What is the Meaning of Affogato Coffee and How to Drink It Properly - Should You Eat the Ice Cream First?

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When it comes to Italy's national desserts, besides Tiramisù, which means "take me away," there is another dessert known as Affogato, which claims to have "breathtaking deliciousness" and means "drown me." The similarity between these two desserts is that they both use espresso in their preparation. Tiramisù adds espresso + coffee liqueur, while Affogato involves pouring espresso over vanilla-flavored ice cream to enjoy together.

The Origin of Affogato

The original Italian meaning of the word Affogato is "drowned" or "breathtaking/choking." Why would Italians, who typically dislike adding other ingredients to espresso, make an "exception" by adding espresso to ice cream?

Legend has it that the origin of Affogato should be someone accidentally pouring freshly extracted espresso onto ice cream, or perhaps it was invented by a crazy barista's spontaneous experiment! It was named Affogato because of the appearance of ice cream (gelato) being drowned in espresso. Some also believe it was named because this drink is so delicious that it's breathtaking!

Strictly speaking, Affogato cannot be considered a coffee product. Describing it as a "coffee dessert" might be more appropriate.

How to Make Affogato?

The preparation of Affogato mainly involves pouring espresso over ice cream, allowing the hot coffee to melt the ice cream and form a rich foam on top. You can also add cocoa crumbs, almond crumbs, or cookies according to personal preference. The interweaving of hot and cold textures allows you to experience the rich and mellow flavor of espresso as well as the soft, smooth, and sweet taste of vanilla ice cream.

For espresso preparation, you can use an espresso machine or a moka pot/portable espresso machine. The advantage of using an espresso machine is that the espresso can present a beautiful golden crema, and the coffee extraction will be fuller and more uniform. The disadvantage is that the machine price is higher and cleaning is troublesome. The advantage of using a moka pot/portable espresso machine is that it's simple to operate and suitable for home use. The disadvantage is that there will be slightly less coffee crema, and the flavor will be relatively thinner.

For the espresso used to make Affogato, FrontStreet Coffee recommends using "FrontStreet Coffee Sunflower Warm Sun Blend Coffee Beans." This coffee bean uses 70% Honduras Sherry coffee beans and 30% Yirgacheffe Red Cherry coffee beans. The extracted coffee will exhibit whiskey aroma, gentle berry sweetness and acidity, vanilla cream, and nut caramel flavors. When paired with vanilla ice cream, it tastes like a Tiramisu-flavored Affogato!

For making Affogato, there is no specified ratio between coffee and ice cream; it's all determined by personal preference for the amount of coffee added. In Italy locally, Affogato is served with 1 scoop of ice cream, paired with about 2oz of espresso.

How to Extract Espresso?

If using an espresso machine, FrontStreet Coffee suggests using 20g of very finely ground coffee powder to extract 40g of coffee liquid, with an extraction time of 25-30 seconds as a reference for flow rate (SOE not applicable). For detailed extraction methods—(click here)

If using a moka pot, FrontStreet Coffee suggests using an amount of very finely ground coffee powder that is level with the powder chamber, and then adding water to the lower pot not exceeding the bottom of the pressure relief valve. For detailed extraction methods—(click here)

If using a portable espresso machine (Star颗粒), FrontStreet Coffee suggests using 18g of very finely ground coffee powder, using 95°C hot water to extract 40ml of coffee liquid. For detailed extraction methods—click here

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style)

For more premium coffee beans, please add the private WeChat of FrontStreet Coffee, WeChat ID: qjcoffeex

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