For you that like Coffee.....

For all of us who can appreciate a good cup of coffee, here's some tidbits that I've found that might just make your day and give you some ideas for more to come....

But of course let's start with the basics.... a great coffee syrup / reduction / concentrate / infusion or whatever you call it so your coffee can have an amazing beginning.... I have to mention that if you are ever in Mexico City, you MUST go to the Cafe Tacuba in the Centro Historico and have one of their house coffees... they are amazing! They make their own coffee infusion, age it for 3 weeks and froth it up right at your table for you to enjoy- their food is also great but their coffee still gives me pangs of nostalgia any time I recall... anyway, I'm going on a tangent which I am oft to do so we'll go back to the subject at hand.... You'll need a large jar or pitcher since you'll need a minimum of 5 cups of filtered water (you can have any kind of water you want but this tastes better in the coffee)... you need whole coffee beans and some time. Here's a quick recipe for this:

For coldbrew coffee:
1 cup whole coffee beans
5 cups filtered water
regular ice or coffee ice cubes (makes it better since no dilution with regular ice cubes)

Coarsely grind the coffee beans! Fresh ground IS best so take the trouble, you'll notice,  add them to a large bowl or pitcher/container/jar. Add the water and stir to mix. Let this mixture sit overnight in the fridge or more..... When you're ready, we used to check on this daily and taste it until we found one we thought was amazing, do this too.  Strain the coffee through a few layers of cheesecloth or a coffee filter. This is the coffee you will use. Fill a glass with ice, add your desired amount of coffee and cream/milk - then go to town with the syrups or just have a classic coffee.

To make the Cafe Tacuba coffee, you put a couple of inches of the coffee infusion in a glass, then bring some scalded milk, hot, and pour from at least 2feet high above the glass so the milk falls inside the glass so the milk froths. Take my word for it, this is amazing!!!!!

Vanilla bean syrup:
Combine the sugar, water, scraped vanilla beans, whole bean and extract in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk constantly until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is bubbling. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Let cool completely before storing in a jar. I usually don't remove the vanilla pod and just leave it in for flavor. 

Blackberry syrup:
Add the blackberries to a blender with the water. Puree until completely smooth and blended, then strain over a fine mesh sieve into a bowl - so all you have is blackberry juice. Combine the juice and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk constantly until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is bubbling. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Let cool completely before storing in a jar. This syrup can get extra sweet due to the flavor of your berries, so check on the sweetness with water and sugar ratios until you get your favorite.

Cinnamon brown sugar syrup
Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk constantly until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is bubbling. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Let cool completely before storing in a jar.

Almond syrup
Combine the sugar, water and almond extract in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk constantly until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is bubbling. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Let cool completely before storing in a jar.

Don't be limited by these flavors, go crazy and think up your own, there are no limits. Enjoy!