Some interesting results from the 2015 Zagat Coffee Survey.
Photo by Jennifer Davick
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves
- 1 lemon, sliced
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 3 cups cold Might Leaf Organic Mint Melange tea (sweetened with sugar)
- 1 cup bourbon optional
- Crushed ice
Combine first 3 ingredients in a 2-qt. pitcher. Press mint leaves against sides of pitcher with back of spoon to release flavors. Stir in tea. Optional add bourbon. Serve over crushed ice. Garnish with fresh mint sprigs, if desired.
#1 – The Barista’s Bestie
#2 – The Pour Over Purist
#3 – The Instant Addict
#4 – The Pod Pusher
#5 – The After-Dinner Plunger
Photo by My Invisible Crown
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 sticks butter, softened
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
- 4 eggs
- 1 (8 ounce) bar cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 2/3 cup hot chocolate powder
- 1 (3.5 ounce) bar of melting chocolate of your choice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup sweetened condensed milk
- 3 cups cake or all-purpose flour
- powdered sugar for garnish
Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees. Sift dry ingredients together and set aside. Cream together butter and sugars. Add eggs one at a time, and beat just until combined. Add cream cheese just until combined. Do not over mix. On the top of a double boiler or a glass or metal bowl set atop a small pot of simmering water, melt chocolate. Add chocolate to mixture and stir to incorporate. Add milk and dry ingredients and mix until just blended. Stir in flavoring. Butter and sugar a bundt pan or two loaf pans. Fill pan with batter leaving about an inch of space or more at the top for rising. Cook for 1 1/2-2 hours until toothpick comes out clean.
Serve warm with a smear of cream cheese if desired. Recipe via My Invisible Crown.
Photo by Corbis
For regular black teas:
- To make tea without milk, 2g of tea should be used for every 100ml of water.
- Pour freshly boiled water into the pot up to 4mm and 6mm below the brim.
- The tea should then be left to infuse for six minutes.
- This is also known as steeping and is the process of soaking a solid – in this case tea leaves – to extract flavours.
- On average, a teabag weighs 2g but contains around 1.5g of tea leaves, so at least two bags should be used for a small pot of tea and at least four should be used for a larger pot.
- When made with milk, the tea should be made and brewed in the same way and then added to milk in the cup.
- At least 2.5ml milk is recommended for use with a smaller pot, and 5ml milk is advised for the larger pot.
- This helps the milk mix more evenly though the ‘liquor’ when the tea is added to the bowl.
For herbal teas:
- Steeping tea is the process of soaking a solid – in this case tea leaves – to extract flavours and soften it.
- For standard black tea, freshly boiled water should be used – with temperatures above 95°C (203°F).
- Water should be left to cool down for at least 30 seconds when making green and white tea, with a recommended temperature of 74°C to 85°C (160°F to 203°F).
- Oolong tea is best steeped in 85°C (185°F) water.
- Herbal teas should be steeped in water with a temperature of 95°C (203°F).
- Regardless of the temperature, the standard explained that tea should be steeped for six minutes.
Via Daily Mail
Check out our fine tea blends at our Cappuccino Connection Shop.
Photo by thisoldhouse
Perfect your coffee making or you’ll end up having a sub-par cup of joe. Here are ways you’re ruining your coffee:
- Buying pre-ground beans – ground them yourself for a fresher taste.
- Not using a burr grinder – get the right grind by investing in a good coffee grinder.
- Experimenting with different-sized grinds – the coarser the coffee, the more you’ll see the difference in taste.
- Not using the right water-to-coffee ratio – use a cheap kitchen scale to measure out the amount of beans and water.
- Using water that’s too hot – after boiling, wait 30 seconds to get the temperature down to about 205°F, a slightly lower and optimal temperature that won’t burn your precious grounds.
- Buying bad coffee – shop around for good tasting coffee!
- Storing your coffee in a humid, airy and sunny location – keep it in an airtight, dry, room temperature container out of the sun.
- Using old coffee – some experts give coffee just a few weeks after its roasting date before it expires. Only get one bag at a time.
Looking to buy high quality coffee? Check out Cappuccino Connection.
Travel magazine, AFAR, lists some of the best places you can stop to power up on coffee:
#1 – Tim Wendelboe – Oslo, Norway
Photo by Tim Wendelboe
#2 – Telescope – Paris, France
Photo by AFAR
#3 – Flying Goat Coffee – Santa Rosa, California
Photo by AFAR
#4 – Kopi Luwak – Denpasar, Indonesia
Photo by AFAR
#5 – Bonanza Coffee Heroes – Berlin, Germany
Photo by Bonanza
#6 – Cafe Martinho da Arcada – Lisbon, Portugal
Photo by AFAR
#7 – Borough Market – London, United Kingdom
Photo by AFAR
Photo by Food Republic
Delicious sweet boozy jolt to shake up your day.
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons sugar, divided
- 3 ounces tequila, divided
- 3 ounces coffee liqueur (recommended: Kalhua), divided
- Ground cinnamon, to dust
- 2 cups prepared coffee, divided
- 2 scoops vanilla ice cream, divided
- 2 cherries
Frost rims of 2 cups with sugar. Pass it through the fire, gilding the edge little by little. Add the tequila and the coffee liqueur to them tilting the cup a little towards the fire so that the liqueur begins to flame. Dust with cinnamon. Immediately add hot coffee and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Top with a cherry.
Photo by Antonis Achilleos
This recipe oozes with deliciousness all over thanks to the Food Network Magazine.
Ingredients:
- Ice cream (coffee, chocolate or vanilla)
- Espresso
- Brewed coffee
- Optional: shaved dark chocolate and chopped hazelnuts
Place 2 small scoops of ice cream in a coffee cup, then pour in a shot of espresso or 3 tablespoons strong brewed coffee. Top with shaved dark chocolate and chopped hazelnuts.
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