Summertime, and My Coffee Is (Still) Hot!
by Harris |
July 27, 2011 05:02 PM |
11 comments
Harris
Location:
NY, NY
Favorite Flavor:
Whichever I am currently using.
If you could travel back in time, what era would you live in? The Jurassic Era.
What’s your favorite meal? Do you cook?: Steak...no, I don’t cook (wait, does microwaving count?)
Three things you cannot live without…Josie (wife), Kilo (dog), breathing.
I am a member of the Coffee-mate Brew Crew.
It's a wonder that my wife and I got, and stayed, married.
She's a Yankees fan; I'm a Mets fan. She likes our bed sheets tucked in; I can't sleep unless the sheets are totally unencumbered. Most absurdly, she prefers iced coffee to hot (even in the winter). I, on the other hand, prefer hot coffee to iced (even in the summer). In fact, as I write this, it's 83 degrees outside as I am sitting here in our apartment, drinking a cup of hot coffee (FYI – with White Chocolate Caramel Latte Coffee-Mate).
I have never been an Iced coffee fan. I think it boils down (pun intended) to three reasons...
1 – Ice dilutes the coffee. The way I make iced coffee, is I brew regular coffee, and then dump ice into it. The biggest problem with that is that as the ice melts, the coffee becomes diluted, and if you don't drink it fast enough, by the time you're at the bottom, you're drinking mainly water. The bizarre thing is that that's exactly why my wife does like it. She waits until the ice melts so she's drinking coffee-water. Yes, she's insane.
(I do have friends who will take into account the ice melting by using more coffee or less water to start, but then you will end up with particularly bitter coffee for the first half of your cup.)
I have also read about people who make ice cubes out of coffee, so as it melts you just end up with more coffee. I have to say, to my feeble and unscientific mind, that actually makes sense. I don't have a freezer that will allow me to have separate water ice cubes and coffee ice cubes anyway, but I'm curious - Has anyone on this board tried that?
2 – The condensation on plastic cups is a pet peeve – I know... it seems trivial. But whenever I get ice coffee outside, it sweats, usually on my pants, and usually in a place that makes it look like I did something I haven't done since I was four years old. To make sure it doesn't drip, I have to mummify the plastic cup with paper towels. Annoying.
3 – The biggest reason I prefer hot to iced coffee is that hot coffee just tastes better (besides the dilutive effect). Again. I'm no science major so I have no idea why this is, but hot coffee is more flavorful. The aroma is much stronger. Maybe it's because one has to sip it rather than gulp it down, but my White Chocolate Caramel Latte flavored coffee just tastes more White Chocolate Caramel Latte flavored when hot.
I see it's going to be 94 degrees later today, when my wife and I are supposed to meet friends at this great outdoor coffee bar. Can't wait to hang out and laugh with them, all the while drinking iced coffee.
Hey... we all have our limits.