Coffee Recipes & Ideas

Summer mornings are cool where I live, so a hot caffeinated beverage is actually pretty nice and cozy. But eventually the fog lifts and summer temperatures descend and suddenly everyone is limp and lifeless, totally unable to cope. Crying out for the return of our blessed fog, we have no choice but to reach for the next best thing: iced coffee. I think most people know this by now, but just in case, let’s be clear: Iced coffee is not regular brewed coffee with a few ice cubes tossed in.

Lucky patrons who order a petite-sized cup of bittersweet espresso might joyfully discover it is served alongside a gratis sphere of buttery shortbread or disc of dark chocolate, perhaps. Others will be confounded upon spotting a thin swath of lemon peel on the saucer. What, exactly, is one meant to do with this colorful component? Folklore dictates that the lemon should be rubbed on the cup’s lip before first sip. But why, you ask?

When I first read the title of this article, I was sure that the most popular place to get coffee in Michigan would be my favorite shop in downtown Lansing. I was so wrong! How does your favorite place stack up against the rest of the coffee shops in your state? Although I was initially sad that Strange Matter Coffee Co. didn’t make the cut, the disappointment faded quickly.

Q: I want to have a dessert and coffee bar at my wedding reception. We are not able to use the church’s coffee percolators, so I have considered renting some. My question: Do you have any idea how to estimate how much coffee to make for a guest list of about 175 since all of them will not necessarily drink coffee? Do you have any ideas how to prepare the coffee for that many people? Thanks!

Does home espresso invariably suck? I read Matt Duckor’s piece, Why Your At-Home Espresso Probably Sucks, that Epicurious published a few weeks ago, and I had some immediate and surprisingly spiky emotions in response. At first, I just felt confused, then a little abashed, followed by defensive (Jeez, is my espresso really that bad? Hey, it’s not that bad!).

The stylish glass Chemex coffee carafe is an icon of design, and it is enjoying a renaissance among coffee geeks. But where did it come from, and how is it made now? Sprudge takes us on a Chemex tour, from its early history to its present day home — a small, family-owned factory in Massachusetts. This is a great read if you’re interested in coffee, modern design, or how businesses change and develop over time.

Here’s an understatement: I love coffee. Hot, cold, milky, black — just no sugar, please. Whenever I travel to a new place and learn bits of a new language, I know my priorities: the first word I learn is “hello” and the second is “coffee.” Dutch? Koffie. French? Café. Arabic? قهوة (pronounced qah-huah). And in Vietnamese, it’s cà phê. I’m a little shaky on the pronunciation, but I’m getting by so far.

Who: Me Linh Coffee Garden What: Coffee and weasel coffee Where: Da Lat, Vietnam Weasel coffee, kopi luwak, ca phe chon. Whatever you call it, let’s not mince words: we’re talking about brewed poop, coffee that travels through an Asian palm civet’s digestive tract and then into your mug, for the price of up to $700 per kilogram.

Who: Me Linh Coffee Garden What: Coffee and weasel coffee producer Where: Da Lat, Vietnam Let’s do an experiment: think about coffee. Maybe you’re drinking a cup right now. Let’s follow that brew backwards. Let it jump out of your cup and back into the bag. From the bag, go back to the roaster. Let the bean fade from deep roasted brown to raw tan. Pack the beans up by the sackful and send them back to the grower.

Is coffee an integral part of your day? It’s pretty crucial to mine. It’s not just the caffeine (although that’s not incidental), but the ritual of brewing, the aroma, the first hot sip and the last cool one, flavors emerging and blooming throughout the cup. My husband and I have more than a few ways to make our morning brew; we kind of geek out on the whole process. But I’m always curious to learn more about coffee and other people’s morning rituals.

Ben Corey-Moran is the Director of Coffee Supply at Fair Trade USA where it’s his job to develop and strengthen the supply chain between the small coffee farmers of Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America and coffee buyers from all over the world, some of them as large as Walmart. He’s been in the coffee business since 2003 and has an intimate understanding of the whole picture, from the harvest of the fruit to how to create the perfect cup at home.

I enjoy a coffee, espresso, or latte every morning, and I typically get a pour-over when I go out for coffee at a popular local cafe here in Austin. But this particular day was different: I decided to order something from that gold-rimmed contraption in the photo above that looks like a prop from a Tim Burton movie. What is that? How does it work? And is it really worth all the hubbub?The so-called contraption is a siphon coffee filter.

While foraging for lunch last week, I stumbled into a quaint gluten-free, grain-free, worry-free restaurant, built from a repurposed storage container. Looking over the menu, and debating whether I should order the quinoa or arugula salad, I noticed a peculiar offering simply called ‘butter coffee.’ What is that all about? I just had to know.The practice of putting a pat of butter in your morning drink isn’t a completely new concept.

I know, instant coffee: ick! However, after having more than one afternoon caffeine-withdrawal headache while traveling, I never leave home without it. This especially applies when staying with friends who may not love their morning cup of joe as much as I do. I’m not exactly a caffeine addict (isn’t that what caffeine addicts say? Hmm), but one solid cup of coffee in the morning just sets my day off in the right direction.

If you’ve ever tried to kick the coffee habit, you are familiar with the symptoms of caffeine withdrawal: headaches, fatigue, irritability, and difficulty concentrating. But the release of the newest version of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) made official what us coffee addicts suspected all along. Caffeine withdrawal can be a mental health disorder.

Need a pick-me-up this Monday morning? Check out this imaginative and adorable latte art being made by baristas in Japan. NPR talked to two Japanese baristas who share daily photos of their ephemeral works of espresso art on the web. From anime characters to angry cats, the latte art by Kazuki Yamamoto and Kohei Matsuno is much more intricate than the usual milk-foam flower — and a lot more fun.Why spend time creating such detailed images with such an impermanent medium?

As we close off Breakfast Week here on The Kitchn, I couldn’t help but share this brilliant setup for all you morning espresso lovers. Elsie (of the blog A Beautiful Mess) has a much-loved espresso machine and a tiny kitchen. But when she could no longer afford to give up precious counter space to her beloved machine, she came up with pretty swell solution. Move over, cocktail carts. She just stole your idea and made it better!

At my house we have a sleek little Nespresso machine and an older, heavy Italian model that belongs to my boyfriend, Sam. Both have prime real estate on the counter: Sam uses his almost exclusively; I use mine almost exclusively. He calls my espresso “faux’spresso,” insisting it doesn’t taste as good and lamenting the fact that the pods are so wasteful. In a way, I agree. And yet, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

If you live up north, you may not be craving a cold brew this time of year. Down south in Texas, though, I’ll tell you that things are quite different. Temperatures are already hitting 80 degrees! But when I want to hang onto that January cool for just a bit longer, I make a French pressed cold brew coffee with a little sea salt and caramel.

You might be familiar with cardamom in baked goods or tea (think masala chai), but have you ever had cardamom-infused coffee? This warm, fragrant beverage is especially popular in the Middle East, where cardamom seeds are often ground with coffee beans. Others add whole cardamom pods or even pre-ground cardamom powder to the brew. We recommend starting with one crushed cardamom pod per cup of coffee, and later adjusting the amount to your taste.

Q: I am a Senseo owner but it looks like they are being discontinued in the US. Pods are nearly impossible to find in supermarkets or online. I’d love to replace it with a similarly priced machine that can deliver a good cup with the same sort of Senseo crema.Sent by HaleyEditor: Readers, any suggestions for Haley? I have little to no experience with the single serve coffee makers. Any comparable models with (we hope!) longer staying power?Next question?

There are two ways of thinking about the proper time to serve coffee and tea after a meal. The most formal and traditional way is to serve dessert first, followed by coffee once the dessert plates have been cleared. (This also used to be a signal that it was now OK for people to light up their cigarettes. Clearly, times have changed!)The second, more casual possibility is to serve coffee/tea with the dessert.

You won’t see these coffee drinks on the regular menu at most coffee shops. But for those in the know, it doesn’t matter. And they can provide inspiration for some truly delicious homemade drinks.Michael Phillips and Chris Owens, owners of Handsome Coffee in L.A., described these three underground coffee drinks in a recent interview on The Dinner Party Download.

I live in Rome, Italy, and today I saw a sweet, sweet deal on an Illy FrancisFrancis X1 espresso machine. It is red. It is sexy. And even with the terrible exchange rate, it is still costs less than half what the same machine would cost in the United States. There is, however, one big problem: it is wired for an Italian outlet. I have looked online, and I can get a European/American voltage adapter with surge protection for about 20 bucks.