Summer is the time to remember something great, like iced coffee or cold coffee cocktails. They're quick and easy to prepare, require no special ingredients, and are pleasantly refreshing.
The idea of preparing cold drinks based on coffee is as old as the world.
What determines the amount of caffeine in cold coffee?
There are two ways to prepare cold coffee from ground beans:
Boil in the traditional way and cool with ice or other cold ingredients.
Brew in cold water (cold brew method).
If the first method is used, there will be 1-2 standard espresso shots, depending on the volume of the finished drink. Just like regular hot coffee, be it a cappuccino, americano or latte. Recall that the amount of caffeine in a cup of espresso can range from 70 to 170 mg (depending on the bean type and the ratio of coffee and water).
If you choose cold brew, it may seem at first to you that such coffees are less strong. But is it?
The solubility of caffeine really has to do with the temperature of the water: the hotter the water, the more caffeine is released into it, and there will certainly be less caffeine in a cold drink than in a hot drink, using standard proportions. But the trick is that it's customary to drink two to three times as much coffee for cold brew. Thus, we end up with an equally caffeinated beverage.
To prepare coffee using the cold brew method, you need to pour 100 milliliters of cold water and 10-15 grams of coffee, mix and leave it in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours. If you want to cut down on caffeine or want a milder effect, a standard water-to-coffee ratio of 1 teaspoon (or 3-4 grams) per 100 ml of water is the best solution.
Classic (strong) cold brew can then be used to create a variety of cocktails.
Two classic cold coffee-based cocktails
Greek (and Italian) frappe
If you don't want to bother with cold brew or refrigerate regular coffee from a coffee machine, an instant option "famous frappe" comes to the rescue. A beverage invented in Greece about 65 years ago. You can make cold brew or chilled espresso (i.e. with ground beans), but keep in mind that the original method involved using instant coffee. And yes, believe me, it's delicious.
Try frappeing with this video today:
For a "Greek-like" look, take a few scoops of any coffee powder you like, add cold milk, sugar, and crushed ice, then shake well in a shaker. The main focus here is intense agitation due to the appearance of a beautiful foam.
By the way, frappe is cooked differently in different countries. For example, in Asia they like to replace regular milk with condensed milk, and in Italy the cocktail will be based only on natural ground coffee.
To diversify the taste of an ordinary frappe, you can add any of your favorite syrups or natural fruit purees to it.
korean dalgona coffee
If you don't have a shaker but have a mixer, definitely try making Dalgona coffee. This "quarantine" drink was invented in Korea and got its name in honor of the popular confectionery, whose taste is very similar.
In the era of mass isolation, the dalgona coffee recipe has spread all over the world and has become a true cult. Even those who have never loved to cook couldn't resist the temptation to froth coffee, sugar, and water over cold milk and cool off in the summer heat.
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