It's been nearly a month since I have last written a post. And it's not entirely because my schedule had been packed (well, it was...for the first 15 days or so). I have actually had enough time to write over the last 8-10 days. But the heat in Dhaka drained out every last bit of desire to do anything besides the bare minimum on a daily basis.
So obviously it was pretty mad to even consider drinking anything hot and unfortunately that includes Latte! I have been making cold coffee over the last few days. But an Iced Latte is really not what all the hype is about. It does the job of giving a "caffeine kick up my arse," but the silky smooth and creamy texture of steamed milk has always been missing. And that is the part of a latte that makes it my favourite drink!
So to bring in a bit more depth and texture to my rather boring cold coffee I have tried using a blender to whisk through the milk but to no avail. It just creates an airy light foam, that's it. Yesterday my wife suggested adding ice cream and that might increase the creaminess of the cold latte. I wasn't going to give up on a chance to experiment further with coffee now, was I?!
I used Davidoff's instant coffee - the only instant coffee I endorse!
Creating a good mixture is essential before starting to mix the goodies together. Adding the coffee directly into the cold milk without first dissolving it in hot water ends up leaving a grainy, bitter aftertaste. Nobody wants that!
And from there on it's pretty routine stuff really. Add cold milk to your blender. Follow it up with a couple of scoops of ice-cream _(I used vanilla to avoid any interference with the inherent flavour of the coffee - but if you want to have mango flavoured I won't be judging!) and add the mixed coffee in. Give it a good blend and we have something that may not entirely replace the creaminess of a good 'ol fashioned latte - but will be a good substitute in the heat!
Oh yes, add some ice cubes. Always add some ice cubes! And mybe some butter coockies to go with it...?