Quality Foundations Key to Coffee Cocktails
An Italian ‘Master Barista’ by the name of Giorgio Milos has imparted his coffee mixology know-how, to help steer others in the creation of the perfect java-rich cocktails.
Adamant that a quality espresso should form the underlying foundation of any coffee drink, Milos is essentially a purist where coffee is concerned, preferring an unadulterated espresso over a milk-heavy latte. However, made the right way and allowing coffee to remain the predominant taste, he claims that “fabulous coffee cocktails are the best way to accompany an already great dessert.”
With an espresso as the base of your coffee cocktail, Milos’s next top tip is not to use espresso prepared in advance. It needs to be brewed moments beforehand because an espresso’s flavour profile can change dramatically within moments of its extraction.
Coffee aside, the coffee expert’s recommendations for the remaining ingredients include the use of lower fat milk, which he urges makes for the best cold coffee cocktails – as opposed to the fuller fat milk used it hot beverages, with any granulated sugar to be added to the espresso while it is still hot. Better still, Milos suggests using a syrup prepared in advance, created with equal parts of sugar and boiling water.
The experienced barista also encourages coffee cocktail creators to tread carefully with packaged syrups, using those with no preservatives or artificial flavours. He also recommends using no more than half the amount of syrup as you do espresso and to steer away from sweet or sour flavours such as lemon, orange and strawberry, since they simply do not compliment coffee.