On regular days, you might like your coffee hot or cold; frothy or a simple black. However, rainy weekends call for coffee recipes with a creative twist. Why settle for the usual when you can add a playful touch to your cuppa. Baristas and brewers from leading cafes and coffee brands suggest unique recipes that you can quickly whip up at home.
Honey cappuccino
Nothing spells like monsoon than delicious, warm, spiced coffee. Girish Chandra, beverage training manager, at Lavazza India suggests a recipe that you can savour while enjoying the downpour. This is a cappuccino that you can easily make at home.
DIY recipe: You need 100 ml brewed coffee made with a moka pot or a home espresso machine, 60 ounces of hot milk, 1 tbsp or more of honey, honey crystals and honey drizzle. While you brew the coffee, you can add honey to the milk and create a foam. If you don’t have a foamer, then heat milk to the boiling point and use a blender to foam milk and honey. Pour the coffee into a mug and add the honey-milk mix on it. Spoon the foam on top. Finish with honey crystals and a honey drizzle.
Belgian chocolate ice cream cappuccino
This refreshingly light summer shake ticks all the right boxes with its mix of coffee and chocolate. Suggested by the brewers at OMO, Gurugram, this cool iced coffee works best on humid days. It is delicious without sitting heavy on your palate.
DIY recipe: Take a scoop of your favourite Belgian chocolate. Add a shot of espresso and give this concoction a good shake. Serve over ice, topped with iced milk froth.
Cranberry coffee
Who would have thought that espresso and cranberry could work so well together? However, this one is a bestseller across Roastery Coffee House outlets in Noida, Hyderabad and Kolkata. Clearly people are loving this combination.
DIY recipe: Take 30 ml of espresso, 120 ml of cranberry juice, 80 ml Seven Up or any sweet soda and three pieces of ice cube. Add ice in a wine glass, pour in the cranberry juice and sweet soda. Keep the layers intact and finally add the espresso. Let it rest for a while, swirl and relish the refreshing drink.
Peach oat milk iced latte
Anyone who has been to Maverick & Farmer in Bengaluru marvels at the innovative cuppas that co-founder Ashish D’Abreo has conceptualised. You can try their peach oat milk iced latte, which works well for the season. This is a simple yet delicious coffee, with loads of flavour and complexity. Oatmilk is gentler on the stomach than regular dairy milk, and also adds a delicious nutty taste to the drink.
DIY recipe: You need 160 gms oat milk, 30 gms/ml peach syrup, 40 gms/ml strong black coffee and 10-15 ice cubes. In a thick, tall glass, pour in the oat milk and the peach syrup. Stir well and add 10-15 ice cubes (depending on the size). Make the black coffee using your preferred brewing method. Espresso works best, but any strong black coffee will do. Add 40 gms/ml of this to your oat milk mixture. Serve immediately.
Coffee lemonade
Can the good ol’ nimbu paani and coffee go well together? If Sleepy Owl is to be believed, it’s a marriage made in heaven, with citrusy goodness and a caffeine kick in a single glass.
DIY recipe: 2 tsp instant coffee, 30 ml fresh lemon juice, 3-4 tbsp sugar syrup, 120 ml chilled water, 30 ml warm water, mint leaves and ice cubes. Mix the instant coffee with warm water to dissolve it. Pour the lemon juice and sugar syrup into a jar. Add the coffee concentrate and chilled water, stir thoroughly. Fill a glass with ice cubes, pour in the coffee lemonade, and top it up with mint leaves. Enjoy it chilled! For a small get together, you can add a dash of white rum and turn this into a cooling cocktail.
