The 10 Best Iced Coffee Drinks

Ranked by how good they are when made well at a specialty shop, not just how recognizable they are. The list runs from most coffee-forward to most approachable.

Iced drinks are the fastest-growing segment of the coffee market globally

Across Pulled Coffee's database of 462,531 shops, iced drinks now appear on the menu at nearly every specialty shop regardless of climate. Even in London, which has 3,621 specialty coffee shops, cold drinks are now standard menu items year-round.

"Cold drinks used to be a summer thing. Now they are a year-round thing. The market figured out that people like cold coffee in January too."

The 10 best iced coffee drinks

1. Nitro cold brew: Cold brew infused with nitrogen, served on tap. Creamy without milk. Full nitro guide.
2. Iced Americano: espresso over ice with cold water. Clean, strong, no milk needed. Americano explained.
3. Cold brew concentrate: 16 to 20 hours of steeping produces something with real depth. What is cold brew?
4. Iced cortado: Equal parts espresso and cold milk over ice. Not on every menu but worth asking for.
5. Iced flat white: Double ristretto over ice with milk. Strong and smooth.
6. Espresso tonic: A shot of espresso over tonic water and ice. Unusual but genuinely good at the right shop.
7. Iced latte: Espresso, milk, ice. The baseline iced drink. Excellent when the espresso is fresh. Latte guide.
8. Iced dirty chai: Chai concentrate, milk, espresso, ice. Spiced and caffeinated. Dirty chai explained.
9. Iced matcha latte: Matcha powder, cold milk, ice. No coffee but a full-flavor alternative. Matcha vs coffee.
10. Iced mocha: Espresso, chocolate, milk, ice. The gateway iced drink.

Find specialty shops with exceptional iced coffee programs in Los Angeles and New York. Try Blue Bottle for nitro cold brew or Verve Coffee Roasters for an exceptional iced Americano.

Related: What is cold brew?, Cold brew vs iced coffee, What is nitro cold brew?