Vietnamese Iced Coffee

I am a morning person; I love the freshness of early morning. I am also a night person, because I love the quietude of late night. Essentially, then, it's midday that I don't really care for, when we are stricken with what we like to call around here, “the afternoon blahs.” In the winter, a hot cup of tea and cookies warm from the oven can relieve the “blahs,” but in summer? Well, I recently found the remedy for this dreary time of day while trolling the Sweet Paul website and came across his recipe for Vietnamese Iced Coffee. Generally, I'm a purist when it comes to coffee, and want no part of sweetness or spicy flavor in my hot cuppa joe, but when I tasted this it was love at first sip. This recipe makes four servings. I made a batch of cold brew, and syrup, stored both in the fridge, and when the “blahs” struck, reached for this remedy, pouring a 4:1 ratio of coffee concentrate to syrup, but you can experiment on your own. It is a delightfully exotic way to tackle the dreariness of mid-afternoon.

Vietnamese Iced Coffee

​2 cups water

1 1/2 cups coconut sugar*

4 Melissa's canela (​cinnamon​)​ sticks

​ 4 cloves

5 black peppercorns

10 cardamom pods (I used black pods)

2 cups cold brew concentrate

1 cup ​Half ‘n half

Ice

Make syrup by putting water, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, pepper, and cardamom in a small saucepan, and bringing it to a boil. Let the mixture simmer for 5 minutes. Cool and strain.

When ready to serve, pour coffee concentrate, Half & Half, and 1/2 cup of the syrup into a cocktail shaker. Add ice and shake it baby, shake it. Pour into glasses and enjoy.

*I found this at Trader Joe's.

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Community Coffee's Pumpkin Praline Cold Brew

Even though it is going into the upper eighties today, it is mid-October, and I still want my pumpkin fix. But instead of starting out my day with a hot cup of one of Community Coffee's seasonal flavors, Pumpkin Praline and Southern Bread Pudding, I decided to opt for cold brew. Everyone should be so lucky as to start off this beautiful fall morning with such a delicious eye-opening treat.
 
I chose Pumpkin Praline, with delicious hints of pumpkin spice and toasted pecans; this satisfying medium roast is a seasonal favorite. Plus, it’s made from only the top 10% of the world's coffee beans. Because pumpkin pairs particularly well with chocolate (if you need proof, go here) I added a healthy squirt of chocolate syrup, stirring it in well before adding the ice and floating a splash of cream on the top.

To refresh your memory on how to make cold brew, you can get the tutorial here. Also, keep in mind what an excellent flavor enhancer coffee can be when making your favorite dish, so stir in some flavored coffee instead of water when cooking or baking. I'll bet a swirl of Pumpkin Praline coffee would perk up the flavor of pumpkin soup. Meanwhile, be sure to visit your grocer and pick up a couple of bags of seasonal deliciousness in coffee form from Community Coffee.

Disclaimer: Many thanks to the lovely people at Community Coffee who sent me these two bags of delicious seasonal coffee to review.

How to Make Cold Brew

I have to be honest with you, I LOVE my coffee. The best part of waking up really is coffee in my cup. I like a low acid, dark roast, and I grind my own beans. To me, the whole act is a part of the ritual that adds to the enjoyment. As much as I like that hot cup of coffee first thing in the morning, I also love a tall, cool glass of iced coffee on a hot summer afternoon. I used to treat myself to an iced coffee from a local coffeehouse once a week. Then I learned about cold brew. Wow! For years I had actually deluded myself into thinking that the coffeehouse's ice coffee offering was actually good. Boy, was I wrong. Having made my own cold brew, I now see that what I had been drinking, and paying dearly for, was really rather watery and tasteless. Never again will I buy iced coffee.

Making cold brew is very simple, the only downside is that you must plan 1-2 days ahead. The ratio of freshly ground coffee to water is really up to you and your personal tastes, but I find that one cup of freshly ground coffee (I use the medium grind setting) to three cups of water works perfectly for me.

Place the grounds into a French press or quart Mason jar if you don't have a French press, and then slowly pour the water on top.

Stir everything together.

Cover the top of the press with plastic wrap and secure with a rubber band. If using a Mason jar, simply seal with the lid.

Put the coffee and water into the fridge and leave it there, undisturbed for 24-48 hours. There is an ongoing debate among cold brew enthusiasts as to the ideal length of time.  The first time I made this I put it in the downstairs fridge and completely forgot about it, so mine chilled for 48 hours. The end result was exactly what I was looking for, so now I always go with that.

After the allotted amount of time has passed, separate grounds from water with the plunger, and strain. 

I have found that the easiest way to strain the cold brew is by pouring it through a filter attached to a little four-cup coffee pot. If you don't happen to have something like this available, you can strain it through strategically placed coffee filters, or multiple layers of cheesecloth.  The idea here is not only to separate the grounds from the liquid, but also to remove any and all silt. You want your coffee syrup (as it is now called) to taste bright and clean.

Once strained, store your syrup in the fridge for 7-10 days. Mine never lasts that long. I pour mine into a tall, ice-filled glass and add a splash of chocolate syrup and cream. So delicious!

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