What are you serving up when it finally gets hot outside?

Summer will soon be with us or, so we are hoping at least, with British weather you never can be quite sure.

So, when the heat hits what cool beverage will you be drinking during the lingering afternoons or after serving up a lovely barbecue? 

Well, if you haven’t already, why not give coffee tonic or an affogato a go? Both are super simple to make and surprisingly delicious.

Coffee Tonic

All that’s required to make a coffee tonic is espresso, ice, and of course tonic water. You could switch the espresso for some cold brew, either one works great.

The result is a beautiful refreshing beverage with a lovely brightness and the citrus flavour from the tonic water compliments the coffee and pairs amazingly with coffees that are more on the floral side.

You could of course play around with different flavour tonic waters to see how they turn out. Perhaps lemon or why not give elderflower a go to see if it compliments your coffee. Personally, so far I have only tried my coffee tonic with plain tonic water, but I look forward to a summer of experimenting with a range of flavours. Perhaps there will be a part two to this article… A lot of trendy cafes also mix the coffee tonic with different syrups such as caramel or cherry flavours. 

Fill a whiskey glass or a glass of similar size with ice, pour around 6oz of tonic in the glass.  Brew a double shot of espresso and pour it slowly over the ice and tonic. Voila, your drink is ready.

The coffee tonic can be served both with a salty snack such as crisps or some roasted nuts but would also work perfectly accompanying some fresh summer fruits for your afternoon pick me up treat.

 Affogato

If you’re feeling a little bit more indulgent then perhaps an Affogato is what you’re looking for.

Affogato means drowned in Italian. And that’s exactly what you’re doing when serving up an affogato, drowning vanilla ice cream in some delicious coffee. Allowing the ice cream to melt and join forces with the coffee.

To make the perfect affogato we recommend using two scoops of high-quality vanilla ice cream, toppings of your choice (if you wish) and two shots of espresso. The espresso is then poured on top of the ice cream and toppings.

Although you can of course enjoy an affogato at any time of the day, we would highly recommend it as the perfect ending to a delicious meal and if you or your guests are a bit vary of having caffeine in the evening, well then, we of course have the solution to the problem. Why not serve it with our signature decadent decaf espresso.

Please feel free to leave a comment and let us know what you think of the coffee tonic and the affogato, but also feel free to introduce us to other refreshing coffee combos. We are always looking to find amazing concoctions made with our favourite beverage, coffee.