iced coffee mojito

i'm posting the finished product first. you know, just to entice you to read further. it is quite delicious and will make a tasty + refreshing summer drink, when summer decides to commit to a long visit.

this drink is a delightful discovery: the iced coffee mojito. it's non-alcoholic, but like any drink, the iced coffee mojito has much room for improvements. ;) i discovered the drink while in san francisco a few weeks ago. i follow a coffee blog, cleanhotdry, that gave me a few wonderful places to find amazing coffee in san francisco.

philz coffee, where i had the iced coffee mojito, was the least elite place of the 3 i checked out, though it was a warm atmosphere and definitely an experience you shouldn't miss out on. (i will write about the other 2 coffee shops another day, though. today i am focused on the iced coffee mojito.) philz' slogan is "one cup at a time." and it really was that. you line up in front of a row of a few baristas, similar to lining up at a bank, waiting for a teller to open up. you get your own personal barista for a few minutes, and he/she specially makes your drinks using the pour-over method of brewing. each coffee is fresh, special, and often personalized with a sprig of mint.

back to the iced coffee mojito and my attempt to try it at home. first, i brewed some coffee. i use a french press at home. if you don't have a french press (sometimes sadly known as a 'bodem'), you really should get one. if you don't know how to use the french press, jjbean has excellent instructions (under the 'coffee basics' tab). for this iced drink, the coffee should be brewed stronger than usual - less water or more grounds - since you will be adding ice to it later.

while i was waiting for my coffee to brew, i muddled a handful of mint leaves and a few teaspoons of sugar in the bottom of my glass with a wooden pestle. if you don't have a pestle, i guess you could try and smash the mint on a cutting board and then transfer to the cup. after muddling the mint + sugar, i added ice.

i then poured the coffee into the glass + stirred. milk can be added now if you like milk in your iced drinks. i don't typically, although the drink i had at philz was with milk (at the barista's recommendation - he was cute + friendly, how could i resist?). final step: consume. so there you have it. try it at home on a nice hot summer day.


oh yeah, this is what happens when your hand and your eyes don't coordinate well. or when you are holding and peering into a camera with one hand, pouring coffee with the other. when you are too lazy to take out the tripod or ask your roommate for an extra hand.

blueberries + apricots = yummy smoothie

as you can guess, i made a blueberry apricot smoothie the other day. it was delicious. i never measure things when i make them. but i basically just blended together blueberries, sliced apricots (i think they blend better if peeled..), honey & fruit juice (i only had grapefruit available).

to see the pics large & beautiful, visit my flickr. more specifically: this picture, this other picture, & yet another picture.

applecelerymint smoothie

i bought my house a beautiful book of smoothie recipes (&photography of said smoothies) for christmas (titled 'the perfect blend') and decided randomly this evening to make the 'apple & celery revitalizer.' but, with the excess of mint in my fridge, i decided to throw some of that in as well. i used coconut milk instead of regular milk for 2 reasons. one, the bottle of milk in my fridge is way past its prime. two, i wanted to share the smoothie with my sister, who can't have any dairy. the coconut milk was a great substitute though. it turned out pretty tasty, but i might add more lime next time as the drink slowly turned brownish as it sat there waiting for me to drink it up. brown smoothies just aren't that attractive. luckily my camera got to it before the natural browning process did.



here's what i did:
chopped up 1 apple (after i peeled & cored it)
chopped up 1 stalk of celery
chopped up a bunch of fresh mint leaves
blended it all up with a dash of salt, & an unknown amount of coconut milk
poured into pretty martini glass
garnished with mint sprig and strip of celery