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  • #16
    Re: Iced coffee.

        I have a bit of time to post now and reply to a few posts.  I tend to be a night-owl, and so I often do things like this in the middle of the night.

    Originally posted by 71654F7422100 link=1243450886/2#2 date=1243469020
    There are so many versions of "iced coffee" ..
        Okay - I dont know whether members of this forum are mostly Australian (as might be suggested by the forums U.R.L.), or whether it is truly international.  I am in Australia, and there seems to be mostly just one basic way of making iced coffee (although with many variations), which is broadly speaking the way I make it myself.  It appears from some replies to my post that there are plenty of very different methods in other countries, though.  When I spoke about iced coffee earlier, I was probably carelessly assuming that everyone would interpret it the way I had in mind (the Australian way), and would understand what I meant.
        To me, iced coffee is simply a cold drink with milk (either partly, slightly, or entirely), and with ice-cream added on top, and optionally cream too.  I dont like iced coffee black (and never seem to encounter it anyway), and it is not complete to me without ice-cream.  The cream is optional, but a little is nice if its a good-quality cream.
        Different versions of iced coffee remind me of a day, probably in the 1970s, when I was taken out for my birthday by my parents.  We had both lunch and dinner in Ballarat, and it was one of the least successful iced-coffee days I ever had.  At lunch, the iced coffee I got was black (most unusually for Australia, it seems), and I didnt like it all that much.  I seem to vaguely recall it was an American place, and I gather black iced coffee is quite common there.  At dinner we went to a Chinese restaurant, and I made the mistake of asking for iced coffee there.  What I got was simply a hot coffee with a spoonful of ice-cream in it, which ended up murky and lukewarm.  I like Chinese food; but that taught me that Chinese places are not a good place to expect iced coffee.

    are you a purist:
        I dont know.  Probably not.  I know what I like and dont like, but have never really developed anything like a "coffee philosophy" which relates to things like being purist.

    shot of espresso (or better double ristretto base), on ice, with milk >> no other additives
        This is how elementary my knowledge is: Im not sure if I know how to tell whether a coffee is espresso or not (other than reading the label).  What basically is espresso, and how is it different from other types?

    or do you like it sweet: espresso base, flavoured syrup, blended ice, milk, cream, caramel .. etc etc.
        Yes.  I dont usually add sugar, but I do require ice-cream, which of course makes it sweet.
        I like flavoured coffee, and those usually seem to be sweeter varieties.  I guess this makes me very much non-purist.  Im not sure Id like caramel, but I do like chocolate-, hazelnut-, cinnamon-, and vanilla-flavoured coffees, and even a banana nut cream coffee I once found.  They are not easy to find, though, and I know only two places that sell them, one of them a couple of hundred miles away.  (Is it acceptable here to name particular places where you get coffee?)

    or as hazchem said:  do you like cold drinks in general:
        Well, I dont like just any drink thats cold; but I tend not to like hot drinks (not even soup all that much, except for pea soup), so the drinks I do like are cold; and they are mostly sweet too.  But there are probably plenty of cold drinks I wouldnt like.  My favourite drinks are probably iced coffee and soft drink - the latter of which I dont have too much of, because I dont want to put on weight (or rot my teeth).

    ie: the affogato - espresso poured over gelato or ice cream.
        Ive never heard of that before.  Do you pour it over hot or cold?  (Im not mad on strongly melted ice-cream.)
        I must be open-minded and consider things like this.  I do tend to be set in my ways, and stick to what I know and like, maybe too much.  But I will be interested to consider new methods anyone suggests.

                            Regards,
                             Michael.

    Comment


    • #17
      Re: Iced coffee.

      Originally posted by 627966717C2821100 link=1243450886/3#3 date=1243469542
      Its hard to say where you are going wrong if you cant tell us how you make your iced coffee.

      As others have said, the usual way is a shot of espresso, ice and milk in a chilled glass.
          For me, ice-cream is a must.  Is it considered essential generally?
          You say a "chilled glass".  Do you mean cooling the empty glass in the fridge beforehand?  Could that make a reall difference?  I have never done that, thinking it seemed a better method to rely on ice-cubes or ice-cream to cool the drink.

      What equipment do you use to pour the shot?
          I have the coffee ground in the coffee shop when I buy it, ground for a plunger.  (It seems it needs to be ground differently for a plunger than for a coffee machine.)  When I want to make some iced coffee, I put the required amount into the plunger glass (three dessertspoons for two drinks), boil the water, then pour it on, wait a while, plunge it, and let it stand until it is cool enough.  If I dont want to wait that long, I will pour half of it into a glass along with enough ice-cubes to cool it sufficiently.

      What beans do you use?
          I forget what they are called.  I have become keen on flavoured coffees, so the ones I use are ones supplied by the coffee shop pre-flavoured with flavoursw such as chocolate, vanilla, cinnamon frangelico, hazelnut, or macadamia.
          I first encountered flavoured coffees in a café in Murray Bridge as I was driving from Adelaide to Melbourne about 5 years ago, and was instantly taken with the idea.  I had never heard of flavoured coffees before.
          Is it an American idea?  Somehow it sounds like it might be, although I dont really know.

      What kind of grinder do you use?
          Well, I have them ground in the shop, since I dont have a grinder.  Is it necessary to grind it yourself for good results?
          I guess if I want to do it really well I will need to buy all sorts of expensive equipment, will I?  I might consider it if it is necessary, but I might wait until I know a bit more so I can decide better what to get.

      These are all just some of the basic questions we would need to know in order to have some idea of where you may or may not be going wrong.
          Does this give you a better idea of whether Im doing it wrongly or not?

      I hope this helps!
          I appreciate the help you have all given.  Thanks.

                              Regards,
                               Michael.

      Comment


      • #18
        Re: Iced coffee.

        Originally posted by 72716363677169100 link=1243450886/4#4 date=1243470531
        I think that you have come to the right place!
            I just heard about this forum a couple of weeks ago, and thought Id join and ask about this, and try to find out if I was doing something basically wrong.  For years Ive tried to figure out why I cant make it quite right, whereas some cafés can.  But the fact that, when I make it myself, I sometimes enjoy it a lot better than other times, despite making it the same way, does make me wonder whether its psychological.  Does anyone else find they tend to enjoy coffee better when someone else has made it?

        My friend saw my highly modified home roaster and coffee machine, put his hand on my shoulder and said "You know youve f#cked yourself, dont you?" ;D
            I may be naive, but what is the problem with that?

        The best, easiest way I have found of making iced coffee is by using cold press as the base of the drink.
            Cold press?  Ive never heard of that.  What is it?

        One way of making it is using a plunger. Grind some beans to plunger grind, or ask where you buy your coffee to do so.
            That basically seems to be what I do.

        The advise that you will receive here is to get freshly roasted beans and grind on demand.
            Im not sure how to tell how freshly roasted beans in the coffee shop are.  How freshly roasted should they be?
            Grind on demand - I suppose that means having it ground when you buy it, as against pre-ground and packaged.  But you are of course grinding coffee that will be used for several drinks over maybe a couple of weeks, depending on how often you have it.  Maybe not ideal, but it may be all that can in practice be done.

        This advise would be for any method of coffee extraction. Ground coffee deteriates very quickly. For a snob grounds, in the open, are considered rubbish after 3-5 minutes.
            Hang on a minute - are you saying that, when I buy coffee and have it ground, it is basically (according to a snob) no good after a few minutes, before I even get it home?  If so, then good coffee is just about unachievable.

        Put the grinds into the plunger and add room temp (tap water pref filtered) to the ratio of 170gram coffee to one Litre of water.
        Leave to stand (at room temp) for 8-12 hours, then plunge slowly. Put the liquid into another bottle. Use this coffee at the ratio of 1 part cold press coffee to between 3-5 parts liquid (milk, water). In the fridge the cold press will last about 3 weeks.
            So thats the remedy for coffee going bad after a few minutes, is it?  I assume you mean the entire ground coffee youve bought.  You plunge it all at once, keep the liquid, then use that.
            Ive never heard of that method before, so I just want to be clear about it.  Did I interpret it correctly?

        Check out this thread for more ideas on cold press; http://coffeesnobs.com.au/YaBB.pl?num=1233791566
            Thanks.  I will check that out.

        Enjoy and welcome to Coffee Snobs!
            By the way, is "snob" a derogatory or critical term here, or just a neutral term for a person very particular in their tastes?

                                Regards,
                                 Michael.

        Comment


        • #19
          Re: Iced coffee.

          Originally posted by 71654F7422100 link=1243450886/5#5 date=1243471076
          all very well and good, but we need input from the OP.
              I hope I have given that sufficiently now.

          As he/she started out liking instant .. now is asking for "stronger" coffee taste ... It could be that the OPs palate would prefer stale / bitter beans (or attributes a strong coffee flavour to bitterness).  Or maybe the OP prefers overroasted charcoal beans (s*flucks)
              I dont know about all these nuances, but I wouldnt have thought this to be the case.  Are you suggesting that ground coffee is naturally less strongly flavoured than instant coffee?
              But the fact is that either instant or ground coffee can be too weak (and both types are equally common in places that use the respective type of coffee), and equally both types can be sufficiently strong.  When both are strong enough, I do tend to prefer the ground coffee to instant.
              Was that a joke, or do some people really prefer stale or bitter coffee?

                                  Regards,
                                   Michael.

          Comment


          • #20
            Re: Iced coffee.

            Originally posted by 4478657E747562777F74100 link=1243450886/7#7 date=1243473137
            Michael we would like to read how you make it yourself so that we have something to go on.
                I think Ive described that now, although I can try to give more detail if it wasnt enough.

            A suggestion from me though is to ask the places where you like the coffee to tell you how they make it.
                Ive somehow never thought that to be quite good etiquette, although it may be just a funny feeling I have rather than real etiquette.  I wonder if they might be reluctant to tell me, on the grounds that I might start to make it myself and stop buying it at their place (or do so less often).  That might be the implicit meaning of the question.

            Secondly, ask the places where you find the coffee isnt quite to your likeing how they make it too so you know what the difference is.
            Then just ask them to make it the way you want (like the good places).
                If the problem is only that its not strong enough, getting them to make it stronger usually solves it.  Sometimes it takes a few times, though, because even when they think theyve made it strong, it may not be strong to me.  If I go often enough, this sort of thing can usually be got right, though.  I really do get the impression that coffee (iced coffee at least) is most often served a lot weaker now than in the 1970s, for example.
            I do occasionally run into the problem that its not strong enough, but they tell me its as strong as they can make it. It appears that, in such cases, they have mixed it too weak, with too much water. If that is what they habitually do, I suppose not much can be done about that.
                Its a little more complicated if the problem is not strength, but just that the coffees taste is only average.  The problem is that I cant always tell why the good places are better than average - I just know that, even if its strong enough, it just doesnt taste as good.  Ive assumed its just the particular brand or blend of coffee they use.
                That probably cant be remedied, short of persuading them to change their brand of coffee, which would be unreasonable for me to ask.  I remember one place whose iced coffee I liked, when it suddenly changed taste and I didnt like it nearly so much.  I actually asked them about it, and they told me they had just recently changed coffee brands.  I told them I preferred the old one, but had to leave it at that.  So that was that, I thought to myself.  But another place Ive been going to for some years changed brands without my knowing it, and I never noticed any change in the taste.  Funny, that.

            I have no problem discussing how a place makes coffee before placing my order. Only yesterday at a new place I enquired about the size of the cups they used before deciding how to ask for my coffee to be made.

            You are the guy with the money; if they want it, theyll have to make your iced coffees the way you want.
                I think they try to please me.  Its just a case of not knowing yet what I like, or maybe sometimes they just dont have the skill to do it correctly.
                I tend to steer clear of a place if I go in and ask for iced coffee and they ask me how you make iced coffee.  Ive found from experience that people who dont know how to make iced coffee are most unlikely to make it well, however many suggestions I make.

                                    Regards,
                                     Michael.

            Comment


            • #21
              Re: Iced coffee.

              Originally posted by 527162647F7C797E7F100 link=1243450886/8#8 date=1243476521
              I adore the affogato - espresso poured over gelato or ice cream.
                  Do you let it cool before pouring it, or pour it hot?

              But at home, I put two shots of cooled espresso with milk and ice then put it in the blender. Sometimes I put in icecream. Sometimes not. But thats just me.
                  I have to ask another silly question.  I hear the term "shot of coffee" sometimes, but have never been quite sure exactly what it is.  Is it a precise measure of some sort, or just basically "enough coffee for one drink"?

              I went into Gloria Jeans not long ago and ordered a High Voltage which is their version of iced coffee.

              I liked it.
                  Why am I a little surprised to read this?  Im not sure where you are, or whether Gloria Jeans coffee is different in different countries, or even from one branch to another; but I might give it a try if you think its good.

                                      Regards,
                                       Michael.

              Comment


              • #22
                Re: Iced coffee.

                Originally posted by 6D584F4D7D4558474B464E2A0 link=1243450886/10#10 date=1243508285
                I love a good iced coffee--and iced or hot I like my coffee to have lots of taste without excessive caffeine.
                    Does caffeine have a recognizable taste of its own?  Or do you just mean that, apart from taste, you like to sleep at night?  Fortunately, I have not so far noticed that coffee has any perceptible effects on my sleep, and I can have it a few hours before sleeping.

                One problem I have encountered is that not everyone agrees what strong means--taste intensity, bean roast, colour of drink, or caffeine content.
                    When I say that some iced coffee is too weak, I mean something quite simple: it is so weak that it is difficult to tell that it is coffee rather than slightly dyed milk.  Once milk has been put into iced coffee, I have usually found that the colour is a fairly reliable guide to how strong it is going to be.  I can recognize a weak iced coffee even while its still being carried to my table.

                My recipe (all measures more or less depending on whether I want it rich, or thick, or thin, or icy or...): --two doppio ristrettos, 100ml whole milk, 50-100gm ice cubes, tablespoon good vanilla ice-cream, sugar to taste, and 10ml Irish Mist liqueur. Purée.
                    What are doppio ristrettos?  Double something I assume.  Is it the variety of coffee you use?
                    I know nothing about varieties of coffee, and it probably wont go down well to come here asking about elementary matters like that.  Is there a good on-line guide, not too complicated, to different varieties of coffee?  If so, I might be able to avoid a certain amount of cluttering the forum up with questions most will find simple.

                                        Regards,
                                         Michael.

                Comment


                • #23
                  Re: Iced coffee.

                  Originally posted by 751672167D16380 link=1243450886/20#20 date=1243526370
                  I have to ask another silly question.I hear the term "shot of coffee" sometimes, but have never been quite sure exactly what it is.Is it a precise measure of some sort, or just basically "enough coffee for one drink"?
                  A shot of coffee is 30ml of extracted espresso.

                  Comment


                  • #24
                    Re: Iced coffee.

                    Originally posted by 462541254E250B0 link=1243450886/21#21 date=1243526632
                    Does caffeine have a recognizable taste of its own?
                    Michael,

                    Caffeine is intensely bitter, and ristrettos have 90% of the other coffee flavours in an espresso, and about 50% of the caffeine due to the restricted volume.

                    Anyplace that I have seen that has flavoured beans or ground coffee sells their coffee "pre-staled" ;D. Im assuming that most flavoured beans are a way of hiding the fact that the coffee is basically tasteless!

                    Roasted coffee is best (usually) between one and three weeks in age, and must be ground within a few minutes of making the coffee drink to preserve the very volatile oils that give coffee its real taste.

                    The different production methods--espresso, ristretto, french press, cold press, filter, straight pot, moka pot, vacuum pot, percolator, etc. all produce different coffee flavours from the same beans.

                    The only way to work out what you really like is research. There is plenty of information here (CoffeeSnobs), in other internet coffee sites, and at the places that make the coffee you like.

                    If you decide to get involved in coffee snobbery its a long and complex journey that has as its reward great coffee a couple (or more) times a day.

                    Greg
                    off to have a "doppio ristretto piccolo latté"

                    Comment


                    • #25
                      Re: Iced coffee.

                      Oh boy, Im buggered after reading all that.

                      Who suggested the condensed milk option? MMMMMMMMMMM! Sweeter but definitely different, ACog, but I like it. Thanks.

                      With the affogato I pour the espresso on hot.

                      As for the "Australian way" I am a little amused. Australia owes its "way" to the many countries who contribute to this fair nation and, as such, many "ways" pass for Australian. I grew up with a shot of espresso in cold milk as iced coffee. There was never cream on top. This was considered a travesty. A pizza is considered an Australian snack.. My point is - everyone has their way - putting a country on it only confuses things. Food crosses boundaries languages and indiosyncracies cannot.

                      Regarding Gloria Jeans, not sure why youre surprised. *shrugs* I like their coffee. Regarding the drink I mentioned, all their coffee hails from the same source and is made the same way. It has to as its a franchise and deviating would constitute breach of contract and big men in dark coats carting you away.....

                      Comment


                      • #26
                        Re: Iced coffee.

                        Originally posted by 7A594A4C5754515657380 link=1243450886/24#24 date=1243733636
                        I grew up with a shot of espresso in cold milk as iced coffee.
                        And for me it was Nescafe melted with a little hot water then cold milk and sugar added.
                        Also ice cubes or preferably ice cream, depending what was on hand.

                        The most popular Australian dish at the moment is Spag Bol with Pad Thai nipping at its heels Im told.  ;D

                        Comment


                        • #27
                          Re: Iced coffee.

                          Carrum sewage treatment plant make the best Iced Coffees! Cream , Ice-Cream and their yummy coffee blend. They really are the best!!

                          mod edit- the author knows because s/he is a newbie troll  >

                          Comment


                          • #28
                            Re: Iced coffee.

                            ^^^
                            :-?

                            Comment


                            • #29
                              Re: Iced coffee.

                              I think someone left the back gate open Melicious.... :

                              Comment


                              • #30
                                Re: Iced coffee.

                                Originally posted by 4F475F55482C0 link=1243450886/28#28 date=1243751931
                                I think someone left the back gate open Melicious.... :
                                I thought trolls went underneath the bridge.

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