beat the heat drinks — no. 3

perfect for those hot days when you feel like the life is being sucked out of you, this is an instant hit of caffeine — a drink like the one that is served in greece at many a café. if you can get the greek version of nescafe, use that one as it's normally what is used to make this. the success of this frappé is with the use of instant coffee and not a brewed one. i use the israeli elite brand of instant. either way, you will not get the "head" of foam without instant coffee, the very hallmark of this particular iced drink. in north america, instant coffee is usually crystallized instead of powdered but it can also be used.

if you like, instead of regular ice cubes, prepare a batch of coffee ice cubes a few days before. this prevents the drink from becoming very diluted and insipid tasting. in terms of making them, nothing could be simpler: make a very strong batch of coffee and fill your ice cube trays and freeze, leaving a little space for expansion. once frozen, place them in a ziploc which you've double-bagged to prevent odours from infiltrating. it's also a good way to use up those extra cups of coffee you didn't drink and would have otherwise thrown down the drain. don't worry if you don't have them or want to make them, regular ice works just as well.

also, during the summer, it pays to make a simple sugar syrup instead of using regular sugar which doesn't always dissolve properly in cold water. it can be done on the stovetop by taking 1:1 proportions of sugar and water and boiling it down for a few minutes until it thickens slightly making an extremely thin syrup. you can store this in the fridge and use it when needed. it can be used for many cold or hot drinks. regular sugar, however, will work as well here.

greek-style iced frappé

makes 1 frappé

ingredients:

1/3 c coffee mixture = 1 - 3 tsp instant coffee + 1/3 c cold water

1/3 to 2/3 c (whole) milk or soymilk, or more water

sugar syrup or regular sugar, to taste

coffee ice cubes or regular ones

notes:

my preferred ratio is 2 tsp coffee powder and 3 tsp sugar;

make the coffee mixture [with the 1/3 c water] fairly strong or it will taste like nothing; experiment and start with 1 tsp, increasing to your preferred taste. i find 1 tsp too weak;

the instant coffee gives a huge amount of foam unlike when you make it from brewed coffee.

method:

{the way i'm showing here is with regular sugar & ice which everyone already has readily available} so ....

in your blender, place the coffee and the 1/3 cup of water and the amount of sugar you want. process this at high speed until it is very, very foamy.

add the milk, soymilk or extra water and 4 ice cubes. blend again until the ice cubes are blended in.

place in your glass, add extra (very) cold water or milk to top up — leaving room for extra ice, stir well and taste.

adjust the sugar if you need more.

add extra ice cubes and sip away. as they melt, just stir with a straw or spoon or swish the drink around to blend all together.

you'll notice it separates into two nice layers — a pale brown foamy top and a darker brown coffee one.

enjoy!