danyoung Senior Member Joined: 2 Oct 2003 Posts: 11 Location: London Expertise: Professional
Espresso: Baby Gaggia Grinder: Rancilio Rocky
Posted Mon Oct 23, 2006, 6:01am Subject: Frappé (Greek-style)
Coffeegeek.com may at first seem the worst place to be posting an instant coffee recipe. But even espresso purists recognize the virtues of frappé as that sensationally frothy iced coffee is known and prepared in Greece. For a frappé, instant coffee (preferably Greek Nescafe or one of Nescafe's stronger blends) is required to create a solution sufficiently dense in proteins (and therefore surfactants) to produce a thick foam.
With Vivian Constantinopoulos I've just co-written a book on the frappé phenomenon called "Frappé Nation." You can read more about the book and start a discussion at {Moderator note - Commercial link removed} But to save you some time, here is my recipe for a frappé:
Makes 1 serving
2 teaspoons instant coffee 2 teaspoons granulated sugar cold water 1-2 tablespoons evaporated milk or regular milk, optional
Place the coffee, sugar to taste, and 1/4 cup water in a shaker, jar, or drink mixer. Cover and shake well for 30 seconds or, if using a standing or hand-held drink mixer, process for 10 seconds to produce a thick, light-brown foam.
Place a few ice cubes in a tall glass. Slowly pour the coffee foam into the glass. Add a little milk, if desired, according to taste. Fill with cold water until the foam reaches the top of the glass. Serve with a thin, bendable straw and glass of cold water on the side.
danyoung Senior Member Joined: 2 Oct 2003 Posts: 11 Location: London Expertise: Professional
Espresso: Baby Gaggia Grinder: Rancilio Rocky
Posted Mon Oct 23, 2006, 7:41am Subject: Re: Frappé (Greek-style)
Because you can't make a Greek-style frappé from freshly brewed coffee. Here's why: Foams are produced by surface active ingredients called surfactants. In coffee foams the surfactants are proteins. With instant coffee, which is essentially brewed coffee from which most of the moisture has been removed, you can add back just a little water and thus create a solution extremely rich in protein surfactants. This solution, when shaken, produces an extremely thick, creamy, rich foam. Then additional water or milk may be added. But if you started with brewed coffee, even espresso, the solution would not be dense enough to produce a frappé-like foam, no matter how vigorously you shaked it. It might be bubbly on top, but not creamy like the head on a Guinness. For that you would have to add ice cream, ice, or thickening agents.
Ian Moderator Joined: 21 Jan 2003 Posts: 1,125 Location: England
Espresso: Euro2000,Rancilio Grinder: Mazzer,La Cimbali Vac Pot: Cona-->CraigA Drip: Belgique for emergencies Roaster: Primas with variac
Posted Mon Oct 23, 2006, 8:51am Subject: Re: Frappé (Greek-style)
It sounds like you put bubbles above flavour in importance? Most of us have spent beacoup time and money trying to get the best flavour possible and personally, it would take an awfully big reason to go out and buy a jar of that Nescafe crap again. In fact, if Nescafe was any good, then google wouldn't have led me here in the first place;)
Regarding surfactants, I wonder if you've ever had a proper espresso made from freshly roasted beans?
danyoung Senior Member Joined: 2 Oct 2003 Posts: 11 Location: London Expertise: Professional
Espresso: Baby Gaggia Grinder: Rancilio Rocky
Posted Mon Oct 23, 2006, 9:07am Subject: Re: Frappé (Greek-style)
Ian, I brew espresso at home every day. I love espresso. I've sampled espresso throughout Italy and from the best microroasters in Seattle and New York. I like the Vergnano shop here in London and Monmouth coffee is not bad. I've taken an espresso class at the Illy's University of Coffee in Trieste. I've suffered through bad coffees all over London and Paris. And so I know that instant coffee is as far from good espresso (or freshly brewed drip coffee) as Manchester is from Madagascar. Even if I were camping in the woods with no other coffee alternative to help pry open my eyes I might refuse a cup of instant coffee, whatever the brand.
Yet Greek-style frappé is a neat and fasincating drink. You're probably right, maybe I am putting bubbles above flavour. But so too are the many others like me who wouldn't be caught dead drinking instant coffee yet have nevertheless flipped for frappé (often due to the prerequisite that they didn't know there was instant coffee in the glass). It's a fascinating drink in a pop culture sort of way. And a small but essential part of that fascination, especially to an espresso drinker, is that it relies on so lowly and maligned a form of coffee. You might call it an "ironic attachment". For some it might also satisfy a thirst for reverse snobbism.
The_Mighty_Bean Senior Member Joined: 24 Feb 2006 Posts: 454 Location: Bowie, MD Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Currently dating Miss Audrey... Grinder: Tiny, loud & mean Italsomac,... Vac Pot: After La Peppina, Wifey... Drip: French press purist, have a... Roaster: Hot-Air Popper +...
Posted Fri Feb 9, 2007, 10:10pm Subject: Re: Frappé (Greek-style)
This looks delicious, Dan! Makes me sorry I purged my house of the freeze-dried stuff. I think this might be really interesting if you used cafe du monde with chicory to cut the bitterness. Another interesting variation would be to use instant espresso powder which is a popular "secret ingredient" in many a gourmet brownie.
Anyone out there wanna give it a shot and report back?
bAristoTelis Senior Member Joined: 12 Mar 2007 Posts: 1 Location: Athens,Greece Expertise: Pro Barista
Posted Tue Mar 13, 2007, 4:37am Subject: Re: Frappé (Greek-style)
For those who wonder, Frappe Greek Style is a form of art and part of the greek culture! I'm a frappe lover, cause i'm greek!it's the first coffee i've tasted when i was 12! So, don't think that istant coffee is so bad!it's just another kind! Of course it's not espresso, but you could give it a try! Here, in greece, with the Barista Championship, we also have Frappe Free-Style Championship! So, for us is something great!!
The_Mighty_Bean Senior Member Joined: 24 Feb 2006 Posts: 454 Location: Bowie, MD Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Currently dating Miss Audrey... Grinder: Tiny, loud & mean Italsomac,... Vac Pot: After La Peppina, Wifey... Drip: French press purist, have a... Roaster: Hot-Air Popper +...
I tried this but after shaking vigorously for 30 seconds all I had was a medium-thick, large-bubbled foam. How did you get yours so beautifully thick? I used Richfood instead of Nescafe but is it really brand-specific?
It should not be brand specific, but some types (air-dried, freeze-dried, granules, powder) react a little differently. If you bubbles are too big and your foam is not thick enough, I would try it with less water -- two or three tablespoons, just enough to soak the coffee granulars (or powder) and sugar.
The_Mighty_Bean Senior Member Joined: 24 Feb 2006 Posts: 454 Location: Bowie, MD Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Currently dating Miss Audrey... Grinder: Tiny, loud & mean Italsomac,... Vac Pot: After La Peppina, Wifey... Drip: French press purist, have a... Roaster: Hot-Air Popper +...
That helped a lot. I got a fairly thick foam with bubbles just a bit too big, and I think I'll get it just right if I decrease the water a little further.
Mine comes out a fairly dark "coffee" brown, where yours looks lighter in color like a chocolate milkshake. Why? Did you use a blender? Did you add cream or ice before the initial agitation?
Ha this is starting to sound like one of our discussions of espresso minutiae.
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