By: Michela May Photo By: Rachel Benavides
The official start of Texas summer is drawing near with eachbrpassing day, so that means an unpleasant spike in humidity and heat for thebrresidence here along the Coastal Bend. That makes it even more difficult tobrcarry around hot tumblers of coffee to work, but most of us want the caffeinebrearly in the morning.
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So here are some refreshing, quick recipes that can helpbrcool us off during another Texas heatwave.
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The Greek frappebris one of the most classic iced coffees to date and was accidentally created inbr1957, marking the start of frappe coffees. This drink consists of only 4bringredients: instant coffee, water, sugar, and ice. Instant coffee is notbralways a favorite, but it is a mandatory component to this traditional drink.
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– To start, you need 2 tsp of instant coffeebrpowder, 2 tsp sugar, 1 tbsp of cold water, 1 cup of cold water or cold milk,brand a shaker or jar that has a tight-fitting lid.
– Place the sugar, coffee powder and tbsp of coldbrwater in the shaker and mix until everything is dissolved and has a foamy mixture.
– Pour this foam into a chilled glass and top itbroff with the cup of cold water or milk. This is a very simple and quick recipebrfor those who have a fast-paced lifestyle, or if someone simply wants a deliciousbrdrink.
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This next recipe is a black coffee mix from Thailand, calledbrOliang. This is also a simple drink,brbut tradition asks for the coffee beans to be ground by hand with additionalbringredients such a corn, soya, and sesame seeds mixed in. You can alwaysbrpurchase this blend of coffee at a local market or online, though, and is preferred.
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– You will need 4 tbsp of Oliang coffee mix, 1 cupbrboiling water, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tbsp sweetened condensed milk, a paper filter andbrpour over funnel or a traditional filter called tung tom kah fe, and a glassbrhalf full of ice cubes.
– Brew the Oliang coffee mix and, as it cools, startbrmixing the sugar until it fully dissolves in the coffee.
– Filter this mixture with the paper funnel overbrthe cup of ice to prevent from any undissolved pieces making it into the drink,brthen top with the condensed milk.
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This next coffee has a bit more of a floral flavor alongsidebrthe deep coffee brews. A Lavender EspressobrTonic is a little more popular during the summer days because of thesebrmixes of flavors. This is a simple and quick way to make this refreshing drink,brotherwise you will be waiting a few weeks for the tonic water to develop.
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– The things to grab during your next store runbrwill be 2 shots of espresso, 4 ounces of tonic water, 3/4 ounces lavenderbrsyrup, maybe some lavender sprig to garnish, and then a glass.
– First, brew your two shots of espresso by grindingbrthem into a fine mix then adding them to a press. This gets the most amount ofbrflavor by forcing hot water through the grounds at an enormous pressure. Or youbrcan buy premade espresso.
– Add in the lavender syrup, tonic water, andbrespresso into a glass full of ice, then stir. Here you can add in an additionalbrtouch with a lavender sprig for a pop of color.
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The next two recipes include a sweeter flavor for an afterbrlunch or evening treat. The first one is an instant coffee and ice cream mixbrthat is whipped together into a frothy blend, much like the Greek frappe. Thisbrdrink is common in India and called coldbrcoffee, which is a popular summer treat because of the hot weather. The specialtybrabout this drink is that you can mix in any flavors you want and it does notbrtake long to make!
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– You will need 2 tbsp of warm water, 1 tbspbrinstant coffee powder, 1 tbsp of sugar, 1 3/4 cup of cold milk, a scoop of icebrcream of your choice, and a blender.
– Add in the water, coffee powder and sugar to thebrblender then pulse the mix until everything is dissolved.
– Next, add in milk and ice cream, blend for abrminute or two till everything is combined and frothy, and pour into a chilledbrglass to top with whipped cream or any additions you want.
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This final drink is an early 19th century creationbrfrom an Algerian fortress named Mazagran, but only consisted of coffee syrupbrand cold water at the time. This is believed to be where the original icebrcoffee was developed but others give credit to 17th century Viennese,brand others still believe the 1950’s Greeks created the iced coffee.
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Mazagran iced coffeebris now mixed with shots of espresso, sugar, juiced lemon, mint, and even a bitbrof rum—all traditionally poured over ice in a tall, narrow glass. This recipebrtraveled across Portugal and slowly developed a lot of these ingredients to makebra refreshing coffee lemonade.
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– For this drink, you will need a single or doublebrshot of espresso, 1 tbsp of sugar for taste, juice from half a lemon (orbrhowever much you wish), 1/4 cup cold water, 1 ounce of rum, and mint leaves tobrgarnish.
– Add in the sugar to the hot espresso so itbrdissolves, and set aside in a bowl to cool. Once cooled, add the water, lemonbrjuice and rum.
– Mix together and pour over a tall glass withbrice, then add in the mint leaves to adorn.
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Whichever ice coffee creator you believe started this drinkbrstyle, all of them have provided us some wonderful tastes to use when fightingbrthe summer heat!