Showing posts with label Coffee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Coffee. Show all posts

Friday, October 5, 2012

Chai Spiced Espresso


I'm not a big chai tea person but I am a coffee lover! In this recipe I have combined the signature spices you find in chai tea with espresso and created a nice little "chai-scented" brew.




 Ingredients

1/4 cup espresso
2 tsp Chai Spices (cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, cloves, anise, all spice, black pepper)
2 TBS Honey
1/2 cup Rice Milk, Almond Milk, or Non-fat Cow's Milk


Set Up
I ground my chai spices freshly in a coffee/spice grinder. I spooned the freshly ground spices onto the packed espresso in my moka.

You can read more about a moka here & here. I got mine in Italy but they are available at Bed, Bath, Beyond  and Amazon.

Brew the espresso on your stove top just like you normally would in a moka.

If you don't have a moka you can use a traditional coffee maker. Add you grounds to the basket or filter and sprinkle the chai spices on top and brew.



Once the espresso is brewed, add honey or your favorite sweetener to the bottom of the cup.

Next pour the hot espresso or coffee over the honey. Then top with foam and spices.



I foamed my milk in a Nespresso foamer but you can froth yours on the stove with whisk or a traditional espresso frother.

Non-fat cow's milk creates the best foam but you can get a pretty good "froth" with rice or almond milk.


 I topped mine with a few additional chai spices. You can make this as sweet or as "milky" as you want. You could even add a scoop of canned pumpkin to make it a "Pumpkin Spice Latte."

You can find more chai recipes on Mary's blog & Christina's blog this week!



Photos take by Alisa Lewis. Edited by Mary Banducci.

Friday, September 3, 2010

Macchiatos from my Moka!


Would anyone like an afternoon Macchiato?
I like coffee! No, wait...I LOVE COFFEE! Good coffee, that is! I love an afternoon espresso or americano but those can start adding up especially when two of my favorite espresso stands are just down the street form my house! When I was in Italy 3 years ago, my cousins introduced me to a Moka! It changed my life!


You can make fabulous espresso right on your stove top with one of these beauties! The one pictured is not the one from Italy...that one melted and deformed from so much use on my previous gas stove top. We actually found the one above at Ross!





You pack your espresso in the disk, place water in the bottom chamber, screw the top chamber on and place it on the stove to percolate.



The espresso starts to bubble up out of the spout and then it's ready to pour!



I like mine with just a splash of half & half. If I had a steamer, I would add a spoonful of milk foam on the top like they serve these in Italy.


I got my little Macchiato cups and tray on the Almafi Coast! It is hand painted from a cute little pottery town, called Vietri, overlooking the Mediterranean sea! I wish I had bought a few more...next time!



The walls were decorated with pieces of pottery!






One of my favorite pics form Italy!


This is my husband and I outside of the little shop where I bought my Macchiato cups!
He proposed in Italy a few days later! (More to come someday about that story!)