How to Make Café Nairobi's Iced Coffee at Home (Our Farmers' Market Recipe)

"I came back just for this iced coffee." We hear that a lot at our farmers' market stall. And then comes the question we've heard more times than we can count: "Can you tell me how you make this?"

We've also been getting that same question by email and DM, over and over, and we see all of you. So here it is. It is a recipe we've been perfecting over the years, scaled down for your own kitchen.

THE SECRET? BREW IT STRONG

The single biggest reason our iced coffee doesn't taste weak or watery is that we never brew it at regular strength. Ice, milk, and cream all dilute coffee as they melt and mix, so we compensate by brewing it noticeably stronger than we would for a normal hot cup.

The first step is to get our Café Nairobi Medium Roast. Seriously, don't skip this part. It's shade-grown in volcanic soil, which gives it a naturally rich, full-bodied flavor. It's also naturally smooth and low-acid, which is exactly what lets it hold its own once it's poured over ice. We reach for Medium Roast specifically for this recipe because its balance of richness and smoothness holds up especially well, brewed strong and served cold.

How to brew it:

1. Use your regular drip coffee maker, pour-over, or French press.
2. Use 3 tablespoons of coffee per 12oz of water (about 16g coffee to 355ml water). That's roughly 1.5 times a standard hot-brew ratio, and it's exactly what gives this coffee enough strength to hold up once it's poured over ice.
3. Brew a full pot or batch, even if you're only planning to drink one glass. The extra keeps well in the fridge for your next cup.
4. You'll actually notice the difference while it's brewing. The aroma is noticeably richer and more intense than a regular pot of coffee, which is a good sign you're on track.

Chill for a few hours or overnight

Once brewing is done, let the coffee cool with the lid or cover on. From here, the important step is to put it in the refrigerator once it's no longer hot to the touch. Chilling it in the fridge for a few hours or overnight gets you the same cold, ready-to-pour coffee we use at the market, prepared the same way we'd want any brewed coffee handled before it's served cold.

NOW, LET'S BUILD THE CLASSIC CAFÉ NAIROBI VERSION

This is the version we serve most often, and it's a great place to start before you branch out.

What you'll need (per glass, as a starting point; adjust to your own taste):

1. Chilled, strong-brewed coffee, filling most of the glass
2. A splash of half-and-half, added to taste
3. A tablespoon of organic raw cane sugar, or less/none if you prefer it not too sweet, adjusted to find your desired taste.
4. Ice cubes

How to make it:

1. Put the raw cane sugar in a mixing cup or glass.
2. Add a small splash of the coffee while it's still warm (before you refrigerate the batch, set a little aside for this) and stir until the sugar fully dissolves. Raw cane sugar doesn't dissolve well in cold liquid, so this step matters.
3. Add the half-and-half and the rest of your chilled, strong-brewed coffee. Stir everything thoroughly (important step) with a long spoon, almost like a bartender preparing a cocktail, until the coffee, cream, and sugar are completely blended.
4. Fill a glass with ice, then pour the mixed coffee over the ice, not the other way around. This keeps the texture and strength right, and produces a smooth, creamy, flavorful coffee.
   

That's it! Easy right?

A FEW FUN WAYS TO PERSONALIZE YOUR ICED COFFEE

Half-and-half and raw cane sugar are simply our house preference, not a rulebook. The real recipe is the strong coffee base. Once you have that, the rest is up to you.

Dairy-Free Iced Coffee (Almond or Oat Milk)

Swap the half-and-half for almond milk or oat milk. Oat milk in particular has a naturally creamy texture that holds up beautifully in iced coffee.

Oat Milk and Hazelnut Iced Coffee

One of our favorite combinations is oat milk with a splash of hazelnut flavoring. The creaminess of the oat milk and the nuttiness of the hazelnut play off each other really well. It's worth trying even if you're not usually a flavored-coffee person.

Iced Coffee with Honey

Prefer honey over sugar? Dissolve it in the same manner we dissolve the raw cane sugar. Stir it into a small amount of warm coffee first, so it blends evenly instead of sinking to the bottom of the glass.

Unsweetened Iced Coffee

Don't like sweet coffee at all? Skip the sweetener entirely. Plenty of our customers do. A few more pairings worth trying: half-and-half on its own with no sweetener, almond milk with honey, oat milk with raw cane sugar, or coffee with honey and no milk or cream at all. Small tweaks, but each one changes the drink completely.

Or Try It Completely Black

A surprising number of our regulars skip the milk, cream, and sweetener altogether. Once the coffee is brewed strong and chilled, they pour it straight over ice and drink it black, no dilution problem to worry about.

HOWEVER YOU TAKE IT

That's the whole method: brew it strong, cool it safely and build it however you like. Whether you're a half-and-half-and-sugar traditionalist, an oat-milk-and-hazelnut convert, or a black-coffee-on-the-rocks purist, it all starts with the same shade-grown, volcanic-soil, low-acid Café Nairobi Medium Roast we've been perfecting at the farmers market for years.

Do try it, and tag us @cafenairobi254 on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok when you do. We'd love to see which combination becomes your go-to. And if you'd rather skip the brewing and just grab a cup, you know where to find us. Get the coffee we use: Shop Café Nairobi Medium Roast