If you follow me on social media, you’ll see coffee is a significant part of my life. My wife, in her ultimate show of support for my vice, let me build a coffee bar in our kitchen, where I can keep all of my gear.
The addiction has turned into more and more gear—roasters, brewing systems, and even making my own homemade syrups.
So you want to know what coffee drinks you need to try? Ask this guy. These are the five I rotate through all the time.
1. Fresh and Black
Most people haven’t had freshly roasted coffee that’s brewed correctly. That’s why most people don’t actually like coffee—they like coffee flavored desserts like Frappuccinos and Pumpkin Spice Lattes.
But when you have coffee that was roasted within 5 days, ground properly, brewed in a Chemex at 200 degrees, it’s magical. You actually get a cup that isn’t bitter and has complex flavors in it, just like wine.
So even though I like my share of coffee flavored desserts like Starbucks serves, I always come back to this one.
2. Cafe con Leche
Cuban cafe con leche is one of the finest drinks. It’s an espresso topped with sweetened milk. Doesn’t get much finer than that.
The key to it is to brew it in one of those old-school espresso percolators over a stove. Then steam the milk in a metal cup over the same heat. The magic comes when you empty the milk into a cup, then heat some sugar with a drop or two of espresso over the stove. You caramelize the sugar. Then add it all together and it has such a delicious taste.
3. Cold Brew
Cold brew is not just hot coffee that you throw ice into. To make the cold brew I love drinking, I grind coffee coarsely and let it sit in water. 1 part coffee, 2 parts water, soaking in the fridge for 24 hours. It extracts less bitterness and has a smooth, almost creamy taste to it. You can drink it black if you’re brave, or add a little cream and homemade syrup. Incredible.
4. Japanese-Style Cold Brew
Unfortunately, my wife hasn’t given me the go-ahead to buy the $400 Yama system I want. I’m still working on her. But if you can find a coffee shop that has a yama and knows how to use it, this stuff is amazing. It looks like a beautiful chemistry experiment, where a container of ice water slowly drips into a container filled with coffee grounds, which slowly drips down into the container that catches all the goodness.
If it’s done correctly, you can drink this stuff black and it’s delicious.
5. Latte with an Aeropress
Finally, gotta go with a latte. My $30 Aeropress lets me make a shot of espresso-ish (not true espresso). Add that with some steamed milk and some syrups, so delicious. You could get this sort of drink at Starbucks, but why deny yourself the craft of putting it together yourself.
Coffee has become one of my favorite hobbies, because I get to make something tangible that also fuels my creativity throughout the day. If you haven’t had a chance to craft your own cup, I think you should try. Grab one of the tools I mentioned above and make it happen.
What drink do you drink on the reg? What coffee craft gets your day started right?
The best coffee I’ve ever had was a Cuban Cafe con Leche from the Cuban Coffee Queen on Key West. It was so good that we drank several a day for several days. No other coffee shop anywhere else has been able to replicate it.
If I were to attempt it at home, with my Bialatti, what coffee bean/roast do you recommend (knowing that I’m going to buy it, not roast it myself)?
And, do you use raw sugar?
I always go for a dark roast. If it’s light, you’ll get massive amounts of caffeine which can jack you up. I usually use whole milk and plain cain sugar. You could try fresh stuff, but most use something like Cafe Bustle. This is one of the few drinks where I think it’s fine to use non-fresh coffee. The bitterness actually compliments the rest of the ingredients.