What Is Iced Coffee? The Complete Guide to Every Iced Coffee Drink (Iced Latte, Americano, Mocha, Macchiato, Cappuccino, Flat White, and More)
Iced coffee, in the broadest sense, is any coffee drink served cold over ice. In the narrow sense — the way the term is used on a menu — it means brewed coffee chilled and served over ice, distinct from the iced espresso drinks (iced latte, iced americano, iced mocha, iced cappuccino, iced macchiato, iced flat white, iced caramel macchiato) that share the cold-coffee category but use espresso instead of drip as the base. There is also cold brew, which is brewed cold from the start (12–24 hours of room-temperature steeping) rather than brewed hot and chilled, and a sprawling family of blended and regional iced drinks (Frappuccino, Greek frappé, Thai iced coffee, Vietnamese cà phê sữa đá) that all sit under the same umbrella. They are not the same drink — the milk ratio, the base coffee, the brewing temperature, the serving order, and the cultural origin all differ — and the goal of this guide is to make every distinction clear in one place. ...