Express Yourself

Frappè al Caffé con Cacao & Sciroppo alla Menta
Iced Coffee Frappé with Cocoa and Mint Syrup

I have been reading so much about brewing coffee cold and how much smoother and nicer it tastes, that I decided to try it myself and do a little experimenting. So armed with a couple of trays of ice cubes and a healthy thirst, I set out to re-invent the frappé we all know and love and make it into a really COOL Summer drink!

The first thing I did, was to fill my French press a third of the way with ground espresso. Then I filled the press up to the top with ice cubes. Let the cubes melt, soak into the coffee powder and "brew". This will take an hour or so depending on the temperature, but you can also leave it for a longer time to have a stronger flavor. Apparently, the cold brewing method produces a much milder coffee for your stomach and will not become bitter even if you let it brew overnight.

Now that you have your coffee made, all you need to do is filter it and you are ready to put your drink together.

First things first- you need to put some ice cubes into the bottom of your glass and cover them with mint syrup. This will help to keep the mint separated from the coffee and make your drink really pretty and cool looking... and you do want that now, don't you? Yeah- you know you do!

 Now fill some ice cubes into your mixer and add the filtered coffee, a good amount of cocoa (approximately 3 teaspoons per person), and around 1/3rd of a cup of milk for each serving. You can add sugar if you wish of course, or alternatively honey. Whizz everything together until you get a relatively smooth mash of iced-coffee and spoon this carefully on top of the minty ice cubes. 

It's so easy- but so refreshing and delicious!This is a wonderful Summer refresher- perfect for those hot and sultry August afternoons- just the thing to keep you awake and fresh and fit to make it through the day...

Alternatively, for a nice, elegant, after-dinner treat, you can blend everything down to a smooth mix- including the mint syrup and serve it as an espresso-sized shot of minty, icy refreshment... who needs those boring after-dinner mints when you can have this?