Hello from the other side*
*Of 30, with an iced rose shaken espresso, and more, this Only Coffee Edition.
Hello and welcome back to Five Things I Ate! This week, we turned 30(!) and it’s coffee on the menu. Check out past posts here, and please follow my Instagram @fivethingsiate.
Monin rose syrup at Kalustyan's
Syrup is this one.
For my 30th birthday, I took the day off from work, went to the chiropractor, and then to Kaluystan’s, where I allowed myself to choose any flavors of syrup I wanted for my home coffee bar. It was a pretty perfect birthday treat, if I do say so myself. I decided to go with this rose syrup from Monin, which is the brand with the prettiest bottles. I am very relieved to be on the other side of my twenties. I think that society wants people, especially women, to fear growing older, as a means of suppression. This tactic effectively produced a lot of anxiety in me, but deep down, a tiny kernel inside of me knew it was a lie. And now, having spent most of my twenties trying to please other people, like my dance teacher, academic advisor, boss, or a romantic partner, I can now be officially Too Old to Be Considered for Things Society Wants You To Do Before 30, which is a huge relief. While there can be some physical tradeoff for this mental clarity, that’s not necessarily true either. As a former child athlete who just this year can finally afford to see a chiropractor on a regular basis, a lot of my chronic pain has decreased. Anyways this long rant, which now will be read by my entire mailing list, is my ultimate Gemini birthday gift to myself. Back to the rose syrup. There are many brands of coffee house syrups, but Monin is the absolute best. I welcome challengers, but so far, IMO it’s even better than making your own syrup, which is a pain in the butt and sometimes turns out barely flavored. Even just a shot of this rose syrup manages to give a ton of rose flavor, without (this is key!) tasting like you swallowed Grandma’s perfume, as many rose essences and syrups do. It produces coffeehouse level iced lattes (see below) and easy soda (just add club soda) to boot.
Iced rose shaken espresso with cream at home
Inspired by the infamous S*bucks shaken espresso.
This might be the best home cafe creation of mine yet, which is saying a lot, as a coffee obsessive. I know that everyone loves cold brew, but somewhere around year three or four or five of drinking it, I started preferring the cleaner, sharper flavor of a freshly made espresso tossed with ice (although I still drink cold brew – see below). I don’t have an espresso machine at home, although I would love one someday. But my sturdy little Moka pot (I go for the 3oz pour size) does just fine. The key is to use hot boiling water and to never use dark roast coffee (for anything, really, IMO). When it’s all nicely and gently percolated, quickly throw it over a cup of ice in a mason jar, add a tablespoon of the rose syrup, screw the lid on tightly, and shake, shake, shake. Pour into the prettiest glass you have, and top off with fresh cream (or half and half).
Iced rose shaken espresso tonic at home
I haven’t made this yet, but how nice does it sound?
In a rare breaking of format, I’m going to write about an untested suggestion here, because it sounds so damn good: Take the shaken rose espresso you made above, and top it off with cold tonic water in a frosty glass. Now, I don’t have tonic water on hand, but I suspect this will be a winner, because the drink comes out so floral and clean-tasting, with no hints of coffee char. Try it out, and let me know.
Espresso mint julep at Land to Sea
402 Graham Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211
I don’t care what Land to Sea (which is a too-cool-for-school little cafe featuring local Asian artists that you should check out if you’re in Williamsburg) says: This “espresso mint julep” is really a Philz Mint Mojito dupe, without the copyright infringement. Actually, it may be even better than the Mint Mojito, which I haven’t had in years, because as a former tech worker, I am terrified of the Bay Area. Coffee and mint is my absolute favorite pairing of flavors. I feel like the reason I love it so much is that my most hated trait of coffee is when it tastes muddy, charred, or burnt (which they may kindly label as “caramelized”), and the mint is a natural brightener of flavors. Also, even though I only ever drink whole cow’s milk in coffee if not cream as a rule, for some reason, I decided to get oat milk with this iced mint julep latte, and it went together really well. 10/10 would order again (sparingly, as it’s $7).
Magical coffee at home
Recipe from Food52
But Sophie, what should I do if I accidentally buy dark roast coffee? The answer is, firstly, do not buy dark roast coffee. But, if you do, I have a Magical Coffee potion for you. This recipe for flavored cold brew is very simple, just cinnamon, brown sugar, and coffee grounds, but I stg the results taste exactly like the New Orleans Cold Brew from Blue Bottle at a fraction of the price. All you have to do is stir together coffee grounds and filtered water in a large mason jar in a ratio of 1:4, plus a tablespoon each of cinnamon and brown sugar for each half cup of coffee grounds (I’ve tweaked the ratios from the original recipe). In the morning, pour it through a coffee filter or a fine sieve, and you’ll have liquid magic you can then mix in a glass with ice and some half-and-half.
Stay cool,
Soph
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