If you want to make delicious barista-level iced coffee with minimal effort, the Nespresso coffee maker is an excellent choice.
By using the right Nespresso pods with the best coffee choices for iced coffee and following a few simple steps, you can make delicious iced coffee at home in minutes.
In this brew guide, you’ll learn how to make iced coffee with a Nespresso machine, which pods work best in iced coffee, and other easy ways to make chilled coffee at home.
What You Need to Make Nespresso Iced Coffee
You don't need much to make delicious Nespresso iced coffee. If you have a Nespresso machine, you're already halfway there.
Here's what you'll need:
Ingredients
- Nespresso Pod — You’ll need a Nespresso pod filled with a good blend for iced coffee. Strong dark roasts tend to work well.
- Water — Use fresh, cold, filtered water in your machine.
- Ice — This brew requires around half a cup of ice for this brew.
- Milk — Use quality whole milk or a vegan alternative such as oat or almond milk. Alternatively, you can use cold, fresh water to dilute the coffee to make an iced Americano coffee.
- Sugar or Syrup (Optional) — Add a teaspoon of sugar or flavored coffee syrup to sweeten your brew if desired.
Equipment
- Nespresso Machine — These coffee machines come in different shapes and sizes, but they all work similarly, forcing pressurized water through pre-filled coffee pods.
- Small Coffee Mug — Use a small coffee mug to capture the Nespresso shot.
- Tall Serving Glass — After brewing, you’ll need a tall serving glass with a 6 to 8 oz (180 to 240 mL) volume.
- Spoon — Use a spoon to stir the coffee and milk.
Nespresso Pod Recommendations
Of course, which type of Nespresso pod you use depends on personal preference.
Pods that create strong, dark, concentrated coffee are best, as the brew will be diluted with milk.
Dark roast pods are ideal for iced coffee, be they arabica coffee variety or robusta and arabica blends.
Here are some of the most popular Nespresso pods for making iced coffee:
- Ice Forte
- Ispirazione Ristretto Italiano
- Corto
- Ispirazione Italiana Kazaar
- Robusta Uganda
- Cape Town Envivo Lungo
- Intenso
How to Make Nespresso Iced Coffee: Step-by-Step
Making iced coffee with Nespresso is extremely quick and easy. Unlike other methods, there's no need to grind coffee or use time-consuming brewing methods.
Here's how to make Nespresso iced coffee:
1. Brew a Shot of Nespresso
Choose a pod designed for iced coffee or has dark, rich, bold flavors that pair well with milk.
Place a small coffee mug underneath the spout of the machine, lock in your Nespresso pod, and brew a shot of hot coffee as you normally would.
2. Cool Down the Coffee
Allow the concentrated shot of coffee to cool to room temperature naturally, or add an ice cube to the brew to speed up the process.
3. Assemble the Iced Coffee
In a tall glass, add half a cup of ice. Then, pour the cooled Nespresso coffee over the top. Fill the rest of the glass up with cold, fresh, whole milk or a vegan alternative and stir to combine.
4. Serve and Enjoy
Sweeten your iced coffee with sugar or a sweetener like vanilla syrup if desired. Serve with or without a straw, and enjoy the beverage while ice cold.
5. Iced Americano (Bonus Alternative)
If you want to enjoy the cool, rich flavors of a summertime iced coffee but don’t want to drink milk, iced Americano is the way to go.
To make an iced Americano, simply swap out the milk for fresh, cold, filtered water. This will dilute the coffee and create a beverage similar to a cold brew coffee.
Four Alternative Ways to Make Iced Coffee
Don't have a Nespresso coffee machine or want to make iced coffee with high-quality whole beans?
Check out these four alternative ways to make iced coffee:
1. Iced Coffee With a French Press
Making iced coffee with a French press is easy. Using this immersion brewing method creates a bold, creamy iced coffee with a rich depth of flavor.
You can use arabica, robusta coffee, or a blend to make iced coffee with a press. We recommend Saigon OG for a rich, balanced cup that combines the sweetness of arabica with the bitterness of robusta.
Here's how to make iced coffee with a French press:
- Boil a Kettle of Water — First, boil a kettle of fresh, filtered water. You’ll need around 100 mL.
- Measure and Grind the Coffee — Use a high-quality whole-bean arabica or blend and grind it coarse — a similar texture to sea salt. You’ll need around 8 g of coffee per serving.
- Combine the Coffee and Water — Add the ground coffee to the French press, followed by the water. Place the lid on top and push the plunger down so it rests on the surface of the brew. Leave the coffee to brew for four to five minutes.
- Strain the Coffee — After four or five minutes, gently and slowly push the plunger through the brew to separate the grounds.
- Cool the Brew — Pour the concentrated coffee into a mug and cool to room temperature.
- Assemble the Iced Coffee — In a large, tall glass, add ice, then the French press coffee. Fill the rest of the glass with milk (or water for an iced black coffee) and add a touch of sugar to sweeten if you want.
2. Iced Coffee With Instant Coffee
Using instant coffee granules is the quickest and easiest way to make iced coffee. Although coffee connoisseurs often shun instant coffee, it can make delicious iced coffee when combined with milk and sugar.
Here's how to make iced coffee with instant coffee:
- Boil a Kettle of Water — Boil a Kettle of fresh, filtered water.
- Make a Concentrated Shot of Coffee — Add a sachet of Vietnamese Instant Espresso or one to two teaspoons of regular instant coffee to a mug. Pour in around 60 mL of hot water and stir until dissolved.
- Cool the Shot — Leave the concentrated instant coffee to cool to room temperature.
- Assemble the Iced Coffee — In a glass, add ice and the instant coffee shot. Then, fill the rest of the glass with milk and sweeten to taste with syrup (optional).
3. Iced Coffee With an Espresso Machine
If you want to make deliciously rich iced coffee with a thick, smooth mouthfeel, using an espresso machine is the way to go. By brewing a strong espresso and frothing cold, whole milk, you can craft a barista-level iced latte coffee.
Here's how to make an iced latte with an espresso machine:
- Prepare the Espresso Machine — First, turn on your espresso machine and fill the reservoir with cold, fresh, filtered water. Most machines take five or ten minutes to warm up.
- Measure and Grind the Coffee — Add some whole-bean arabica coffee to the hopper on your machine (or your burr grinder if your machine doesn't have one built-in). Grind 9 g for a single shot or 18 g for a double to a fine consistency similar to powdered sugar.
- Prepare the Portafilter — Pour your ground coffee into the portafilter and gently but firmly tamp the grounds to create a smooth, even puck.
- Brew the Espresso — Lock the portafilter into the group head of your espresso machine and place a small coffee mug on the drip tray below. Pull the shot, aiming for a 25- to 30-second extraction time.
- Cool the Espresso — Cool the shot to room temperature, or ice it down if you want to speed up this process.
- Froth the Milk — Pour a cup of cold, fresh, whole milk (or a high-protein vegan alternative) into a small mixing bowl. Froth the milk with a fine whisk or electric milk frother until light and foamy.
- Assemble the Brew — In a glass, add ice and the cooled shot of espresso. Then, gently pour over the cold milk. Stir to combine the coffee and milk or serve “marbled” (un-mixed).
4. Cold Brew Coffee
Cold brew coffee is made by submerging ground coffee in cold water over a period of 18 to 24 hours. This long, cold extraction process produces a highly caffeinated, chilled beverage with low acidity. All you need to make cold brew coffee is a French press, some ground coffee, and fresh cold water.
Here's how to make cold brew coffee:
- Measure and Grind the Coffee — First, measure and grind some whole-bean arabica or a well-balanced blend. You'll need to grind the beans to a coarse consistency, similar to sea salt. Grind 27 g per 8 oz serving.
- Combine the Coffee and Water — Add the ground coffee to your French press, followed by 8 oz (240 mL) of fresh, cold, filtered water per serving. Gently stir the mixture so the coffee grinds are completely submerged.
- Leave the Coffee to Brew — Place the lid on your French press, but don't plunge the strainer through the brew yet. Put the press in your refrigerator and leave the coffee to brew for 18 to 24 hours.
- Strain the Brew — After 18 to 24 hours, remove the French press from the fridge. Slowly push the plunger down to separate the grounds.
- Pour and Enjoy — Add ice to a glass (optional) and pour over your cold brew coffee. Enjoy black or sweeten and dilute with milk to create a low-acidity iced coffee.
FAQs: Making Nespresso Iced Coffee
Have more questions about making iced coffee with Nespresso or other chilled beverages? Check out the answers to the frequently asked questions below.
1. What’s the Best Nespresso Pod for Iced Coffee?
The best Nespresso pod for iced coffee comes down to personal preference. We recommend strong, dark Nespresso pods such as the Ispirazione Ristretto Italiano, Corto, or Ispirazione Italiana Kazaar.
The strong, bold flavors of these capsules work well in Iced Americano (black) and milky iced coffee beverages.
2. How Much Caffeine in Nespresso Iced Coffee?
The amount of caffeine in Nespresso Iced coffee varies depending on the pod you use. You can expect a single 8 oz (240 mL) serving to contain anywhere from 50 to 100 mg of caffeine.
3. What Milk Works Best For Nespresso Iced Coffee?
The type of milk you use for making Nespresso Iced coffee depends on the taste and texture you wish to achieve.
If you want to try the best coffee for a regular iced coffee, any dairy milk or vegan alternative will suffice.
If you want to create a frothy iced latte or similar brew, you should pick whole milk or a high-protein plant-based alternative like oat milk.
4. Can I Make Iced Coffee if My Nespresso Machine Doesn’t Have an Iced Function?
Yes, you don't need a specific Nespresso machine to brew iced coffee. Iced coffee can be made by hot-brewing a Nespresso pod, cooling the brew with ice, and diluting it with water or milk.
5. Do You Need Special Pods for Nespresso Iced Coffee?
No, you don't need special pods to make iced coffee with a Nespresso machine; most make great iced coffee. However, pods filled with dark roast coffee tend to work better as the strong, intense flavors shine through once the brew is diluted with milk or water.
6. What’s the Difference Between Iced Coffee and Cold Brew?
Iced coffee and cold brew are both chilled beverages made with coffee.
However, Iced coffee is made by cooling hot-brewed coffee, and cold brew is made by immersing coffee grounds in cold water for an extended period — usually 18 to 24 hours. The cold extraction process results in a brew with a lower acidity and higher caffeine content.
7. How Do You Prevent Nespresso Iced Coffee from Getting Watery?
You can prevent Nespresso Iced coffee from getting watery by allowing the coffee to cool to room temperature before adding ice and diluting it with water or milk.
If you don't want to wait this long, adding ice after brewing (rather than brewing over ice) can reduce the amount that the coffee is watered down.
8. How Do You Froth Milk for an Iced Coffee?
You can froth milk for an iced coffee by using an electric milk frother or fine whisk. Make sure the milk is as chilled as possible and has a high protein and fat content — whole dairy milk or oat milk works best for making cold foam.
9. Can You Use Flavored Syrups in Nespresso Iced Coffee?
Yes, you can add flavored syrups to Nespresso iced coffee to create flavored chilled brews. Vanilla coffee syrup, pumpkin spice syrup, and caramel syrups work well in milky iced coffee.
10. Can You Make Vietnamese Iced Coffee with Nespresso?
Nespresso doesn't offer a Vietnamese robusta capsule (yet).
However, the brand does offer Robusta Uganda, Cape Town Envivo Lungo (Indian robusta), and Intenso (Guatemalan robusta). To create Vietnamese-style iced coffee, brew the pods over ice and sweetened with condensed milk.
