I got this idea over the weekend. It was a cold and rainy night and I was out with my wife and I needed a little sugar bump. We went into a chocolate store and they had hot chocolate available, but I asked them if it was made with milk or water. They told me water , so of course we left immediately!
We went to a restaurant, still cold and low, and I asked them about their hot chocolate. The waitress knew exactly what I wanted to hear and apologetically explained that they used water. And she was really apologizing, saying that she knew how much better it was with milk.
So I just ordered coffee instead, and jokingly asked the waitress if the coffee was made with milk or water.
Anyway, that comment put the idea in my head. I mentioned it on the FUD random thread a few days ago because I was wondering if anyone had done this.
So today I tried it. I heated some milk and just used a pour-over drip cone to make it.
It was a very unique taste. I can’t really describe it. The coffee was stronger, because the milk did not go through the filter as fast as water would, so the coffee steeped in the milk a little longer. It was a very full taste. It had a somewhat nutty flavor to it. And of course, I did not need any cream.
Try it and let me know what you think! I will definitely try it again.
Although, I do find the description (in the RI state law) to be slightly less than precise as it does not mention if this is hot or cold. So it is difficult to determine from a strictly legal sense whether or not the drink which @Eric is preparing can be used in situations which would necessitate the official state drink of Rhode Island.
This may need a challenge and appeal to the RI Supreme Court for clarification.
In the meantime, I may give this a try. It sounds quite tasty.
I checked the link. They don’t give a whole lot if info!
This site gives a bit of info, but it is not made the way I tried. This site describes mixing instant coffee with sugar syrup and then adding it to cold milk.
Try it my way and see what you think. If you drip the coffee, unless you like your coffee very strong, use a bit less coffee in the cone since it will come out stronger.
Yes, I am sure it would be more precise! But I don’t have one.
I am very old-school with my kitchen stuff. If my mom didn’t use it, I don’t want it. I have various pots and pans and some very good knives, but very little electronics. I chop with a knife and a wooden board. My grill uses…charcoal instead of propane!
I was just remarking to someone that one of my favorite and most used kitchen devices is my grandmother’s ice cream scoop. The thing has to be 50+ years old and it’s still working. I wish I had one in every size because I use it to make muffins, sausage patties, mini meat loaves, and cookies, or scoop biscuit dough every week. It’s the best thing ever. And I’ve had four smaller ones bought from the present day and every single one has busted before a year is out.
But @Chris is right about the French press. I do love that you’ll experiment the heck out of stuff (like coffee and milk for instance) but won’t use anything circa 1989 or newer. Lolololol!
Cold Brew System (I have an oxo one which is awesome—it makes enough coffee concentrate to last most of a week, is super easy to use and clean, and it looks nice sitting on the counter top)
French Press
When I started cold-brewing and needed coarse ground coffee, I finally invested in a nice burr grinder, and it all comes out beautifully. It’s interesting too how the same beans taste differently if made each way, due to different flavor compounds being extracted with heat. Both create delicious coffee.
One other thing I’ve done with the cold brew set up is to roast cacao nibs*, grind them in a spice grinder (do not use a burr grinder!!), and make a cold brew with just those—it creates a delicious, dark chocolate flavored concentrate that is not at all sweet and amazing paired with milk/milk substitute (my partner, who doesn’t like coffee and prefers her drinks a bit sweeter, adds stevia or something to hers, but I drink it without). I also sometimes combine that with the cold brew coffee for a non-sweet version of a mocha. So good. I’m thinking I may make a brew with the cacao nibs, some cinnamon sticks, and maybe some of these dried orange slices I have, since I think that would be super delicious. I haven’t yet mixed it into a cocktail, but I also think it would pair deliciously with an aged rum or bourbon.
*note—this will make your kitchen (or in my case, apt) smell like baking brownies. This is both good and bad, given that there are no brownies. You can also get these pre-roasted, but I got a better price on them in bulk raw.
In the case of hot cocoa, made with cocoa powder and sugar, then I would agree 100%. Milk is required for a good flavor, and the use of water makes an austere, unappealing beverage.
But in the case of hot chocolate which already has a good fat content from the cocoa butter in the shaved chocolate, I find that the European style, made with water, has a significantly richer intense chocolate taste than if it is made with milk — like the difference between a 70% dark chocolate bar and a 45% milk chocolate bar.
The major caveat is that the hot chocolate made with water must be properly prepared if it is to develop the rich chocolate flavor. If you start with a sipping chocolate mix like Creo Midnight Truffle, which contains the sugar, just mix 1/4c water with 1/4c mix, stir to wet the powder, then start the heating process with 20s in the microwave. Stir; microwave 10s, and keep repeating this 10s cycle. As you approach the 1 minute mark, the viscosity will start to increase and you’ll see a little crema foam around the edge. It’s almost done, watch it very closely as you start the next 10s of cooking. Suddenly the hot chocolate will start to rise rapidly, doubling in volume in about 1 second. Interrupt the microwave, because the essential transition has just occurred. You now have an elixir that provides an experience I can only describe as “drinking a bar of dark chocolate.” If made with milk instead of water, I find that the chocolate intensity is grievously lost.
Be sure to check the hot chocolate mix ingredient list. Some quite good ones, like the Maya Hot Chocolate from MarieBelle (they’re in New York and have a web site) don’t contain the sugar; I add 1t sugar to 1/4c hot chocolate mix.
I’m thinking that would be an optimal solution and would most likely be the approach I would take if I decided to give this a try.
The biggest problem that I could see would be, what if you really LIKED it?
Your whole coffee world could be radically changed in ways that you never saw coming!
, so of course we left immediately!
