June 9, 2009

Making Iced Espresso with ESE Pods

The weather up here in Boston finally cracked into the hot zone this past weekend, and it was time to brew up some Iced Armicanos. They are simple to make and have a great taste of espresso, that I am sure you'll love. It's simple and worth a try. I have them with and without milk depending on my mood and the time of day. I always like a little bit of sugar in them.

Ingredients:

Shot of your favorite espresso - I use either a local roast or an ESE pod
8-10 ounce glass full of ice cubes
Ice water
Sugar to taste
Milk or half and half to taste

Pull your shot, and pour it slowly over the ice while swirling. The full glass of ice should chill the espresso quickly. Fill the glass with cold water and stir in sugar (optional). Add a splash of milk or half and half as desired. Sit back and relax.....

You may want to play with the amount of espresso, sometimes I find a double shot into a 12 ounce glass of ice and then follow the general directions above is a bit more appealing, and a bit more of a punch too.

I prefer getting an Arabica only blend and usually use an ESE pod for the summer brewing - they are easy to keep on hand and they suit my tastes for this. The southern Italian or Robusta or "Classic" blends typically have a reasonable amount of robusta coffee blended in that gives them a strong coffee base flavor especially in the finish. Ice it down, and my experience is that the flavors are more pronounced and bitter in the finish; something that I don't like. Check out Pod Merchant's 100% Arabica ESE Sampler for a great way to try out a few. That's how I found the Compagnia dell'Arabica Colombia which is what I like to brew. For the summer, the Bodum Pavina glasses are a great way to keep the iced coffee cool, and not have the glass sweat - I use the 2-ounce glasses for shots of espresso and the Bodum Pavnia 12 ounce Glasses for iced espresso.

Bodum Pavnia 12 ounce Glasses at Amazon