3 tricks for the best poolside or beachside coffee
Hint: It involves coffee-flavored ice cubes, pre-mixed flavorings, and our forever favorite—the mason jar pour spout.
As May turns to June and the northern hemisphere warms to summer, many of us will head to the closest body of water to relax and keep cool. And while water is the beverage of choice to stay hydrated, a cold, lightly sweet coffee drink makes an exceptional afternoon and after swim treat.
We’ve compiled our three favorite tricks to keep your cold brew actually cold, not watered down, nice and sweet, and ready to pour.
Make coffee ice cubes
Depending on how much you want to bring, the cold brew container can take up valuable cooler real estate. Use the cold brew to make ice cubes and problem solved.
You can go about this a few ways. If you make the cubes with sweetener, then you can skip the sweetener on the side. If you pack your jar with mostly ice cubes, then you don’t need to put the cold brew in the cooler at all—at least not at first. Just pack a large mason jar full of the ice cubes and let it slowly melt to cold, slushy coffee.
How to make coffee ice cubes
Make your cold brewed coffee (see our basic instructions or check out our many recipes.)
Add simple syrup to taste, flavored or plain, if you want the melty cubes to sweeten your drink
Pour into an Ince cube tray and freeze
Add your coffee ice cubes to your mason jar, fill with cold brew, and add to the cooler. With the ice cubes inside the coffee container, it will help keep everything else cool too! Or, like we said, just make ice cubes out of the whole batch.
Premix your favorite flavors
If you like your cold brew straight, then you can skip this part. If you want the whole batch milky and sweet, then mix it right into the container. If your group is like ours, then everybody wants their coffee custom made.
Fair enough. You can premix a couple of options and have them at the ready. Here are our favorite post-swim coffee mix ins:
Simple syrup is always a favorite. You can flavor it with just about any flavoring and it does not need to be kept cold. Simply mix 1 part sugar and 1 part water and heat together on the stove until the sugar is dissolved. Mix in vanilla, cinnamon, chocolate, orange, mint, more coffee… the choices are endless. Let the mixture cool and pop it into a container with a tiny spout—like the kind you use to dispense mustard.
Presweetened milk does require cooler space…but it’s worth it if vanilla coconut milk cold brew or maple spiced cold brew make you smile. Again, make the flavored milk at home, add it to a pourable container, and stash it at the ready.
Bring a pour spout for your mason jar
Mason jars do absolutely everything. They are sturdy, inexpensive, high quality, and nice looking. Yes, they are glass, which you might not want to bring to the pool. If that’s the case, consider shopping for a quality plastic version. The size it perfect and you can mix and match the lids with standard mason jar lids.
And the best part is this: You can add a pour spout to the jar.
We’ve been using our Cuppow mason jar pour spout for years. You just remove the inner circle from the lid and replace it with the Cuppow spout. It’s genius and we wish we would have thought of it.
Enjoy your poolside or beachside coffee!
Pre-swim, post-swim…during swim? Either way, we hope this inspires you to try cold brew at your next outing. Don’t forget the plastic tumblers to drink out of and sure, little umbrellas if that’s your thing.
Enjoy!
