You’ve gone grocery shopping before yes? Perhaps there was a refrigerated case or a GASP! entire aisle (whatta time to be alive!) of coffee beverages. Chilled, potentially delicious, and ready for your purchasing. How to choose!? This is serious business, we’re talking coffee here! You choose the wrong one and it could end in tears!
Do you pick a brand you’ve had before? A familiar image or mascot on the can? Oh! Perhaps it’s a fancy glass bottle? Yeah, that’s nice too. As long as they’re recyclable! Harrumph! Or mebbe one of your chums recommended a particular kind: “Awwww Duuuuude this coffee I had? Yeah, it was the shizzle. No, it was not as good as your recipe, but you know, store-bought, so yeah.” Recipe!? I’ll get there in a minute…
So how do you pick? Something pretty? Colorful? Hyper masculine? No, it ain’t Red Bull, and cold coffee from a fridge should NOT have the same effect. You wanna get jacked up, but not end up on the floor, or in the emergency room. That would just be a bad time.
Frankly, there are endless choices these days. Then you roll into an International Market and fuggedabboudit. Overwhelming! So I says, why not take it easy? Stick with one you find that is tasty, agrees with you, and repeatedly get that one. Why roll the dice? Or…(suspenseful music plays)…
Make. Your. Own.
Yes, you heard me correctly. I had this same scenario happen. I’d go shopping, have a jones for a refreshing canned iced coffee, and after lots (and LOTS) of experimentation landed on the same one over and over again. Then I had an “Ah HA!” moment and I spent the summer deconstructing this beverage and creating my own version of it. Which is remarkably tasty, and I haven’t bought a coffee Made-By-The-Man since. Better Life Through Better Coffee!
Grab your Moka Pot…whaddaya mean you don’t HAVE one!?!? What’re ya new? This is the cornerstone to any caffeine-centric lifestyle. Run out to your local hardware and score one. I’ll wait…
Got one? Good. Hopefully it’s the large size. Into this bestest, old school, Italian stovetop coffee maker, fill up the filter basket, and pour water into the base. Assemble it all together. Deeper Dive on instructions? Check it out. A subconscious smile will form on your face because this is all just so much fun.
Now grab a Nalgene bottle if you have one. I have found this to be the easiest, most efficient recepticle. No Nalgene? No problem. A big liter container with a lid will do.
Pull the moka pot off the stovetop, and let it cool a wee bit. Don’t be hasty! Give it a minute or two. Into the Nalgene (or liter-size equivalent) pour:
1/2 c. Water
1/2 c. Half & Half
Add 3 tbs. Sweetened Condensed Milk. That’s right. Perhaps you have an old can in your cabinet, or run out (again) to the local grocer and score one. Definitely the…ahem…secret ingredient to this creation. Hyper-sweetness!
The best part about the Nalgene bottle is the markings on the side which make measuring the liquid components completely easy. Neat! Super simple. No measuring cups needed. After all that’s added, and the Moka Pot has had some time to cool, but NOT totally cooled off, pour it into the Nalgene, liter bottle etc…
The reason to have the Moka still kiiiinda warm is the residual heat gets the sweetened condensed milk all melty. All ingredients combined, give it all a good shake or stir. As long as it turns a lovely shade of brown and seems all homogenous, you done good!
Toss it in the fridge to cool it all down. Drink it straight from the bottle, pour some into a glass with ice, or share it with people that you like and watch their eyes get all bulgey because of the delicious-ness factor. Your mouth will thank you for taking the time to make such a wonderful beverage. Make sure you have something planned because you will be jacked and sugar-fied. Ain’t ‘nothin’ wrong with that.
Enjoy!
Want to show your love & adoration of the Moka Pot? Definitely!