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 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.
This post is linked to:
