iced coffee

When I was a little girl, my mom used to give my younger sister and I special sippy cups every morning before we watched our cartoons. I always drank orange juice from a blue cup. My sister always drank coffee from a red cup. One day, I mistakenly picked up the red cup and took a sip. The taste that followed was the most terrible thing I'd ever experienced. I couldn't even swallow it. The thick, smoky flavor of the coffee beans left me feeling sick.

It never occurred to me that a six year old should not be drinking coffee. In fact, it wasn't until about six months ago when I was telling a girlfriend this story that I realized just how ridiculous it was that my sister has been drinking coffee since she was six years old. It's easy to understand why she has so much distaste for orange juice, as do I for coffee. Or should I say I did.

Up until a year ago, I couldn't stomach anything but tea, save for a flavored latte here and there. Blue Bottle Coffee in San Francisco changed all of that. My boyfriend Russell used to live in San Francisco. While I was visiting him last year for the 4th of July, he took me to Blue Bottle on Mint St. It only took one sip and I was hooked. Now, we try to keep a pound of Blue Bottle in the house at all times. Three Africans is one of my favorites.

You can imagine how excited I was to find a recipe for New Orleans style coffee using Blue Bottle coffee in the New York Times archives. I also found a great variation of this recipe on one of my favorite blogs bigBang studio.

Nawleans Iced Coffee
Adapted from New York Times
Makes 4 cups coffee concentrate

1/2 pound Three Africans, medium ground
5 cups cold filtered water
Ice
Almond milk*

-Put ground coffee in large french press. Add 5 cups of boiling water and let steep for 30 minutes.

-Very slowly push down "press" making sure not to allow any grounds to escape up the sides of the pot. Allow coffee to cool completely.

-Fill a large glass or mug with ice and add 1/2 cup almond milk.

-Add coffee. Pour enough to fill the remainder of the cup.

Since I'm not always in the mood for coffee, I usually make my coffee on a cup by cup basis, but making a large pot and mixing it with a generous amount of almond milk would be a great idea. The NYT says it will keep in the fridge for about 2 weeks.

*You can use any kind of milk. Almond milk just happens to be my favorite.