I can’t tell you how happy I am that it’s finally getting warmer here. This year I thought that winter would stay for sure. I remember being certain that it will be warm and sunny around here when we return from Japan… which was nearly a month and a half ago. Japan had OK weather – meaning coulds, rain and wind with some sun rays here and there. I was so sure that it will have at least 20° Celsius at home, but no… the weather had to prove me wrong and greet us with wind, rain and even snow! Snow, in April, you had to be kidding me.
Well nevertheless we all made it through the cold weather. By the beginning of May it finally started getting warmer and the ants were paying their yearly visit to our house – which is the official sign that winter is over. So started planting the first seedlings outside, bought some tomato and cucumber plants and opened my sunny season with a long sunbath and cold drinks on our veranda. I’m such a sucker for sun and nature, I can spend aaaallllll day long in my comfy chair on the veranda, listening to the crickets singing their ode to summer and to the leaves rustling in the wind. When I feel motivated enough it will also smell of freshly mown grass – a smell that always makes me happy.
So on this nice pre-summer day I decided that it was finally time to bring out the cold beverages! I loooooove tea, so I always have a stock of powdered tea in various flavors – Matcha (of course), Black Tea, Earl Grey, Rooibos. Since our trip to Vietnam we also have delicious Vietnamese coffee at home. I’m not much of a coffee drinker (OK OK, I don’t drink it at all) but my partner loves it, so in the evening we made two iced drinks… Iced Vietnamese Coffee and Iced Vanilla Earl Grey Latte.
It was so relaxing to end the day on the veranda, sipping cold drinks and enjoying the last rays of sun. So I want to share these two recipes with you. I hope you too can enjoy these late days of spring and unwind with some refreshing drinks and the song of the crickets.
Love, Alex
- 3 heaping teaspoons ground Vietnamese coffee
- 60-80 ml hot water
- Vietnamese coffee filter (available on amazon)
- 1 heaping tablespoon sweetened condensed milk
- 125 ml cold milk (soy or whichever you like)
- Vanilla/Cinnamon/Cardamom (optional)
- Ice cubes
- 3/4 teaspoon Earl Grey Powder (available on Kissatea.com or amazon)
- 3/4 teaspoon Coconut Sugar or any sugar you like (optional)
- 125 ml cold water
- 125 ml soy milk or whichever milk you like
- Vanilla paste (or Vanilla syrup) to your liking
- Ice cubes
- Put three heaping teaspoons of ground Vietnamese coffee into the coffee filter, pour in the hot water and let it sieve according to the filter instructions. When the coffee is done, squeeze in the sweetened condensed milk as well as any spices you may want. If you have a blender, put the ice, coffee/condensed milk mixture and cold milk into it and blend until thorougly chilled. If you don't have a blender, just put all ingredients into a shaker and shake until chilled. Pour into a glass and enjoy.
- Pour the milk, water, sugar, tea powder, ice cubes and vanilla into a blender. Blend until well mixed and chilled. Pour through a sieve if necessary. You can also use a shaker, but be sure to shake well or else the powder might not dissolve completely.
- You can use whichever spices you like in these drinks - or no spices at all. I'm a sucker for spices, so I almost always add cardamom, cinnamon, vanilla or ground ginger to my drinks. It gives me energy and soothes my mind.
- Also, please be aware that Vietnamese coffee is quite strong and sweet due to the sweetened condensed milk. My partner loves it because he often needs the extra kick and sweetness after a long hard day at work.
- If you are prone to sleepless nights because of caffeine I recommend you drink these during the fist half of the day.