You’ve likely paid a pretty penny for a Starbucks Iced Mocha, but now you can make one at home for less! Enjoy a rich, chocolately coffee over ice with this easy recipe.
With Homemade Chocolate Syrup and strong coffee or espresso, you can have a cool refreshing treat in just minutes! Making Iced Coffee at home was never easier.
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Love specialty coffee drinks, but can’t stand the price? I get you. It’s fun to stop by your favorite Starbucks or coffee place for a treat, but the costs can certainly add up.
That’s why at Good Cheap Eats we love to cook from scratch so we can do more with our money. That includes the Iced Mocha.
Take strong brewed coffee or espresso and add milk and chocolate syrup for a delicious iced drink for just pennies.
Why Make This
It’s super easy! You only need four ingredients to make an Iced Mocha at home, likely grocery staples you normally keep on hand.
It’s delicious. No need to pay extra for an add shot or extra pump of syrup. You can make yours just the way you like it, free of charge!
It’s super frugal. At just 32 cents each (a little more if you use a shot of espresso) you can enjoy all the Iced Mocha Coffees you like!
Ingredients
Here’s what you need this at home:
strong coffee or espresso – The base flavor of this coffee drink is the coffee. You can use espresso or a very strongly brewed coffee. The latter will be a little less expensive and easier if you don’t have an espresso machine. Try Cold Brew Coffee if you like. In a pinch, you can use instant coffee mixed with water at a high concentrate. Whatever you use, allow it to cool so that it doesn’t melt the ice.
chocolate syrup – You can use a commercial syrup or make your Homemade Chocolate Syrup. If you’d like to intensify the coffee flavor, use my Homemade Mocha Sauce Recipe.
milk, half-and-half, or cream – Depending on how rich you want your coffee, you can use milk, half-and-half, or cream. This is a great recipe to use leftover evaporated milk. The higher the fat content, the richer tasting will be the beverage. You can also use a plant-based milk such as almond, coconut, oat, or soy.
ice cubes – This drink is meant to be served very cold, so you’ll want ice. Again for extra coffee flavor and so as not to dilute your drink, you can use frozen coffee cubes. Just freeze cooled coffee in ice cube trays to use in your coffee drinks. You can also make frozen milk cubes or frozen almond cubes, depending on your milk preferences.
Variations: For other flavored drinks, add a drop or two of extract, such as peppermint, vanilla, or almond when you add the syrup. You can also make a batch of Peppermint Syrup to add to taste.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Making your own couldn’t be easier.
- In a small pitcher combine the milk, coffee, and chocolate syrup. Stir well for the syrup to dissolve.
- Pour over ice in large mug or glass. Serve immediately.
Want to take it one step further? Maybe top it with some Homemade Whipped Cream or sweet cream cold foam.
FAQs & Recipe Costs
An iced mocha is basically a cold coffee drink, a latte, to be specific, flavored with chocolate. It can be made with coffee or espresso and can be topped with whipped cream.
An iced latte is coffee and milk, while an iced mocha is a latte with chocolate flavoring added. Although both are cold coffee beverages, it’s the addition of chocolate that sets the iced mocha apart from its other coffee cousins.
An iced mocha will have caffeine if you use regular coffee. If you’d like a decaf iced mocha, use decaf coffee or espresso.
You can use instant coffee in an iced mocha. Just mix it strong. If it is the kind that must dissolve in hot water, allow it to cool before adding to the milk.
Recipe Costs
Knowing how much it costs you to prepare a recipe can help you decide if it’s the type of recipe to make regularly or one you might want to save for special occasions. Let’s crunch some numbers and see how this recipe pencils out.
- coffee – $0.10 or espresso – $0.58
- chocolate syrup – $0.05
- milk – $0.17
While your costs may vary depending on where and how you shop, you can expect to pay about $0.32 for an Iced Mocha Coffee or 80 cents if using an espresso capsule.
Compared to the five bucks you’ll spend at Starbucks, this is indeed a bargain!
More Starbucks Copycats
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Iced Mocha Coffee
Equipment
- glass pitcher
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup strongly brewed coffee or espresso, cooled
- 2 tablespoon chocolate syrup
- ice cubes for serving
Instructions
- In a small pitcher combine the milk, coffee, and chocolate syrup. Stir until completely dissolved.
- Pour over ice in large glass and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published on June 10, 2009. It has been updated for content and clarity.
jess
have you tried making a simple syrup at home?
boil water and sugar, add vanilla extract (if you like). Cool, put in bottle, keep in fridge. Cheaper than the flavored syrups, and make it easier to make iced coffee drinks. 🙂
( I don’t remember the exact ratios – but Martha Stewart has a good recipe.)
Jessica
@jess, yes, I just started doing that. Love it for iced coffee.
CarolSue
Excellent! So easy and delicious!