Iced Coffee with spices and brandy for the exotic Sri Lanka!

It's really incredible the variety you can meet in frozen, cooler coffees. The next sentence came to us from afar: from Sri Lanka, the formerly colonial Ceylon.

Coffee is a particularly old affair in Sri Lanka since the Dutch colonizers brought the first coffee beans to the island since the 17th century, and when the country passed into British sovereignty, its Arabica coffee production was among the largest of the entire planet. However, in the 19th century, the spread of a fungus called "coffee rust", almost completely destroyed Sri Lanka's coffee farms, forcing the locals to turn to tea cultivation. That's why, historians argue, tea is the "national" drink of Great Britain, as if there was no rust, the English would probably have turned into fanatical coffee lovers!

Coffee is still grown in Sri Lanka, which has developed a coffee culture that is quite similar to that of Southeast Asian countries. Locals love filter coffee , usually by adding milk and sugar. Particularly unique, Sri Lanka's frozen coffee has a special, distinct flavor owing to spices and brandy. Its texture, creamy due to concentrated milk, makes itreminiscent of a milky milkshake or smoothie. It is a special, different proposal for icy coffee, combining the comfort character of the creamy texture with an exotic air due to the spices - the Asian summer in a glass!

What do you need for a Sri Lanka Iced Coffee?

• 1 liter of cold water
• 1 cup of water
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 500g evaporated milk
• 5 tablespoons of coffee
• 10 cardamom seeds
• 10 cloves 
• 1 shot of brandy or cognac

ΠHow is Sri Lanka Iced Coffee prepared?

• Boil one cup of water together with spices and coffee. Leave it for ten minutes
• Filter the coffee and let it come to room temperature
• In a jug, mix milk and filtered coffee
• Add the cold water
• Add brandy and vanilla extract
• Serve it cold, possibly filling some ice.

Tips for a delicious Sri Lanka Iced Coffee

• Vanilla extract is not so common in Greece, so if you cannot find it, you can replace it with any coffee syrup, ideally with vanilla or caramel flavor.
• Ceylon coffee does not contain sugar as spices and milk enrich its taste. If you want your coffee to be sweet, we can use sweetened milk at a ratio of 50/50 with the standard condensed milk.
• Coffee in South East Asia is strong and intense, and the style of this preparation requires a blend of strong body so that the taste of coffee is not lost. A blend ideal for Freddo, rich in Robusta, is all you need for Ceylon coffee.
• Traditionally, this coffee is prepared in large quantities and served in small glasses. It is kept in the refrigerator for a couple of days without any problems and without altering its taste, in a closed bottle or in a carafe covered with a membrane.
• Although traditionally served frozen, if you omit the cold water, spices and brandy give flavors that make this coffee ideal for festive, winter occasions.

It's incredible how far can coffee travel us. With a spoonful of coffee, spices and a brandy shot, we can move to the other end of the world - and indeed, enjoying a frozen, refreshing drink.