• 3 tablespoons milk
• 6 tablespoons freshly brewed espresso

If you have an espresso machine with a steamer and frothing (foaming) attachment, steam and froth the milk following the manufacturer’s directions.  Or, you can heat the milk and froth it using a manual frother following the manufacturers directions.  (Whichever way you steam and froth the milk, it will increase 2 or more times in volume.)

Pour half of the espresso into each of 2 warm demitasse cups.  Top each serving with 1 to 2 teaspoons foam.  Serve immediately.

Makes Two 1 1/2 ounce servings (with a little milk leftover)

Join Bradford Coffee Club here and Save on Gourmet Coffee.

Mexican Coffee Recipe

In Mexico, this is called “Cafe de Olla”. For a special treat, try adding two ounces of Kahlua coffee liqueur to the completed coffee and top with a little whipped cream.

Mixing your spices before you brew can add flavor so easily. This is a particularly sweet way to serve up a cup of coffee, with generous amounts of brown sugar.

Ingredients:

*  2 cups water
* 1/4 cup coarsely ground coffee
* 1 Tablespoon brown sugar or piloncillo (Mexican brown sugar)
* 1 cinnamon stick (4 or 5 inches long)

Put water in a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil.  Add all ingredients and continue to boil for at least 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and cover. Let stand for 5 to 10 more minutes.

Strain and serve.

Now for a dessert style Mexican Coffee, try this recipe:

For a taste reminiscent of a nearby well-known island coffee, try a 100% Oaxaca Pluma coffee and note the smooth flavor, the light body and the slightest hint of nut. Maybe, even a whiff of chocolate in the aroma.

Mexican coffee recipe:

* 1 cup whole milk
* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* 1/4 cup chocolate syrup (or 1/3 cup cocoa powder)
* 6 cups boiling water allowed to cool for three minutes
* 2 teaspoon brown sugar
* 1 teaspoon cinnamon
* 1/2 cup ground coffee beans (ground coarse for press pot) – Mexican preferably!
* whipped cream to garnish

Combine the milk, vanilla, chocolate and sugar in a saucepan and heat gently whilst stirring together. Don’t let it boil.

Meanwhile, add the coffee grounds and cinnamon in a French press coffee maker and add the near boiled water to make coffee as usual.

Add the coffee to milk saucepan and mix together. Serve in cappuccino glass cups and add whipped cream and cinnamon sticks to garnish.

Then take the rest of the day off for a siesta.

Join Bradford Coffee Club here and Save on Gourmet Coffee.

• 6 tablespoons freshly ground coffee
• 2 2/3 cups cold water

To brew the coffee, use a drip-style coffeepot (preferably an automatic drip coffeemaker), and line the filter cup with a paper or gold filter.  Add the coffee, then pour the water into the water chamber.  Brew according to the manufacturer’s directions.  Pour the coffee into warm cups.

makes four 5-ounce servings

Join Bradford Coffee Club here and Save on Gourmet Coffee.

Caffeinated vs. Decaffeinated Beans

The same caffeinated coffee that you start your day with may interfere with a good night’s sleep, so a decaffeinated variety is a good alternative for later hours in the day.  Coffee beans can be decaffeinated by two different processes.  One is known as the Swiss water process, and the other as the direct contac method.  The latter is usually considered to yield a more flavorful cup. As a general rule when brewing decaffeinated coffee, invest in the best decaffeinated beans you can find, and do not grind them until brewing time.

So what’s your preference?  Robusta or Arabica coffee beans?

Join Bradford Coffee Club here and Save on Gourmet Coffee.

Recipe (makes 2 medium-sized frozen drinks)

• 4 shots of espresso – - I used Sweet Maria’s Liquid Amber Espresso Blend, home-roasted to perfection and pulled fresh exactly 24-hours after roasting. If you aren’t a home roaster substitute an espresso blend from your favorite roaster. And if you don’t have an espresso machine, brew 4 oz. of double-strength coffee with your coffee brewer.
• 1/4 cup of white sugar – - it is best to mix the sugar in with hot espresso to ensure that the sugar dissolves (see notes on sugar substitues below)
• 2.5 cups of either whole or 2% milk — 1% milk works, but it doesn’t result in as rich of a drink
• 1 tablespoon of pectin
• At least 2 cups of ice – - that’s about 1 cup of ice per drink serving, depending on your blender

Preparation Tips

• If you don’t have pectin, it can be skipped, but this element does help the drink to “feel” right when compared to the store-bought drinks. The pectin should be added to the mixture a minimum of thirty minutes prior to serving the drinks. This works out well because you can make the drink mixture prior to the serving time. This drink mixture stores well for up to 24 hours (but I didn’t try to store it longer).
• The pectin will combine with any undissolved sugar and thicken the mixture, so be sure to stir mixture prior to pouring it in the blender and adding the ice.

What the heck is Pectin?

Pectin is a thickening agent. Although it is a naturally-occurring gum found in fruit, it is sold in either a (white) powder or liquid form. It is usually used when canning fruit, thus it can be found with canning supplies. Powdered pectin is available more readily than liquid pectin. I was unable to locate the liquid pectin, so I used powdered and it worked fine. I didn’t find any difference between powdered brands once they were added to the drink mixture, and a box of a powdered pectin agent will cost you less than a dollar. Arrowroot costs a little more but can be substituted; arrowroot will be found in the spice isle at the grocery store. Just don’t try to use corn starch, gelatin, or flour. And if you’re not interested in having the drink approximate the store-bought drink, you can skip it altogether.

Sugar Substitutes

For the purposes of testing the recipe, I tried several variations on the theme. One thing you can’t order at these coffee conglomerates is a sugar-free version of a blended frozen drink. I have some friends who are sugarfree conoisseurs, so we tested some sugar substitutes during our tasting session. The winners: Erythritol and Splenda. Both of these sugar subsitutes can be measured out just like regular sugar. Both seemed to dissolve effortlessly into the coffee despite the fact that the espresso had cooled. They tasted very, very good, but it should be noted that the resulting drinks didn’t have quite the same feeling in your mouth as the sugar-based drink. I suppose that this could be counteracted by using whole milk (which has the naturally-occuring milk sugars), but the same testers who were using sugar substitutes were also avoiding fat, so I made these drinks with 1% milk.

Ingredients:

• 2 scoops coffee ice cream
• 1 cup milk
• 2 shots espresso
• 2 tablespoons of malt mix (optional)
• whipped cream (optional garnish)
• espresso beans (optional garnish)

Some notes:

Making a milkshake isn’t brain surgery, just add ingredients and blend in a blender. But I do have some tips.

• For one thing, I prefer a less sugary version of the ice-cream recipe, so I didn’t add the liqueur, and I used about three-quarters of the sugar in the original recipe.
• Another thing to note is that the only difference between a malt and milkshake is malt mix, which you can buy at virtually any major grocery store.

Conclusion

This is a fantastic treat — and it is so much better with great coffee ingredients. Good coffee is the key to true happiness.

An Espresso-Based Frozen Drink

Lura Lee has reverse-engineered that popular frozen coffee drink which we can’t say by name lest we receive another cease-and-desist letter. Here is the recipe.

Homebrewing: Espresso Stout

Perhaps a darker ale with an espresso kick is what you prefer. Ryan Jacobs gives an overview to homebrewing beer as well as providing a recipe for crafting the espresso blend that best matches this style of beer.

Espresso Martini

Lura Lee provides not one, but five different recipes for different variations on coffee based martinis.

Coffee Milkshake, Coffee Malt

Using the recipe for homemade coffee ice cream, Lura Lee constructed recipes for both the coffee milkshake and coffee malt.

Chilled Espresso Drinks

Ben Brown showed us that a cocktail shaker can be used for something other than gin in the article Espresso Summer Drinks.

The question is: how to brew a hot coffee and chill it quickly, without watering it down. There is, in fact, a cheap, easy way of icing any coffee or tea drink on the spot. All you need is a cocktail shaker. Simply pour your drink into the mixer with three or four ice cubes, shake until cold, and strain your beverage into an appropriate glass. It’s simple enough, and this formula should work well for almost any coffee drink.

If you’re going to go out and buy a cocktail shaker, you’ll need to decide which style you want to purchase. The one I own consists of a cup-like base and a two-piece lid with a built-in strainer and removable cap. This works nicely because it doesn’t require any special skill to use, and it reliably leaves a good crema on my espresso. There is another style of mixer which consists of two cups which fit together to create a sealed compartment for shaking the beverage. I get the impression that this kind of mixer is less common. I have not used a two-cup shaker, and it looks difficult, so I’m sticking to the three-piece model, if for no other reason, in the interest of keeping my precious coffee off the kitchen floor. I’m sure, however, that the two-piece style ultimately works just as well as its three-piece counterpart.

Now that you have your shaker, you’re ready to start icing. Remember that it’s better to put in too much ice than too little. If you don’t use enough, you’ll just end up with a lukewarm (and rather unsatisfying) drink. With that in mind, have fun! I’ve included some of my favorite iced coffee recipes below to provide a starting point, but I maintain that just about any drink can be iced. It just takes a little creativity.

Café Freddo (Chilled Espresso)

Begin with a double shot of espresso. Pour your drink into a cocktail mixer with three ice cubes. Shake well. Strain it into an empty glass. If you do it just so, you should be able to obtain a long-lasting, foamy crema on top of the drink.

Iced Café Americano

Begin with a double shot of espresso. Add an equal portion of water. Pour your drink into a cocktail mixer with three ice cubes. Add milk or cream to taste. Shake well. Strain it into a glass with fresh ice.

Regular Iced Coffee

Make a glassful of regular coffee in your preferred method (drip or French press). Pour your drink into a cocktail mixer with four ice cubes. Add milk or cream to taste. Shake well. Strain it into a glass with fresh ice.

Iced “Latte”

Begin with a double shot of espresso. Add an equal portion of milk. Pour your drink into a cocktail mixer with three ice cubes. Shake well. Strain it into a glass with fresh ice.

• In a tall, slender high ball glass add crushed ice (about 1/3of the way).
• In a separate glass,  fill with 2 oz sweetened condensed milk.
• Pour 2-3 oz (depending upon strength you like) over the sweeten condensed milk (you’ll notice the coffee will sit on top as its own layer).
• Stir rapidly with a spoon until well blended.
• Pour over the ice in the other glass.

This is a great dessert unto itself and is awesome after spicy asian meal. You can garnish with either a sprinkle of cinnamon – although a drop of vanilla and/or anise makes for paradise in a cup.

Boiling hot water is the key to this recipe. You will need to boil water in an old fashioned metal coffee pot. You can make the mixture and keep it covered in the refrigerator for one (1) week. Mix the fresh coffee grounds and whole egg, including the crushed shell. Add salt and 1/2 cup cold water. Boil the amount of water the coffee manufacturer calls for in a pot and spoon in the amount of coffee you need. Briskly stir the mixture, allow to come to a boil again. Have cold water ready to add to keep coffee from boiling over. Turn off the eye of the stove and let the coffee “settle”. Serve with whipped cream if desired.

June Meyers Hungarian Egg Coffee

• 1 lb. of medium ground coffee
• 1 raw egg washed
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup cold water
• Fresh whipped cream (optional)

Recipe is copyright (c) 1997 June V. Meyer & Aaron D. Meyer All Rights Reserved Updated 1/26/98

Sharon Ferguson’s Hungarian Coffee Cake

• 2 c. flour
• 1 c. sugar
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 lb. butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 c. sour cream
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 c. nuts (any kind), toasted

Mix flour, sugar, brown sugar, and butter together to make a crumb topping. In a separate bowl, mix butter, eggs, sour cream, baking soda, and salt to form a batter. Set aside 2 cups of the crumb mixture, and mix the remaining crumbs with the batter mixture.

Pour the lumpy batter in a 9 x 13 pan or two round pans. Sprinkle with remaining crumbs and then top with toasted nuts.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.