Brewing Up Something Special: My Coffee Adventures

I used to be a hard-core coffee addict – a nearly dozen cups a day habit, which I stopped cold turkey when I became pregnant with Snubnose. The horrific headaches that followed convinced me never to get so addicted again. And I have kept up that vow generally – my tipple of choice these days is the much healthier green tea.

But sometimes, I can’t resist a hot or iced coffee. I love Coffee Day’s café frappé, their chocolatte or even a pure black ice coffee without milk but with chili cheese toast or garlic bread. With Covid, though, I haven’t ventured out much and have been missing my regular weekly dose of high-quality coffee – so much so that I have been on the look for a coffee subscription for a long time now.

Making coffee at home

I knew I had to make a little investment to recreate that magic at home. After a lot of googling, following coffee enthusiasts on Instagram, and doing other sundry research, I decided to get hubby a birthday present 😜. He’s still a coffee addict. Around the time we got married, he had this plan to buy a super-expensive high-end coffee maker. Unfortunately, because we were moving around so much in the initial days, we never got around to it, and he then settled into drinking instant coffee by the gallon/litre.

So, getting him kickstarted into drinking a better grade of coffee was the first step!

Basic Coffee supplies

• An Instacuppa manual coffee grinder
• A Bodum french press
• Some coffee beans to get started

This was the most economical/starter option I could find. I wanted to be able to control the grinding of the beans (hence the manual grinder), and I have to say that I am completely satisfied with the quality of the grinder and the French Press. The Blue Tokai coffee beans are also not bad at all! But because South India has so many different brands and roasts available, I am going to be experimenting a bit with the beans. I think I am going to go for a darker roast next time. Let’s see!

The Process

For someone who is used to instant coffee – the process of grinding the beans, then the French Press seemed a little too much at first. But now, I love it – just the feeling of inhaling the fresh smell of coffee as I grind the beans is bliss! It takes about 4-5 minutes to grind the coffee, then another 4-5 minutes of steeping it in hot water in the French Press, and then I am done.

Hubby soon got tired of the process though and quickly switched back to regular instant coffee, but I have been enjoying this thoroughly and I am never going back to instant.

Coffee Experiments

Snubnose too has turned into an enthusiastic coffee drinker, but I try to curtail the amount she drinks. One way of doing that is making her drink richer and sweeter, so she’s content with one hot mug a day instead of more.

Chocolatte

• One cup of brewed coffee from the French Press
• One tablespoon of cocoa
• One tablespoon of sugar (for her sweet tooth)
• Milk

To the brewed coffee, add one tablespoon of cocoa, one tablespoon of sugar, and a splash of milk. Stir with a milk frother and done. Heaven for her! To be honest, I love it too!

Cold coffee drinks

More sophisticated are the cold coffee drinks I have been experimenting with for myself. To make the coffee a little less strong, and because I dislike the taste of fresh milk these days, I tried mixing it up with sweet syrup or condensed milk.

I first tried splashing the coffee brew into a tumbler of ice, and then adding a generous tablespoon of hazelnut syrup. I love this one from Monin. After my first taste, I was done – this was indeed heaven! No need to experiment further!

But hazelnut syrup is not cheap. I was already paying for premium coffee, surely I could find cheaper alternatives for the mix? Enter the good ole Milkmaid condensed milk. Much cheaper, not as tasty as the Monin syrup, but would definitely do in a pinch. I use it the same way as I do the Monin. Coffee over ice, and then a tablespoon of Milkmaid. Oddly luxurious feeling!

Another coffee experiment I have been doing is trying to recreate the café frappé from Coffee Day. This is one of my all-time favorite drinks from there. And I found it surprisingly easy to recreate it at home.

Just brewed some extra strong coffee with the French Press and blended it with some milk, ice, and a big scoop of caramel ice cream, and it’s just so…delicious. I can’t wait for the weather (it’s been a cold two months) to warm up so I can make it again (this time for the entire family).

I think I have become a veritable coffee barista. Someone, please hire me now 😀! How do you like to drink your coffee?