LeanneBennett.com

 

An Ode to Coffee -- Even the Trendy Kind

I've never really been one to do things just because other people do them. (Just ask my husband, who well knows this is a futile argument, that saying 'everyone does it' gets nowhere with me.)

And while I'm interested in style and fashion, I've never been the trendiest person around. I like what I like because I like it.  Never because everybody else is doing it.  So I'm probably the last person you'd expect to be ordering 'poncy' coffee drinks. Welcome to my dark little secret...

Now I've always like a good cappuccino and I have a craving for a latte now and then.  I'm not one for syrups and flavours, but I like a good Italian coffee.  In fact, I am a great coffee lover.  And as my husband and I tired of instant coffee (and we never could find a drip maker that made a decent cup), we found ourselves stopping for coffee out more often.

However, summer rolled in, and things changed.  I love my coffee, but to me hot weather and hot coffee just do not mix. So, while listening to me (yet again, I'm sure) bemoan my lack of caffeine intake, my husband finally convinced me to try an iced latte.

And I loved it!

These things are great!  Ice, espresso coffee, milk -- wonderful!  They're thick and creamy and full of a lovely coffee taste. (especially from this place! --> http://www.costa.co.uk/ -- For me, nobody does a better iced latte.)  To my mind, these drinks are like an adult milkshake, (No offense to any of you who drink the other kind of milkshake, but this is definitely not a drink kids would want.) and I was well and truly hooked.

I do accept that they sound like a very pretentious drink -- an iced latte sounds like something that should come with a lemon twist (a la, L.A. Story) or something equally as silly.  But they are really so GOOD!  You have to get over your inhibitions and try one, because they are just delicious.

So I loved my iced lattes all summer and even into the autumn and beyond.  I'd still have my normal cappuccino now and then, especially as cold weather set in, but those iced lattes were around for a very long time.

And then it was full winter, and I couldn't face the cold in my coffee.  But, truth be told, I was finding I didn't enjoy my cappuccinos anywhere near as much as I had the iced lattes.  Wasn't there a hot drink that was that level of good?

When I thought about what I liked and didn't like, one negative was all the foam.  Foam is pretty on top of a cappuccino (although not so much if you get take away, which we tend to do most of the time) but it didn't really add anything tangible to my enjoyment of the drink.  In fact, I often like the texture of a latte better, although a tiny bit of foam on top would be nice, however lattes don't generally have enough strength for my everyday coffee desires. But, hey, what can you do?  A latte with an extra shot is pretty good, so we went there.

Generally it's my lovely husband who does the coffee gathering.  One day while in our favourite coffee shop, he ordered me a latte with an extra shot.  The barrista was a good one who knew his stuff, and he asked why my husband wanted a latte with extra espresso.  When he heard that I couldn't handle the full court press of the cappuccino foam, he recommended I try a wet cappuccino.  A wet cappuccino, which we'd previously never heard of, contains the same number of shots as a normal cappuccino, but less foamed milk replaced by more steamed milk. So there's a little froth which is great, the extra shot which I really want, and lots of lovely steamed milk.  Perfect!

The only problem is we now sound very ridiculously pretentious ordering them, especially when the person at the till calls across to the barrista, "1 wet cap please!"  Never mind, it's worth the pretention to have such a perfect (at least for me) drink.  Thankfully it's my husband who usually does the ordering, so he puts up with the pretention.  Mind you, you should ask him about his lovely manly flavoured lattes sometime. ;-)

Filed under: Italian cappuccino coffee ice iced latte wet
11
To Posterous, Love Metalab