Homemade Coconut Mocha Ice Blended

A cold coffee drink is a great treat on a warm afternoon. Not only does it cool you off, but it will give you a little pick-me-up from the caffeine when you might need it after lunch. I’ve had a mocha-coconut combination in blended drinks before at various coffee shops and wanted to put together a Mocha Coconut Ice Blended drink at home. As a fan of coconut in general, I think that chocolate, coffee and coconut a great flavor combination, and I like that it delivers something a little different than your average coffee drink.

My blended drink starts off with some strong, hot coffee. You need strong coffee (and you can make it with instant) because you want the flavor of the coffee to come through in the finished drink and be able to stand up to the other flavors in here. I also use hot coffee because it is easy to dissolve the cocoa powder and sugar for the mocha base of the drink, though I do cool down the coffee before putting the rest of the drink together. I use coconut milk and shredded coconut in the drink for coconut flavor. You can use regular milk in this recipe instead of coconut milk, but coconut milk lends a little extra richness to the drink and adds a little coconut flavor. If you want to boost the coconut flavor when you’re using regular milk, you can add a few drops of coconut extract.

Even though I recommend measuring the ingredients in one large glass, this recipe makes two satisfying servings in slightly smaller glasses. Serve it topped with whipped cream, extra shredded coconut and, of course, a straw.

Mocha Coconut Ice Blended
6-oz hot, strong coffee
2 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
approx. 4-oz coconut milk (light is ok)
1/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut, divided
ice

In a measuring cup, combine hot coffee, cocoa powder and sugar and whisk thoroughly to combine and dissolve the sugar. Allow to cool to room temperature.
Fill a tall 16-oz glass with ice. Pour coffee mixture into the glass and top with coconut milk until the glass is full. You may need slightly more or less than 4-oz of coconut milk, depending on the size of your glass and the size of your ice cubes.
Combine coffee mixture, coconut milk, 3 tbsp shredded coconut and ice in the blender. Blend until smooth, adding an extra tbsp of coconut milk if mixture is too thick.
Divide into two glasses. Top with whipped cream and remaining shredded coconut.

Serves 2.