Completely Transform Iced Coffee With A Trip To The Blender

Has your daily iced coffee habit turned into a grind? Do you need to perk things up a bit? If you watched social media get whipped up into a frenzy over dalgona coffee but were turned off by the need to use instant granules, you can put a whole new spin on your favorite iced coffee simply by using your blender. Whether you prefer cold brew, traditional iced coffee, an iced latte or something completely different, turning it into something creamy and frothy is as simple as taking all of the ingredients and blending them up. Essentially what you're making is a frappe, a drink made with espresso or coffee, sugar, milk or water, and ice that is shaken, blended or beaten, creating a nice foam at the top.

The key is to start with a delicious batched coffee that's had the opportunity to sit and cool overnight. It's also best to make the coffee stronger than usual — if not double strength — since the coffee will dilute when it's blended with the ice. You can also use a bottled iced coffee concentrate.

Of course, there are lots of ways to mix it up when making blended iced coffee. Giada de Laurentiis swears by adding a small amount of melted chocolate to iced coffe to give it a sweetness and richness, so why not add that to your blended version. If you prefer vanilla, add some extract or vanilla bean paste. Others turn their iced coffee drinks into a smoothie and coffee mashup adding functional ingredients, like collagen, protein powders, chia, and flaxseeds. If you prefer not to use table sugar, try adding one or two pitted dates or date syrup instead.

If you like the idea of mixing fruit in with your blended iced coffee, influencers are spilling the beans on another trend: Banana iced coffee. This version uses a frozen banana instead of the ice, giving the drink that nice smoothie texture, banana flavor, and some sweetness. There are other versions with blueberries, strawberries, and lemon, although the latter sounds like it might be better with a frozen iced tea.

You can try the most basic version first: Make your favorite iced coffee and simply pour it into the blender. Whip these ingredients together and you will have anything but the average joe.