Everyone loves to mix coffee with ice cream, and yet no one agrees on how it should taste.

Do you enjoy creamy ice cream that's sweet with a mere hint of beans? Or, do you take things to another level, bracing with a dash of sugar and milk?

Perhaps you prefer things as concentrated and bitter as a shot of espresso, or you may desire to chew on the grounds or want to craft a masterpiece that has yet to be added to Dunkin' Donuts' collection.

The reality is that there is more than one coffee ice cream recipe, which is dangerous for professionals because everyone has a different idea of what it should taste like. Instead of finding the perfect concoction in one design, make them all.

Beans

Use the best coffee you can when making homemade ice cream. Macro-roasted instant coffee granules that come cheap from the store will ruin the taste of the ice cream.

Conversely, fresh quality ground roasted beans bring character and depth to the base to deliver your favorite ice cream.

The freshness matters as stale-tasting beans make even the best ice cream taste stale too.

Still, you don't need to go out of your way to invest in the most expensive brands for homemade ice cream, as the nuances of your favorite blend will likely get lost in the heavy concentrations of heavy cream and sugar.

Some people recommend using darker roasts when mixing with homemade ice cream, as this adds a pleasant degree of bitterness to the overall flavor.

Grind

Plain medium grinds are large enough for simple filtering and deliver enough flavor using a Cuisinart ice cream maker. If you would rather include some grounds in coffee ice creams, consider using a coarse mesh filter to strain the base.

Furthermore, if you prefer to implement whole coffee flavor beans for the creamiest ice cream, you'll need to use more of them to get the same flavor as well as steep them separately into the cream and milk.

Brew

Many of the best coffee ice creams and coffee ice cream recipes demand you steep the grounds in hot milk and cream, tempering the liquid into sugar and egg yolks with chocolate chips. This can easily make a mess of ice creams and ruin the creamy texture of the ice cream base. It's unnecessary because coffee flavors infuse rapidly into dairy, and the general flavor of even the best ice cream does not improve with extended steeping time.

Rather, whisk the whole coffee beans directly into the sugar and egg yolks, adding cold, not warm milk and heavy cream, then cook your base in a single pot. Once you bring the coffee mixture base to the ideal temperature of approximately 170 degrees Fahrenheit, the coffee beans will be fully used up.

DIY Instructions

Once you nail down the basics, your recipe can be customized to match your desired texture and flavor. Recipes require a maximum of five coffee tablespoons per ice cream quart.

The lower end of this spectrum results in a milky, mild ice cream that's comparable to a sweet latte. Conversely, the higher end yields a bracing, bold flavor with intense bitterness. Consider the use of chicory coffee for added oomph.

Other key variables should include the concentrations of sugar and butterfat, which impact the ice cream in obvious ways. Heavy cream ratios enrich the milk and make the ice cream taste more buttery.

Moreover, added sugar inevitably increases the sweetness and reduces bitterness.

With respect to egg yolks, the standard ratio of three cups of dairy per six yolks yields a flavorful, rich ice cream.

Best coffee ice cream mixture recipes

1. Cookies and Cream

Start by simmering milk and cream in a large ice cream maker saucepan. Next, stir some vanilla beans, cover, and allow the ice cream maker mix to steep for half an hour. Whisk coffee, sugar, and egg yolks in an ice cream maker bowl until thick. Ladle approximately 33% of the dairy, constantly whisking until you're ready to transfer the mix into the saucepan.

Cook the pot on medium to low-level heat, frequently whisking until the formation of custard on a spoon and finger swiping leaves a clean line.

Optionally, you can add some salt to enhance the taste. Lastly, strain the custard through a strainer and chill in the fridge until it reaches approximately 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Churn with an ice cream maker in a large bowl with vanilla extract and then harden in an airtight container for a few hours before serving.

2. Cardamom

Bring milk and homemade coffee ice cream to a simmer in a large saucepan. While the dairy heats up, toast some pods of cardamom in a skillet until it begins to give off an aroma, then press down with the flat part of the knife to open them. When the dairy finally simmers, remove and stir the pods of cardamom in. Then cover and steep for up to 30 minutes.

Heat the pot at medium to low levels, then frequently whisk as you cook the mix until a custard is formed from the homemade coffee ice cream. Strain the custard, then chill the mix in the fridge until reaching 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

3. Vietnamese-style

In a massive saucepan, whisk coffee and egg yolks together with some half-and-half milk. Heat the pot at medium to low levels, then refrigerate until the mixture thickens and reaches 40 degrees Fahrenheit prior to serving.

4. Irish Coffee

If you'd like to turn your coffee ice cream recipe drink into an alcoholic beverage, this boozy recipe will likely meet your needs. It uses caramel ice cream in addition to a small bit of coffee to maximize bitterness and sap the flavor of whiskey and burnt sugar. You'll find that Irish Coffee ice cream recipe is full of taste and will take your drink to exciting new heights.

Moisten about a 1/4 of a cup of sugar in a saucepan on high heat until boiling. Insert caramel and rotate the pot until the mix darkens. Stir in some butter and allow the mix to steam. After fully integrating some butter, stir in some steady cream to combine.

Whisk some egg yolks and transfer them to the pot. Heat on medium to low settings until the formation of custard, then strain and chill with ice crystals until the dessert cuisine reaches 40 degrees Fahrenheit.