These iced coffee mistakes left me with watery lattes at home for years – here's how I invested in a better set-up

Want to level up your iced coffees at home? I did too, which is why I've been trial and erroring many different tactics over the years to perfect my set-up.

From umming and arring over investing in one of the best iced coffee makers to deciding on cold brew vs espresso, it's been a journey. Here are all of the mistakes I was making initially and how I levelled up my iced latte offering.

1. Wasting money on takeaway iced coffees

When I first got into iced coffee, I was spending a lot of money at the Blank Street near my office. If you've been doing the same, then listen up, as there are much cheaper ways to get your caffeine fix.

I'm partial to a cold brew and have been lucky enough to test out plenty of high-end espresso machines with a dedicated setting for this type of drink. While the De'Longhi Eletta Explore (as discussed in our review) is the best machine we've tested for cold brew, it also comes in at an RRP of £899 (you can shop the Eletta via Amazon). So you can be forgiven for not adding it straight to your basket and seeking out more affordable options.

One such product that's recently been released is Nescafe's pre-bottled cold brew concentrate (£4 for 500ml at Amazon) which works out as about 16 portions for the price. It has rave reviews already and is readily available in supermarkets too.

This looks like a good choice to gauge whether you're a fan of cold brew or not in the short-term, especially if you want something you can quickly grab out of the fridge. But if you get a taste for cold-brew long term, there's an even better value buy that you can invest in for your kitchen.

Our tester Jullia was a huge fan of the GRIND Cold Brew Bottle when she tried it, and with the reusable cup that comes with it, you can use it to make endless cold brew at home for just £30.00 (via GRIND). Two months after initally testing it out, Jullia was still using it 'religiously' for her daily iced coffees.

So, skip the expensive takeaway iced lattes and invest in your set up – you'll reap the rewards for years to come.

2. Not investing in a dual walled cup

I started out just using my usual drinking glasses for my iced coffees at home, but quickly discovered the glasses would sweat and struggle to keep my latte cold. So I started searching for the perfect iced coffee cup.

Last year I bought the Nespresso Tumbler, which is back this year in a very on-trend Pistachio shade, and while I love the fluted sides and the domed lid, I do wish it were made of glass, rather than plastic.

That's why I've searched high and low to find a better cup to upgrade to and settled on this Frank Green cup (£34.99 from Amazon) as my favourite option. It features a metal straw, a double wall vacuum and can be used as a can cooler too.

The insulation on it looks fantastic, but don't just take my word for it – it has exclusively five star reviews thus far too. My favourite one reads 'Love this cup! It seems expensive but it actually paid for itself within a week by letting me make my iced coffees at home!'.

3. Using standard size ice cubes

This mistake was the simplest to solve. At first, I simply wasn't using enough ice in my coffees, meaning that my drink quickly turned into a watered down affair very quickly.

I quickly learnt that you really need to fill whichever cup you're using to the very brim before you add your coffee and even possibly top it up after you've got your coffee too.

Plus, initially I was using a 12-cube tray which produced standard, small cubes. No matter how many of them I would add to my drink, they would disappear pretty much instantly on a hot day.

That's why I upgraded my freezer with this LessMo Ice Cube Tray from Amazon (2 for £9.99). The cubes this tray makes are much larger, meaning you only need two to fill your glass and last for the entirety of my coffee, with no watery excess liquid. The silicone makes them easy to pop out and they fit snug inside my two litre water bottle too.

With these small changes, I've enjoyed much better iced coffees at home. Are you partial to a cold coffee with all the hot weather?