A Nice Cuppa

It’s starting to be Iced Latte Season. For me, that means it’s got to be pretty hot. I’m still quite happy drinking my coffee hot when it’s almost 80F out. Much beyond that, however, a hot latte just won’t do. And, as a home roaster, this means that I have to re-evaluate the beans that I’ve been roasting for their roles in iced drinks. Although any beans will work, I tend to prefer tones of chocolate and caramel in my iced drinks rather than fruit. This week, I gave it a shot with Sweet Maria’s Moka Kadir, a blend of Yemeni, Sidamo and Ghimbi beans. This is a comfortable blend that roasts somewhat unevenly, so you may get different flavors from cup to cup. However, roasted dark (just into the 2nd crack), the beans start to release a really nice bittersweet chocolate that is perfect for icing.

Here’s another trick to help your iced lattes. Instead of adding water-ice which makes your latte fairly damp by the 2nd half, freeze a couple of shots of espresso in a silicone ice cube tray (a silicone mini-muffin tray works as well). If you like a bit of sugar in your latte, you can add it to the cubes as well. The ice cubes will have a nice granita-texture, and release sweetness as they melt. I recommend using a mixture of sweet and unsweetened cubes though, or you may end up with a syrupy mess at the bottom of your glass. I like to stir the whole thing with a cinnamon stick for a little extra flavor.