For the first time in many years we enjoyed a real summer in the Netherlands: sunny, dry, warm… for more than two days in a row. Since June the temperature raised and except for a few chilly days in August this was a warm summer.
But warm days are enjoyable when you are on holidays, not working. This summer, in our roasting room the temperature kept going up during roasting to as much as 38C. So how did we survive? With coffee of course!!
I like cold coffee as much as warm coffee, as long as it’s based on espressos. So here is a list of my favourite summer caffeine fixes.
Ice Espresso
Quick and simple, chill an espresso by adding ice cubes. I normally don’t add sugar to my espressos but when I am going to drink it iced, I do. I first brew my double espresso (60 ml) and then dissolve a little bit of sugar, usually 1/8 of a teaspoon and max 1/4 of a teaspoon. The sugar will provide a contrasting flavour.
Finally I pour the warm drink over ice cubes and voilá.
Portuguese style
For a fresh twist go Portuguese and prepare a Mazagran. First brew your espresso with a strong full flavour coffee with less acidity as our Manabi Natural. Dissolve some sugar in the warm drink. Then place ice cubes in a glass, 3 or 4, and add a wedge of lemon. Pour the warm drink into the glass, let it chill for a moment before enjoying it.
Ice Latte
I like my ice latte to taste as coffee so I brew a double espresso (60 ml) for it. Again, I dissolve a small amount of sugar (1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon) in the espresso. I pour the warm drink in a blender. Then I add about the same amount of milk as espresso or slightly more, 60 to 80 ml. Top it with ice cubes, as many as you want. Blend and serve.
A variation of this drink is a shaken version, putting the ingredients into a cocktail shaker instead of a blender.
Another variation that we like is replacing the normal cow milk with almond milk for a different flavour that does not overpower the coffee taste. We sometimes also use chocolate milk instead of normal milk but then I do not dissolve sugar in the espresso since I find commercial brands of chocolate milk sweet enough.
This week we welcome autumn but as the temperatures are still on the warm side, we will still chill our espressos for a while, enjoy!