Italian Coffee - Well Fed Network article - The Spirit World
Published by nika on Friday, January 27, 2006 at 9:59 AM.
I posted the following article (Part 1 of 2 actually) at The Spirit World, a blog in the Well Fed Network.
Please go on by The Spirit World and The Well Fed Network and cruise all the amazing articles we have been putting up there!
I promise you will learn a thing or two.
Italian Coffee
As a counterpoint, of sorts, to the post on Italian Grappa, this post will discuss that OTHER amazing drink, Italian Coffee.
As you likely know, there is more to Italian coffee than espresso and cappuccino. Thanks to Starbucks and local cafés across the US, we have developed a taste for Lattes and Frapuccinos and many other drinks that may have never seen the light of day in Italia. (Except for the Starbucks there, I suppose). There are plenty of indigenous Italian coffees that deserve our attention and I will mention a few here, with their recipes.
The use of alcohol is a lovely way to amend a coffee. Some Italian coffees call for it, others do not.
Recipes
This first recipe calls for Grappa and would make a tasty after-dinner drink that will keep you up to watch the sunrise.
Espresso Corretto – 1 serving
Combine one shot of espresso and a 1/2 teaspoon of Italian Grappa (or to taste, do not dilute the brew too much), and knock it back.
This next drink sounds like a delightful ice breaker for a party that plans to last late into the night.
Caffè all'Arancia – 4 servings
2 cups of boiling coffee, 1 tsp. ground orange peel, 4 shots of Cognac, whipped cream to top. Mix the coffee with the sugar, orange peel and Cognac. Pour into cups and top with whipped cream and a strip of peel.
The following recipe makes a drink that would be great on a hot afternoon, invigorating and cooling both in temperature and aroma.
Caffè Profumatissimo - 4 servings
4 cups of very strong coffee, 1T. sugar, a few mint leaves, whole cloves. Prepare the coffee, add sugar and set aside. Pour cooled coffee into a carafe with ice cubes. Add a few cloves and several mint leaves.
This next one is so extravagant I get a milk-coffee foam mustache just reading it.
Caffè Imperiale - 4 servings
1 very strong cup of coffee, 4 egg yolks, 4T. sugar, 1 Cup milk, 3 shots brandy. Beat the egg yolks well, stirring in the sugar and brandy. Add to heated milk and coffee. Serve in heated punch cups.
(The previous three recipes can be found at the DolceVita site.)
Or, you may simply wish to indulge in a cup of hot java, black and no sugar, contemplating only the depth of flavor and perhaps pleasant associated memories. In any context, this brew faithfully serves as a constant, anchoring the greater mixological infusion in the authentic and earthy reality of coffee.
Visit The Spirit World Cappuccio post where I delve into the intricacies of the making of a cappuccino.
Books of Interest
Please go on by The Spirit World and The Well Fed Network and cruise all the amazing articles we have been putting up there!
I promise you will learn a thing or two.
Italian Coffee
As a counterpoint, of sorts, to the post on Italian Grappa, this post will discuss that OTHER amazing drink, Italian Coffee.
As you likely know, there is more to Italian coffee than espresso and cappuccino. Thanks to Starbucks and local cafés across the US, we have developed a taste for Lattes and Frapuccinos and many other drinks that may have never seen the light of day in Italia. (Except for the Starbucks there, I suppose). There are plenty of indigenous Italian coffees that deserve our attention and I will mention a few here, with their recipes.
The use of alcohol is a lovely way to amend a coffee. Some Italian coffees call for it, others do not.
Recipes
This first recipe calls for Grappa and would make a tasty after-dinner drink that will keep you up to watch the sunrise.
Espresso Corretto – 1 serving
Combine one shot of espresso and a 1/2 teaspoon of Italian Grappa (or to taste, do not dilute the brew too much), and knock it back.
This next drink sounds like a delightful ice breaker for a party that plans to last late into the night.
Caffè all'Arancia – 4 servings
2 cups of boiling coffee, 1 tsp. ground orange peel, 4 shots of Cognac, whipped cream to top. Mix the coffee with the sugar, orange peel and Cognac. Pour into cups and top with whipped cream and a strip of peel.
The following recipe makes a drink that would be great on a hot afternoon, invigorating and cooling both in temperature and aroma.
Caffè Profumatissimo - 4 servings
4 cups of very strong coffee, 1T. sugar, a few mint leaves, whole cloves. Prepare the coffee, add sugar and set aside. Pour cooled coffee into a carafe with ice cubes. Add a few cloves and several mint leaves.
This next one is so extravagant I get a milk-coffee foam mustache just reading it.
Caffè Imperiale - 4 servings
1 very strong cup of coffee, 4 egg yolks, 4T. sugar, 1 Cup milk, 3 shots brandy. Beat the egg yolks well, stirring in the sugar and brandy. Add to heated milk and coffee. Serve in heated punch cups.
(The previous three recipes can be found at the DolceVita site.)
Or, you may simply wish to indulge in a cup of hot java, black and no sugar, contemplating only the depth of flavor and perhaps pleasant associated memories. In any context, this brew faithfully serves as a constant, anchoring the greater mixological infusion in the authentic and earthy reality of coffee.
Visit The Spirit World Cappuccio post where I delve into the intricacies of the making of a cappuccino.
Books of Interest
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