This is part two of the thread I started on Espresso Freddo.
A big mistake that is commonly made when preparing iced coffe drinks is that they mix cold with hot liquids. If you go into a Starbucks and ask for a Iced Capuccino they'll say that te froth does something with the cold coffee and that they can't prepare it. I don't know (and don't care) about the health issues but the truth is that if you try to mix a cold drink with hot foam then the foam will disolve and you will end up with a latte or an iced coffee+milk.
The trick is to prepare a cold foam!!
Again, what you need for the foam is a Milk-shake stirer (you can find a table top version in bed,bath & beyond, Meijer's, and recently saw a $25 one at Krogers) There are also small battery powered ones that are more difficult to find and are equally as good (if not better since they don't beat the crap out of whatever you are beating). The table top high powered one is best for frothing milk!!
For the coffee, you brew your espresso (preferably stronger than usual) and pour it over ice, you may add syrop or sugar. For the cappuccino there is no need to froth the coffee since the froth is going to be made from milk.
Meanwhile, put a noticeable amount of cold milk in the milkshake container and put it under the stirer. It might need a few minutes of stiring depending on what kind of milk you use. You can also add some crushed ice (not cubes) before so that the milk stays cold.
What I do is while the coffee is brewing, I stir up the froth and prepare a glass of ice and some syrop that I keep in the fridge (simply boil water and sugar). Then when the coffee is made I pour it over the ice, wait for it to cool down, possibly add some more ice, and then I pour the frothed milk on top. This way all the ingredients have almost the same temperature. Then I serve with a straw. The drinker uses the straw to mix the milk, coffee and syrop but when it is served the combination of foam and coffee creates some cool patterns!!!
Comming up next: Frappe
A big mistake that is commonly made when preparing iced coffe drinks is that they mix cold with hot liquids. If you go into a Starbucks and ask for a Iced Capuccino they'll say that te froth does something with the cold coffee and that they can't prepare it. I don't know (and don't care) about the health issues but the truth is that if you try to mix a cold drink with hot foam then the foam will disolve and you will end up with a latte or an iced coffee+milk.
The trick is to prepare a cold foam!!
Again, what you need for the foam is a Milk-shake stirer (you can find a table top version in bed,bath & beyond, Meijer's, and recently saw a $25 one at Krogers) There are also small battery powered ones that are more difficult to find and are equally as good (if not better since they don't beat the crap out of whatever you are beating). The table top high powered one is best for frothing milk!!
For the coffee, you brew your espresso (preferably stronger than usual) and pour it over ice, you may add syrop or sugar. For the cappuccino there is no need to froth the coffee since the froth is going to be made from milk.
Meanwhile, put a noticeable amount of cold milk in the milkshake container and put it under the stirer. It might need a few minutes of stiring depending on what kind of milk you use. You can also add some crushed ice (not cubes) before so that the milk stays cold.
What I do is while the coffee is brewing, I stir up the froth and prepare a glass of ice and some syrop that I keep in the fridge (simply boil water and sugar). Then when the coffee is made I pour it over the ice, wait for it to cool down, possibly add some more ice, and then I pour the frothed milk on top. This way all the ingredients have almost the same temperature. Then I serve with a straw. The drinker uses the straw to mix the milk, coffee and syrop but when it is served the combination of foam and coffee creates some cool patterns!!!
Comming up next: Frappe
