There’s a new afternoon transgression around the Root Simple compound: the caffé shakerato. A shakerato is an iced coffee mixed in a cocktail shaker. Making one is much easier than hauling yourself down to that dreaded temple of middlebrowedness whose green siren logo will lead us all to financial ruin and sugar-induced comas. No, you don’t need another Frappuccino.
Making a shakerato is simple. Brew some strong coffee (espresso is best, but I don’t have an espresso maker). Let the coffee cool down (this is important–add the ice too soon, and the coffee gets diluted) and put it in a cocktail shaker with some half and half, sugar to taste and a pinch of salt (everything tastes better with a pinch of salt). Add some ice, throw your hands in the air and shake like you just don’t care. Pour, straining out the ice, of course, and enjoy. You’ll find that the combination of shaking and milk will create a satisfying, frothy beverage.
Add a jigger of dark rum to the shaker if you want to upgrade to a cocktail.
This recipe is a dumbed-down version of the one I found in obsessive cocktail guru Dave Arnold’s book Liquid Intelligence: The Art and Science of the Perfect Cocktail. So far I’ve only allowed myself to check Liquid Science out of the library. I fear that if I owned it I would fall down a deep mid-life crisis cocktail hobby hole involving some of the gadgets and ingredients Arnold details in the book: $8,000 centrifuges, canisters of liquid nitrogen and potentially hazardous beverage experiments involving powdered quinine sulfate.
* Do you have Desperado stuck in your head now, like I do? Sorry about that.
Sounds delicious! As an aside, perhaps a small amount of Bailey’s or Kahlua would be tasty. I live where that other coffee place originated, and I avoid them like the plague. Shop local!
I liked this recipe in its original form, now with some Bailey’s, I really like it – great idea! I think I might have one this afternoon.
Yay for shakerato! (we make it without the half and half, and I use agave syrup or sime other sweetener instead of the sugar; we are also guilty of pouring the hot coffee on the ice straight from the machine, and using a jam jar in lieu of the shaker so we can drink straight out of it)
And while we’re on the subject of coffee-based transgressions, what about the affogato (literally, drowned), which is hot coffee poured over a scoop of ice cream, usually vanilla or similar flavours?
I’ve been making iced coffee in the afternoon (usually with whatever is left in the french press from the morning) but I love the idea of the shake shake to get that froth. But skip the sugar and add maple syrup – a perfect fit for coffee, ice and cream.
i was recently in Toronto and was appalled to find three green siren shops in a 550 metre stretch of Yonge Street. I always support my local independent cafes, and avoid the mermaid like the plague.
I must ask that you reserve your song hooks for the body of your posts and present “earworm alerts” prior to the inclusion of any Eagles references, so that unsuspecting readers may be forewarned of uncontrollable humming and chorus eruptions for the rest of the week. “You’ve been out riding fences for so long now…”
I know! I cursed Erik for that title. And now, it’s starting all over again in my head…argggh! It must be one of the earwormiest songs ever.
I do this all the time. Didn’t know it had a name. Thanks
You know, you can also brew coffee in a centrifuge… perhaps a better investment, then? The centrifugato? If you ever come to the Big Island, there’s a cafe (Daylight Mind) that makes coffee flights that way. 🙂
Well, you know we are decadent consumers, but we LOVE our cheapo espresso machine. Daily we make a pot (or two or more) of that, alongside a pot of drip melitta coffee. Machine was one of the cheapest on amazon and worth every penny, imho! We never do the frothy milk thing, though there is a little arm where you can use the pent-up steam to froth your lattes into cappuccinos, or whatever. Now I can choose between several singers for the song running through my head! Have a great day, and I hope you’re recovering from the bee trauma – yikes!