For an iced latte, choosing the glass is as practical as measuring the milk. Filling it to the rim without measuring makes the drink difficult to repeat. Start with one serving from Crema’s free recipe, then adapt later attempts to your own taste.
Start with one measured serving
Crema’s recipe uses 120 g of ice cubes, 160 ml of milk and 40 ml of fresh espresso. Set out a scale, a measure, a spoon and a clean glass before brewing. The milk and espresso volumes give a 4:1 ratio before water from melting ice is considered. This describes this recipe; it is not the only valid latte ratio.
Choose a glass for the whole drink
The liquid ingredients alone total 200 ml, but the glass must also hold ice and leave room for stirring. Do not equate 120 g of cubes with the same number of millilitres of space in the glass: their shape and arrangement matter. If ice and milk leave no room for coffee, use a larger vessel instead of pouring to the rim.
For a smaller glass, scale the whole recipe
A three-quarter serving, for example, uses 90 g of ice, 120 ml of milk and 30 ml of espresso. Multiply every ingredient by 0.75 to preserve the initial milk-to-coffee ratio. You still need to check the space in your chosen vessel. Leaving out some espresso simply because the glass is already full creates a different recipe.
Arrange ice and milk before the final pour
Brew the espresso separately. Add the measured ice to the glass, pour in the milk and stir gently. Following the recipe, let the coffee cool briefly, then pour the measured espresso slowly over the back of a spoon. Stir before drinking. Perfect photographic layers are optional: the image illustrates a serving, rather than a quality test.
Compare dilution at a similar moment
Melting ice gradually adds water, so the first sip and a glass left sitting for a long time are not identical samples. Use similar cubes and taste each version after a similar interval when comparing recipes. Record the quantities. Do not assume that less ice always means less dilution; ingredient temperatures and drinking time also affect the outcome.
Change only the milk on your next attempt
For a more noticeable coffee flavour, try reducing the milk in the next serving while keeping the measured espresso and preparation conditions similar. This is a personal taste experiment, not a promise of a better drink. Taste before adding sweetness. The complete iced latte recipe is free; Crema Club’s further 68 recipes require paid access.