The Problem:

It's getting into the hottest weeks of summer around here. For me, the hardest part of summer is not being able to take in my daily supplement of hot coffee. Coffee is probably MY favorite food but when it gets over 100 degrees for several days in a row, keeping the internal body temperature too high can be debilitating and very uncomfortable.

The Solution:

Iced Coffee! Most of the iced coffee beverages I've had are very delicious, BUT are also very high in sugar content, making this particular beverage undesirable as a replacement for my regular, preferred hot beverage. I've been using stevia extract (the white powdered stuff) in my coffee as a replacement for sugar for almost 10 years. After learning about stevia leaf, I started experimenting with it to replace the extract powder and so far have had really great results. So after a few days of further experimentation, I've come up with a great iced coffee recipe which tastes fabulous and is sugar free (except for any added dairy content). If you use whole cream, it would probably even be allowable on most Atkins/protein based diets. Virtually zero carbs!

Iced Coffee Recipe

• 1/2 cup of coffee

My first batch, I used the cheapest coffee I could find--Great Value drip coffee grounds from Wal-Mart. I wouldn't necessary recommend this brand if you're looking for tasty organic goodness, but it works in a pinch. The measurements are the same for ground as they are for beans; however, if you are using a premium coffee bean, you'll find it has less edge to it than the cheaper coffees and you may desire to make it a bit stronger. Try using 2/3 to 3/4 cup of coffee beans in this case.

• 1+ quart of water
• 2 Tablespoons Stevia Leaf
• Quart Jar with lid
• Coffee filter
• Strainer
• Small bowl
• Milk, Cream or Half & Half
• Ice

Directions:
1. Heat all or part of water in small sauce pan to boiling.
2. Turn off heat and put stevia leaf into water.
3. Allow to steep (like tea) for about 15 to 20 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, put coffee (ground) into quart-jar.
5. After steeping, pour stevia mixture (do not strain) into jar with coffee.
6. Place lid on jar and shake well.
7. Allow to steep at least 8 hours or overnight.

8. Strain coffee through coffee filter and strainer into small bowl.

NOTE: This usually takes a few minutes. To shorten time, you can pour coffee through the strainer first and then pour back through the coffee filter (be sure to rinse the strainer). This keeps the coffee filter from becoming clogged with the smaller bits of coffee grounds.

9. Rinse coffee grounds from jar.
10. Pour strained coffee concentrate back into jar, fill to top of jar with water to bring back to 1 quart and replace lid.
11. Allow to chill and store in refrigerator.

12. To prepare drink, mix 2 parts coffee to one part dairy (milk, cream, Half&Half) and pour over ice.

Drink and Enjoy! Just in case you’re wondering, stevia leaf works well in percolators, drip coffee makers, teapots and other beverages which are brewed.