Keep Your Iced Coffee Strong to the Last Sip

fast melted ice can transform an otherwise delightful iced coffee into a disappointment. If you’re not familiar with this predicament, consider yourself fortunate, since nothing is more unpleasant than anticipating a large gulp only to realize that your formerly chilled beverage is now a distant memory, replaced with a diluted coffee-flavored liquid. Argh! Even when I brew an extra strong batch of iced coffee, I still dislike how conventional ice cubes dilute my drink.

Fortunately, we have a solution -- coffee ice cubes. These ice cubes made with coffee preserve the rich, robust flavor of your beverage until the last drop by avoiding dilution as they melt.

-- Ice cube tray: You’ll need an oldstyle, regular ice cube tray, available at any dollar store, or online, if you can’t find one stashed in the back of a cabinet. Plan to mark it for coffee cubes only, as coffee can permeate itself into plastic, which could make clear coffee cubes have a lingering coffee flavor.

-- Coffee. Leftover morning coffee is your most likely resource if you ever have that (I never do). Your other option is to brew a fresh pot.

-- Freeze. Fill your ice cube tray(s) with coffee and freeze for 3 to 4 hours, or until hard. You can store the coffee ice cubes in a sizable freezer bag or leave them in the tray for convenience.

How To Make Cold Brew Iced Coffee

First, you must make a big batch of very strong “cold brew” coffee concentrate. This is the secret. You’ll need a large container, ground coffee and water. And time -- at least eight hours (exact printable recipe and instructions are waiting for you at EverydayCheapskate. com/coldbrew).

Cold brew coffee is not just coffee served cold. The thing that makes it cold brew coffee is that the brewing process itself happens without heat. Instead of steeping the grounds in hot water, you steep them in cold water for a lot longer. And while you can make as little as 1 cup of cold brew concentrate at a time, why would you do that? I’d rather make 2

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Crossword Answers

BY CLAIRE LYNCH

Before retiring I spent a lot of time thinking about how I would spend my time. What new hobbies would I take up and what existing hobbies would I continue? How would I structure my days and weeks? Having a routine was important to me but I also wanted to enjoy some free time to just kick back and relax.

Having more time to spend with friends would be ideal and I relished the thought of meeting new people from all walks of life. Having an open schedule sounded appealing since I’d worked full-time for 41 years. I ran to catch the L.I.R.R. for years, was at my desk at 8 a.m. and now, as a retiree, I was ready for a change, was ready for something different. You could say I was happy to put the working chapter of my life behind me and embrace something that was brand new.

I had a good plan post-retirement and was excited to put my toe in new waters. Getting into my retirement groove, I looked around my family and questioned how my three older brothers, Peter, Greg and Phil, were spending their retirement days. Sure I’d heard snippets of stories about the cruise Peter took after he retired, I heard that Greg was volunteering in a NYC museum and traveled once a year to such exciting places as Tahiti, Polynesia and Paris. And Phil? He was only retired for a year so he was still exploring different options.

One day I got a phone call from Phil and he said that he had to be quick because he was heading off to a fund-raising meeting for non-profit groups. He and 15 other people in his community worked on projects to raise money. Their meeting would start on time and he didn’t want to be late.

It struck me that for many men, filling their retirement days was challenging. Many women have coffee klatches