDonalds' new iced coffee drinks.

Thank you,

Donna

Dear Donna:

The entire line of McDonald's coffees has been upgraded and millions are "lovin' it" as sales for the coffees, both hot and iced, are soaring for this ubiquitous chain.

You can experiment at home with premium coffee, milk or cream or soy milk, and sugar or artificial sweeteners without the additional preservatives and sweetening agents that the chain uses. As for at-home recipes for iced coffees, there are three generally recognized recipes: hot brew, then cool and chill; hot brew double strength, then cool and chill, or cold-filter brew and serve. Fill ice cube trays with leftover coffees which not only add to the richness of iced coffee but more importantly avoids dilution that ordinary water ice cubes do.

We veer to the cold filtering process, which is easily done with the Toddy Coffee Maker machine, but you can do it at home.

Use four parts water to one part coffee, for example, 1/3 cup or 6 tablespoons of ground coffee to 1 ½ cup spring or filtered water (at room temperature.) Let it sit for a minimum of three hours or overnight. To use, pour the mixture through a sieve or strainer into a second container and restrain through a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth to insure that all grounds are removed. Fill a glass halfway with the coffee concentrate, then add the same amount of water. Sweeten as desired. For a richer, creamier taste, fill the glass halfway with coffee concentrate and add the same amount of milk or cream. Sweeten as desired. Refrigerate until ready to drink or serve over ice to drink immediately. For flavoring you can add pure concentrates of vanilla or other flavorings, found in the bakery section, or use bottled prepared flavored syrups which are available in sugar and sugar free versions.

Do it once a week, and you'll have enough coffee concentrate to make delicious iced coffee anytime you want it. Vietnamese and Thai coffee lovers will really enjoy this.

If you want to know what's in the McDonald's iced coffee, their nutrition charts state that a 16-ounce (2 eight-ounce cups) of Vanilla Iced Coffee, which McDonald's deems as SMALL, is 130 calories, 0 trans fats, 3.5g of saturated fats, 20 mg. of cholesterol, 40 g of sodium, 21g of carbohydrates, 1g of protein and no fiber. In descending amounts, it contains Premium Roast Coffee. Light Cream (Milk, cream, sodium phosphate, sodium polyphosphate, DATEM, sodium stearoyl lactylate, tetra sodium pyrophosphate, sodium hexametaphosphate, sodium citrate, carrageenan), and milk. The vanilla syrup contains sugar, water, fructose, natural (plant source) and artificial flavor, caramel color (with sulfites), potassium sorbate (preservative), citric acid, malic acid. It is served over about ½ cup of ice.

The sugar-free version has fewer calories, 60, the same amount of saturated fats: 3.5g, more sodium (70g), but fewer carbs, 8g. The ingredients are similar with the exception of Sugar Free instead of regular Vanilla Syrup, no sugar and no fructose but it does have sucralose and salt, and acesulfame potassium. The large Hazelnut has 270 calories, twice the saturated fats, cholesterol and sodium of a small Vanilla plus 43g of carbs.

Here’s to a great cup of coffee!

Phil