Given the recent hot weather, we looked at how Brits are trying to keep themselves cool.
We looked through Google Trends data to see the growth in searches of the following questions relating to keeping cool from 9 July – 14 July 2022 compared to the previous week (2-8 July 2022).
Jump to relevant section:
The True Cost of Buying an Air Conditioner
How to Make the Perfect Iced Coffee
Iced Coffee Recipes from Around the World
Key findings:
- The number of people looking to buy air conditioners has increased by 630% in the last week.
- Searches for iced coffee recipes, and places to buy an ice coffee rose by 560% and 400% respectively in the last week.
- Searches for “pub garden near me” rose by 250% in the last week.
The True Cost of Buying an Air Conditioner
In response to the finding that people looking to buy air conditioners have risen over 600% in the last week, James Scott, Head Technician at Heat Adviser commented:
“Air conditioning units are particularly tempting during the warmer weeks of the British Summer. However, there are several costs associated with the units that many homeowners may not have considered yet.
The average installation cost can be anywhere between £1,700 – £3000.
With electricity costs rising, it’s important to consider the cost implications of running an AC unit – A multi-split system running for 2 hours per day could cost on average £50 a month.
This is before we get to maintenance costs which may be higher than normal due to the amount of downtime that the air conditioning unit will inevitably have during winter.”
James then went to offer us some inexpensive tips on keeping your house cool:
- “Keep curtains closed to prevent the sunlight from warming the room. Thicker, darker coloured curtains will offer more insulation than blinds.”
- “Opening windows upstairs as well as downstairs create a cross-breeze where the cooler air flows down through the house. Hot air rises, so it will escape through the windows upstairs”
- “Keep laptops, TVs, light bulbs, ovens and computers turned off – these all have their own heat output which contributes to the warmth. Plus you’ll save even more electricity”
- “Fill hot water bottles and put them in your fridge or freezer. Keep them on your lap or under your feet during the day.”
How to Make the Perfect Iced Coffee
Commenting on the findings that searches for “iced coffee recipe” had risen by 560% in the last week, barista Oli Baise offered up an ice coffee recipe that you can easily make at home:
Ice Coffee Recipe
Ingredients for one iced coffee:
- Two tablespoons of freshly ground coffee
- 200 ml of water
- A handful of ice cubes (larger cubes is always better)
- 50 ml of milk
- Sugar or syrup (optional)
First you want to brew the ground coffee with the water in a Cafetiere.
Wait an hour to let the coffee cool.
Then pour the coffee over the ice and add the milk and the sugar or syrup to taste.
How to Supercharge your Iced coffee
Oli also offered some tips on how to step your iced coffee up a notch:
Make Espresso Ice Cubes
“Making your ice cubes out of coffee will create a fun drink that gets stronger as you get through it.
Espresso is a better choice than filter coffee for ice cubes as the coffee flavour will get diluted as it freezes, therefore you want to start with as strong a coffee as possible”.
Just one shot of frozen espresso will make a huge difference to the intensity of your iced coffee”
Make Your Own Syrup
“Syrup works better in iced coffee than sugar as the latter will not dissolve in cold liquid.
While you can buy syrup, its very easy to make, just simmer equal parts sugar and water together for a few minutes. You can make a batch of it and refrigerate it for several weeks.”
Iced Coffee Recipes from Around the World
Bored of having the same basic iced coffee?
Well here are four of the best iced coffee recipes from around the world that you can make easily at home.
Mazagran
Mazagran is an iced coffee drink from Algeria that combines espresso with lemon.
Ingredients for one drink:
- Single shot of espresso
- 100 ml of cold water
- Handful of ice
- Half a lemon
To make this drink first brew your espresso and let it cool. Then pour the espresso and the cold water over ice in a tall glass.
Squeeze in the lemon and serve the drink with a lemon wedge.
Es Alpukat Kopi
This Indonesian take on iced coffee gets its creaminess from a combination of coconut milk and avocado. Avocado is often used in sweet dishes in Indonesia
Ingredients:
- One scoop of very ripe avocado (about a quarter of one)
- 100 ml of strong filter coffee that has had time to cool
- 100 ml coconut milk
- 100 ml coconut water
- Handful of ice
- 1 teaspoon of brown sugar or sugar syrup
Place the scoop of avocado in the bottom of a tall glass.
Put the ice in the glass on top of the avocado and then pour over the coffee, coconut milk and coconut water.
Stir in the sugar and the syrup. Allow chunks of avocado to mix into the coffee as you stir.
You need to use very ripe chunks of avocado in this recipe so it can break apart easily in the stirred coffee.
Frappe
This iced coffee recipe from Greece is super easy to make as it uses instant coffee rather than freshly ground.
Ingredients:
- Two teaspoons of instant coffee
- Tablespoon of water
- 150 ml milk or water
- Two teaspoons of sugar
- Handful of ice
- A jar with a tight lid
First add the instant coffee, sugar and just one tablespoon of water to the jar. Tighten the lid on the jar and shake it for 30 seconds to a minute.
The mixture should be very thick and foamy once it is shaken.
Put the ice in a glass and top it with the foamy coffee mixture. Top this off with milk or water.
Coffee Mojito
Ok, this isn’t really authentic anywhere but it’s so good I can’t not share it here.
Ingredients:
- Double espresso, left to cool
- Two teaspoons of brown sugar or sugar syrup
- 50 ml milk (same amount as the espresso
- Handful of ice
- Handful of chopped mind
- Shot of dark rum
- Quarter of a lime
Fill a glass with ice and chopped mint.
Pour a shot of rum over the ice
Mix the espresso, milk and sugar/syrup together and pour over the ice, rum and mint.
Squeeze the quarter of a lime into the drink and stir.
