The key is a milk produced from Italian almonds.
Photograph: Bread and Salt
With good cause, American vacationers are suggested to not search out iced espresso in Europe. Chilly espresso does exist on the continent, however the common cafe doesn’t concern itself with making and storing buckets of chilly brew for pint-size to-go cups. And getting various cubes of ice in something is a professional problem. As a substitute, a handful of regional iced espresso drinks fill the void, just like the frothy Grecian freddo, cream-topped einspanner, and traditional shakerato. However the most effective and arguably least appreciated of those is from Puglia — a two-ingredient drink of almond syrup layered with espresso over ice referred to as caffè Leccese.
I’ve not but been to Lecce, however I’m comfortable to report that as an alternative of reserving a flight to Southern Italy, anybody who needs to do this can simply take a PATH practice to New Jersey, the house of Bread and Salt. The Jersey Metropolis bakery is greatest recognized for rustic pizza, crispy focaccia sandwiches, and old-school Italian specialties like fried baccalà and braised escarole. It’s the place that launched me to caffè Leccese. I’m satisfied it’s the greatest model on the earth.
A typical caffè Leccese might resemble a plain shot of espresso on ice, whereas Bread and Salt’s model extra carefully resembles a small iced latte, distributing the sweetness with creamy equilibrium and a sinking layer of espresso on prime.
“The syrup they use in Lecce is far thinner,” says Rick Easton, Bread and Salt’s proprietor, who first put the drink on his menu in 2022. As a substitute of the standard almond-flavored syrup, Easton appeals to dairy-loving Individuals with a wealthy almond milk he makes by mixing sticky Italian almond jam with sizzling water till it reaches the consistency of half-and-half. His favourite jam is made by Marco Colzani in Lake Como, which mixes three kinds of native Sicilian almonds for the right mix of texture and taste. Easton landed on it after a stunning quantity of R&D; he additionally likes Caffè Sicilia’s almond unfold for the job because it’s made with the intensely fragrant Romana selection, which supplies the milk a extra noticeable nuttiness. He has even experimented with grinding almonds to make the paste from scratch, however he prefers the constant outcomes that come from the jarred focus.
Since I can’t make it to Jersey Metropolis as usually as I’d wish to drink the most effective iced espresso on the earth, I tried to re-create Bread and Salt’s almondy milk at residence, approximating Easton’s ratio of “only a hair over a pint” of sizzling water per jar of almond unfold — at $22 per jar, it’s valuable — and emulsifying the combination with an immersion blender till the feel appears proper. Resist the urge to overly dilute this; it ought to be wealthy and candy sufficient to face as much as sturdy espresso and ice in a small however intense portion. And don’t skip the step of letting it chill fully within the fridge earlier than including some to a glass of ice.
I topped mine with espresso produced from the identical Capability Espresso beans the bakery makes use of. Whereas consuming it, I calculated about $6 price of almonds in my glass, a determine that disappeared as the following sip introduced a smile to my face, although I nonetheless received’t pour Sicilian almond milk on my Fruity Pebbles. “It’s an costly drink,” says Easton, who prices $6.50 for his model. “At first, we solely supplied it in the summertime. However we discovered fairly shortly that individuals wish to drink it year-round, so it’s at all times on the menu.”
Combine it up.
Photograph: Bread and Salt
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