Dear All,

I just thought you’d like to know that my partner, Anita-Clare Field, has  been and gone and got her first cookbook out. In fact the second one is well underway. This is just a bit of information about the book and of course where you can get it from. It’s available on Kindle and in Paperback (for us puritans) HERE  if you fancy a copy. Signed copies are available if you would prefer.   Best   Caro LOVER OF CREATING FLAVOURS LAUNCHES NEW BOOK – FLAVOURS            For Immediate Release We are proud to announce the launch of our new book Flavours. 160 pages of recipe ideas and stories designed to encourage you to experiment with your favourite flavours in the kitchen. Written by Anita-Clare Field, founder of the hugely successful food blog Lover of Creating Flavours the philosophy is simple.   Flavours is about precisely that, creating flavour and enjoying what you eat on your terms. The recipes are here to provide a guide only. Yes, in their own right they are completely delicious, but everyone has a very sophisticated palate, each one of us knows what we like, be it salty, sweet, hot or sour and before I start sounding even more like a Thai recipe, I’ll just say this –  make the recipe YOU are most happy with.     A Cookbook With No Pictures  You will also see that there are no pictures in this book – it’s deliberate. It seems to me that the provision of pictures in cookbooks only serves to unnerve would be cooks and increase pressure to produce restaurant style  food. This book is about flavour, not what it looks like. It’s about challenging your taste buds and encouraging you to experiment in the kitchen without the additional pressure. It’s your food. I may have provided a recipe, but this is purely a guideline, a blueprint if you will. I want you to experiment with flavours that appeal to you. Feel free to tweak my recipes to suit your palate and then it will be your recipe, your presentation. I’ve left you room to makes notes, scribble additions or observations so you can make this book unique to you. There are so many people to thank for this book being possible. Firstly my Mama and Pa for teaching us about experiencing new food. Especially to my Mama for teaching me that food was about ingredients and taste not recipes. To my family Emma, David, Bekah and Ben who mean everything to me, I simply adore cooking with them and now in the family we have next generation of budding cooks who have cut their culinary teeth on the same principals as my little sister and I. To my darling Caro who edited and re edited and advised me so beautifully throughout this process, who is a constant support and rock and to my step daughter Isla, who is as passionate about flavours as the rest of us and loves her steak rare like me. Huge thanks to all of my friends, who have been so hugely supportive throughout this whole process. You all mean the world to me and I look forward to sharing some new flavours with you very soon.   Here’s what our readers think of our Flavours: WOW! This sounds delicious. As a vegan I am always on the lookout for tasty vegetables dishes. Can’t wait to show the wife. we will make this dish this week. Thank you ! – Paul Worthington We raise our own chickens on our place, so I’m always looking for new ways to cook them. This jerk chicken recipe looks so tasty! I’m going to try it next week. Thank you! – Amy Young Miller Oh yummy, I’ve just put my fork down having made this for dinner and this is the first place I’ve come to report back. It was wonderfully rich but not heavy. I added the spinach to wilt which really made it for me – I like to see green! – Jackie Walker This is a nice recipe of a great dish. The recipe is clean, easy to follow and complete. Once someone has tasted a properly made Coq Au Vin it will be forever in their memory. Your recipe will lead to that experience. – Chef  William Chaney I made the Panzanella and it was YUMMY !!! – Catherine Nevin

When I was still at school, I had the extraordinary experience of singing this piece with massed choirs and full orchestra, at the Festival Hall. I tried very hard to find you the counter-tenor that I sang with all those years ago because he had one of the most beautiful voices I have ever heard.

However, failing that, I found this stunning version sung by the choir of Clare College, Cambridge,with soloist Lawrence Zazzo….

When I was still at school, the arts section of a national newspaper reported the arrival of a celebrated American production of Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms from Carnegie Hall. It had apparently been touring to rave reviews from even the most jaded of critics. The soloist was a young Rhodes scholar. I adored the Chichester Psalms from the moment I first heard them. That was preparing for and then singing them with my school choir at the Royal Festival Hall in this very same production, featuring this same soloist. We sang it with a full orchestra, as the opening piece in a Christmas concert.

Each school had been asked to practice in isolation, learning the piece phonetically in Yiddish, the language it had been written in. Eventually, all the, boys only, girls only, co-educational, choirs came together in a couple of grand dress rehearsals. Singing it for the first time with full orchestra and massed choirs, rather than one piano, was exhilarating. The second movement, the Lord’s Prayer, opens with a flourish on the harp. Then the familiar notes of the psalm seem to hover above a haunting melody like jewels hanging on the air. Gradually, to the accompaniment of drums and cymbals, the piece evolves into a kind of battle hymn, before returning to a gentle reprise of the initial theme.

At this first rehearsal, a tall, immensely broad shouldered, well-muscled young black man was standing at the back. He looked as if he should be taking part in a Mr Universe contest, not listening to massed choirs sing. Then as the orchestra swooped into the familiar, sweet lyrical notes of the pivotal section, the Lord’s Prayer, he stepped forward and the most hauntingly beautiful counter tenor voice spiralled out of his throat, upward into the rafters…

“Adonai, ro-I, loh ehsar, binot day, shey yah but sehni, Al may mnu hot, gad naa lenii…”

Every member of that massed choir, and there were about 500 of us as I remember, turned as one to marvel at the beauty and purity of tone. It was utterly, intoxicating, mesmerising, bewitching…it was, as Bernstein intended it to be, a call to listen, a call to wonder, a call to prayer.

Judge for yourself…..

I have written some short pieces about my dog already. Here is another. This is Macgregor at his very best.

Macgregor was always a very friendly dog. His instinct was to befriend anyone, human or otherwise, and this has always ben tempered by a very fine pair of gnashers. These teeth would not look out of place on a dog twice his size. When he approaches, other animals and small children shrink, thinking he is baring his teeth. In fact he is smiling, proven by a simultaneous furious tail flutter.

Once he’d made friends, everyone tended to bow to his leadership qualities. As indeed did Babs. She was a collie with a typically highly strung temperament who was almost twice his size yet treated him with suitable deference. He would wander down the road to Fisher’s Farm each morning. There would be a furious display of affection, sniffing and general mayhem. Once done, they would go for a promenade together.

They walked as far as the farmhouse at the end of the road, to say hello to the labradors there. Then on to the View to see a cocker spaniel, up to the other end of the road to Brookside, to meet up with a Heinz 57, then back home again. Their walk was always circular and always done in a strict rotation, as if hierarchical. On other occasions, Macgregor would make this trip alone, usually after a haircut. As you will see from his picture, he was an exceptionally hairy dog, and so needed clipping at regular intervals. When he was, he always took himself for one of these walks. This time in reverse, starting with Babs and the Heinz 57 (who live opposite one another) first… Macgregor would strut back and forth about five or six times, as if to say, look at me! How smart am I? How handsome? And it was true! He looked gorgeous! Rather like a rather better kept (for that read less unkempt) miniature Fox Terrier!!

One Saturday morning, early, about 5.30, Macgregor went mental…biting the front door, barking, throwing himself at it…Eventually, after enduring this appalling racket for over an hour, I got up and let him out. He charged up the drive, just as fast as his legs could take him, and disappeared around the corner out of sight. The house awoke properly about 3 hours later, to a deafening silence. Macgregor was not at home. And he did not return….

Eventually, around 11, our curiosity piqued, we went in search of him. We did not need to go far. He was about 60 yards up the road, to one side of it, lying next to his beloved Babs. She had been hit by a vehicle and was clearly dead. Macgregor was lying next to her, with his chin on her paws. He was not howling, but he was crooning…a low, mournful dirge for her. Every so often, he would stop and nudge her muzzle, as if to breathe life back into her. As if to persuade her to wake up. If anyone went close, us, Michael (Babs’s owner), he would growl softly to warn us away.

They lay like that side by side, for the entire day. Cars came and went. Macgregor did not move a muscle. One beady eye watched, as they pulled around them, but he kept his vigil. At about 8.30, he got up from where he had been lying and barked until Michael came out of his house to fetch her. Then with one last nudge of her muzzle, as if to say good bye, he walked back home.

For the next week, he was very sotto voce. He returned each day to sit next to the exact spot where she had lain when she was knocked over. He sat quietly there for the entire day, then just came home and lay down in his bed. He mourned for her for a week.

The Quantock Hills are an anomaly. They were the first area in England to be named an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, yet most people have not even heard of them. Instead they race past to Exmoor, along the coast to Linton and Lynmouth or to surf at Croyde. A few years back, the Bridgwater Camel Company was set up in Plainsfield to provide treks in the area. It is a small village, nestling in the Quantocks, near where I lived until very recently. What a great way to see this amazing landscape it is too. High from the back of a camel.

Macgregor, like many small dogs, had an ego the size of the Taj Mahal and Great Dane size delusions of grandeur…He believed himself to be king of the world. He also, like every other entire male dog on the planet, had a very healthy libido. One that not every other creature he met necessarily shared…

The Camel Co. used to exercise their camels on the beach at Steart. This is one of the few beaches locally that is sand, rather than stone. We had taken Macgregor to the beach to exercise. This was his favourite walk. He loved water and splashed in and out of the sea repeatedly, even, once, on New Year’s Day, when his minders discovered, to their cost, they had to venture into the surf to fetch him back….

On this particular occasion, the camels had had their canters along the beach and were tethered by their horse box. One of them, having had a wearisome morning was lying on the beach, her chin on the ground, eyes closed. Macgregor saw this as an open invitation, so raced around her back end and, being red-blooded, mounted her. Bless her! So small was he in comparison to her that she did not even notice…not even a twitch of an eyelash. He, on the other hand, was severely tested. The angle he was attempting was just too steep. Try as he might, he just kept slipping back down. Undeterred, he raced around the front again. She had her chin resting on the sand, eyes closed, and was gently snoring. He assessed her for approximately 30 seconds then decided that the same method of attack was appropriate, so he started  humping her left nostril.

On this occasion she did take notice. Astonished, her eyes flew open. Fluttering her impossibly long eyelashes, she lifted her head. in startled shock. Macgregor, oblivious, just kept going, even when 3 foot off the ground. He stopped only, when suitably outraged, the camel cleared her nostrils of ALL unwelcome objects (including the dog) by sneezing very loudly. He shot backwards at some velocity, landed on all fours, like a cat, and nonchalantly, trotted off up the beach…

The Coca-Cola contour bottle is a treasured and iconic shape. Created in 1915, it was designed in 1915 by Earl R Dean of the Root Glass Company. Dean and his team decided to base the bottle design on the drink’s two main ingredients, the coca leaf or the kola nut. Dean couldn’t find any photographs of either, but became inspired by the cocoa pod, and transformed the shape of the pod into a bottle. This shaped bottle, together with the Coca-Cola logo itself makes the drink the single most recognizable brand in the world.

Dean sketched out the design of the bottle, and it was approved for moulding in only 24 hours. A prototype was made, and the bottle received a patent in November 1915. However, the prototype of the first contour bottle never actually made it into production because its diameter was larger than its base, making it unstable on conveyor belts. Dean solved the problem by reducing the diameter slightly.

The patent for the contour bottle was renewed on December 25th, 1923, thus creating the “Christmas” bottle. This particular bottle has become hugely popular amongst collectors because most of these bottles bear the name of the city where they were first filled on the base plate.  In 1957 The Coca-Cola Company decided to eliminate the traditional embossing of its trademark on the bottle, and replaced it with Coca-Cola in white Applied Color Labeling (ACL). In 1960 the bottle was registered as a trademark, becoming only the second package in history to be trademarked in this way, the first being a “Pic-Pac plaster”.

Since then, the contour bottle has seen many incarnations. In 1994, the plastic contour bottle was introduced, in 2007 aluminum contour bottles were introduced and in 2008, Coca-Cola introduced a contour aluminum can to select markets, designed by Turner Duckworth as well as a 2 L plastic bottle.

In 1886, the Statue of Liberty was being erected in New York Harbour. Eight hundred miles away, another potent symbol of Americana  was about to be created by one John Pemberton, a pharmacist in Atlanta, who created a delicious, caramel-coloured liquid. When he felt the taste was just right, he carried it a few doors down to Jacobs’ Pharmacy. Here, the mixture was combined with carbonated water and given to customers who unanimously agreed that it was something special. So Jacobs’ Pharmacy put it on sale for five cents (about 3p) a glass.

Pemberton’s bookkeeper, Frank Robinson, named the mixture Coca-Cola, and wrote it out in his distinctive, cursive script. To this day, Coca-Cola is written exactly as Robinson did all those years ago. In the first year, Pemberton sold just nine glasses of Coca-Cola a day. A century later, The Coca-Cola Company has produced more than 10 billion gallons of the syrup that is at the drink’s core. Over the course of three years, between 1888-1891, Atlanta businessman Asa Griggs Candler secured rights to the business for a total of about $2,300 (about £1,500). Candler would become Coca-Cola’s first president.

Asa Candler transformed Coca Cola into a business. He gave away coupons for complimentary first tastes, he outfitted distributing pharmacists with clocks, urns, calendars and apothecary scales bearing the Coca-Cola brand, he ensured that people saw the Coca-Cola brand everywhere. By 1895, thanks to his marketing skills, Candler had built syrup plants in Chicago, Dallas and Los Angeles.

In 1894, a Mississippi businessman named Joseph Biedenharn became the first to put Coca-Cola in bottles. He sent 12 of them to Candler, but he wasn’t impressed. Despite being a brilliant and innovative businessman, Candler just didn’t recognise that the future of Coca-Cola would be with bottled beverages customers could take anywhere. He still didn’t realise it five years later, when, in 1899, two Chattanooga lawyers, Benjamin Thomas and Joseph Whitehead, secured exclusive rights from Candler to bottle and sell the beverage – for the sum of only one dollar.

In order to ensure that Coca Cola should not be confused with other, inferior, copy-cat drinks, Coca Cola decided to protect the brand by designing a bottle that was syonymous with the drink. The Root Glass Company of Terre Haute, Indiana, won a contest to design a bottle that was instantly recognisable. In 1916, they began manufacturing the famous contour bottle, which remains the signature shape of Coca-Cola today. It was chosen for its attractive appearance, original design and the fact that, even in the dark, you could identify the genuine article.

In 1900, there were two bottlers of Coca-Cola; by 1920, there were about 1,000 and the company moved into Canada, Panama, Cuba, Puerto Rico, France, and other countries and US territories. The company’s presence worldwide was growing rapidly, and year after year, Coca-Cola conquered new territories: Cambodia, Montserrat, Paraguay, Macau, Turkey and more.

Advertising for Coca-Cola, always an important and exciting part of its business, really came into its own in the 1970s, and reflected a brand connected with fun, friends and good times. The international appeal of Coca-Cola was embodied in a 1971 commercial, where a group of young people from all over the world gathered on a hilltop in Italy to sing I’d Like To Buy The World A Coke. 2011 saw Coca-Cola reaching the grand age of 125. From the early beginnings when just nine drinks a day were served, Coca-Cola has grown to be the world’s most ubiquitous brand, with more than 1.6 billion servings sold each day.

A post today about coffee trivia for the most addicted amongst us!

Many consider espresso to be the strongest coffee you can buy. It actually contains only one third of the caffeine of a regular cup of filter coffee. This is because it is made with the finest quality Arabica beans, which contain less caffeine than Robusta beans, which are used in many coffee drinks…

Starbucks is the largest coffee retail franchise in the world at 15,000 stores worldwide, but it actually sells more milk by volume than coffee…

Transportation of coffee beans is largely done by ship. There are more than 2,500 commercial ships making these journeys each year…

There are 10,000 coffee houses in Tokyo alone! Japan is the world’s third most enthusiastic coffee-drinking nation…

Nestlé in Switzerland invented the first freeze-dried coffee, Nescafé, in 1938…

When a coffee tree is in bloom, it is covered in 30,000 white flowers which begin to turn into fruit after 24-36 hours. A coffee tree can bloom up to 8 times a year, depending on rainfall…

More than 100 million people worldwide make their living from coffee…

It is the world’s second most popular drink, after water…

There are 900 varieties of Arabica…

A coffee aroma develops at the tenth minute of roasting. Coffee increases in volume during roasting by 18.6%…

When people think of Mocha, they imagine a coffee with chocolate added to it. However, originally, the term was used because there is a coffee bean called Mocha that comes from Yemen that has a chocolatey taste…

Lloyds of London and the New York Stock Exchange started out life as coffee houses…

In 2001, Brazil produced a coffee-scented postage stamp to promote its coffee industry. The smell lasts for 3-5 years…

Theodore Roosevelt was an obsessive coffee drinker, consuming a gallon of it a day! Even I wouldn’t recommend this…

The coffee filter was invented by Melitta Benz, a German housewife in 1908 because she was tired of the grounds in her cup of coffee making her drink taste bitter…

In ancient Arab culture, a woman could only divorce her husband if he did not provide her with enough coffee…

New Yorkers consume, on average seven times more cups of coffee than the inhabitants of any other city in the USA…

It is common knowledge that coffee grounds sprinkled around plants will keep snails and slugs away. But did you know that a mixture of coffee grounds and sugar, fed to a jaded pot plant and watered regularly will revive it..?

The average yield from one tree is the equivalent of one roasted pound of coffee…

You can choose to bathe in coffee, tea, noodles or wine in The Japanese Spa in Hagone, Kanagawa…

Irish coffee was invented to warm up cold Americans leaving from Ireland by plane…

Dorothy Jones of Boston was the first American coffee trader, In 1670 she was granted a license to sell coffee…

Coffee is actually a fruit. Coffee beans are the pit of a coffee berry, or cherry, which is initially yellow, but which then turns orange and finally red 6-8 months after flowering…

Johann Sebastian Bach wrote a coffee cantata, Schweigt Stille, Plaudert Nicht…

The addition of milk to coffee is thought to have started because a French doctor prescribed ‘cafe au lait’ to his patients…

Cambridge University developed the first webcam to warn them when the coffee pot needed refilling…

If you are health conscious, then you need to know that a brewed espresso contains 2.5% fat, whilst a filtered coffee only contains 0.6%…

Voltaire, the French philosopher, drank 50 cups a day…

It takes five years for a coffee tree to reach full maturity, coffee trees have a life span of 50-70 years but can live to up to 100 years old…

A lethal dose of caffeine is considered to be 100 cups of coffee…

Espresso is thought to be such a necessity to life in Italy, that the Italian government regulates it…

Someone found a way to brew coffee with marijuana in it, for a definite ‘spacey’, coffee buzz…

There are 65 countries in the world that grow coffee and they are all along the equator…

Hawaii and Puerto Rico are the only two places in the States that grow coffee commercially…

There are two types of coffee plants, Arabica and Robusta…

Being a Barista in Italy is a highly respected profession, since it is considered something of an art form. The usual age for a good Italian Barista is 48…

Before coffee caught on in the US in the 1700s, beer was drunk for breakfast…

Coffee is the second largest traded commodity in the world, oil is the largest…

In Africa coffee beans are soaked in water mixed with spices and served as candy to chew…

Brazil is the largest coffee producer in the world today, producing over 44 million bags of coffee each year, 27 million of which are exported, harvested from 4 billion coffee trees…

When Arab traders first brought coffee to Italy, Italian clergymen declared it the drink of the devil. However, Pope Clement VII loved the taste so much, that he ‘saved’ it for Christianity by having it baptised in 1600…

The U.S. is the largest coffee consuming country in the world, at 400 million cups per day, but did you know that we get through 1400 million cups a day globally..?

The average yield from one tree is the equivalent of one roasted pound of coffee…

Caffeine is present in the coffee plant to put animals off eating its fruit…

In the 1600s, the first coffee houses in England were known as ‘penny universities’ because one penny was charged for admission and a cup of coffee…

The second part of my stroll through coffee drinks the world over…

Eggnog Latte is drunk in the winter and is a blend of steamed milk, eggnog, a shot of espresso and a lunch of nutmeg

Eiskaffee is German for “ice cream coffee” and is a mix of coffee, milk, sweetener, ice cream and whipped cream (optional)

English Coffee is filter coffee with gin, cream and sugard added

Espressino is a mix of espresso, steamed milk and cocoa powder (see Marrocchino)

Espresso is brewed by forcing nearly boiling water, 86-95 C(187-203 F), through ground coffee beans to give a thicker consistency than regular filter coffee

Espresso Romano is a shot of espresso with lemon rind and sugar added to it

Espressino is served in a small glass and is a shot of espresso, cocoa powder and milk froth. an Italian invention (see Marocchino)

Flat White is an Antipodean invention, an espresso that has a similar proportion of milk to coffee as a cafe latte or cappuccino but the difference is the texture of the milk and the number of espresso shots

Frappuccino is a name registered by Starbucks for an iced drink, often with coffee in it

Gaelic Coffee is a liqueur coffee made with Drambuie or Glayva

Gafeh Rom is made by adding black coffee to condensed milk

Galeo is a Portugese drink. It comes in a tall glass and is one quarter espresso to three quarters foamed milk (see Meia de Lette and Chinesa)

Garoto is an espresso, ‘cut’ with a small amount of warm milk to reduce the acidity of the coffee (see Cafe Cortado, Pingo)

Guillermo is one or two shots of espresso poured hot over line and, if desired, ice and a touch of milk

Greek Frappe is a foam-covered iced coffee made from instant coffee and popular in Greece

Green Eye is filter coffee with a triple shit of espresso (see Triple Death)

Half-Caf is a drink made with half caffeinated and half decaffeinated coffee beans

Iced Coffee is a cold version of filter coffee, with or without milk. In Australia, a highly popular coffee flavoured milk drink in a carton is Farmer’s Union Iced Coffee

Indian Filter Coffee is a sweet, milky coffee made from a mixture of dark roasted coffee beans (70-80%) and chicory (20-30%) (se South Indian Coffee, Madras Filter Coffee or Kaapi)

Instant Coffee is dehydrated into powder or granules to which hot water/milk is added

Irish Coffee benefits from the addition of whisky and cream and sweetened with sugar

Jamaican Coffee is a liqueur coffee. Filter coffee has Tia Mari and Rum added to it, along with cream and sugar

Java is American slang for coffee

Kaapi is a sweet, milky coffee made from a mixture of dark roasted coffee beans (70-80%) and chicory (20-30%) (se South Indian Coffee, Madras Filter Coffee or Indian Filter)

Kaffee Fertig is a liqueur coffee made with prune schnapps, sugar and cream

Keoke Coffee is filter coffee with brandy, kahlua, cream and sugar added

Kopi Susu is popular in Indonesia, Borneo and Malaysia and, like Ca Phe Sua Nong, is made by adding black coffee to half a glass of sweetened condensed milk

Kopi Tubruk is made by adding black coffee to half a glass of milk that has been sweetened with sugar

Latte Macchiato differs to a latte in that the espresso is added to the milk, rather than the other way round, that only half a shot of espresso is used, more foam is added than milk and it is often drunk as a layered drink

Liqueur Coffee is, as it implies, coffee with the addition of the liqueur of your choice. The liqueur is added first, followed by a teaspoon of sugar, then filter coffee, then cream poured over the back of a cold spoon. The sugar ensures that the cream floats on the top freely.

Lungo is an espresso made with more water than usual

Madras Filter is a sweet milky coffee made from dark roasted coffee beans (70–80%) and chicory (30–20%), especially popular in India (see South Indian Coffee)

Meia de Lette is a Galeo but the proportions are milk and coffee 1:1

Mélange is popular in Austria, the Netherlands and Switzerland and is a mixture of cappuccino and latte

Macchiato is an Espresso with a dash of foamed milk. At first sight it resembles a small Cappuccino but even if the ingredients are the same as those used for Cappuccino a Macchiato has a much stronger and more aromatic taste

Marrochino is served in a small glass and is a shot of espresso, cocoa powder and milk froth (see Espressino)

Mazagran is a Portugese iced coffee served in a tall glass, made with espresso, lemon and ice, and sometimes sugar, rum or water

Melya is coffee with the addition of cocoa powder and honey

Mocha is one third espresso, two thirds milk, with the addition of cocoa or chocolate powder

Monks Coffee is a liqueur coffee made with Benedictine, sugar and cream

Oleang/Oleng is a Thai favourite. A blend of coffee, sesame and corn, it is served over ice

Pharisäer/Pharisee is popular in Germany and consists of a large mug of coffee, a double shot of rum and cream

Pingo is an espresso, ‘cut’ with a small amount of warm milk to reduce the acidity of the coffee (see Cafe Cortado, Garoto)

Priest Coffee is a liqueur coffee made with Brennevin (Icelandic schnapps), sugar and cream

Pumpkin Spice Latte, a Starbucks drink, consists of steamed milk, espresso, sugar, vanilla extract, foam and a pinch of pumpkin pie spice

Pocillo is a shot of unsweetened coffee

Raspberry Mocha is a regular Mocha with raspberry flavouring

Red Eye is filter or dripped coffee with a single shot of espresso. This drink is also known as a Shot in the Dark.

Red Tie is a Thai Iced Tea, which is a spicy and sweet mixture of chilled black tea, orange blossom water, star anise, crushed tamarind, sugar and condensed milk or cream, with a single shot of espresso

Red Tux is a Zebra Mocha with the addition of raspberry flavouring

Regular Coffee in New York City, Boston, and Philadelphia, a regular coffee is one with milk (or cream) and sugar. A variant phrasing is coffee regular.

Ristretto is a very “short” shot of espresso coffee. Originally this meant pulling a hand press faster than usual using the same amount of water as a regular shot of espresso. Since the water came in contact with the grinds for a much shorter time the caffeine is extracted in reduced ratio to the flavorful coffee oils. The shot could then be described as bolder, fuller, with more body and less bitterness.

Rüdesheimmer Coffee is an alcoholic coffee drink from Rüdesheim in Germany invented in 1957 by Hans Karl Adam. It is made with Asbach Uralt brandy with coffee and sugar, and is topped with whipped cream.

Russian Coffee is a liqueur coffee made with vodka, sugar and cream

Seville Coffee is a liqueur coffee made with Cointreau, sugar and cream Shin Shin is a liqueur coffee made with rum, sugar and cream

Skinny Latte is a reduced calorie latte made with steamed non-fat milk

South Indian Coffee is a sweet milky coffee made from dark roasted coffee beans (70–80%) and chicory (30–20%), especially popular in India (see Madras Filter, Kaapi, Indian Filter)

Soy Latte is a latte made with steamed soy milk

Toddy is the same as cold press/cold brew, in that it refers to steeping coffee beans in water at room temperature or colder for 12 hours or more before grinding the beans to make filter coffee which can be drunk hot or cold

Triple C’s is another Starbucks drink – it is a cinnamon dolce latte with caramel and chocolate syrup

Triple Death is dripped coffee with a triple shot of espresso (see Green Eye)

Turkish Coffee is made by immersing the coffee grounds in water which is hot but not boiling for long enough to dissolve the flavoursome compounds. In Turkey, four degrees of sweetness are used. The Turkish terms and approximate amounts are as follows: sade (plain; no sugar), az şekerli (little sugar; half a level teaspoon of sugar), orta şekerli (medium sugar; one level teaspoon), and çok şekerli (a lot of sugar; one and a half or two level teaspoons). The coffee and the desired amount of sugar are stirred until all coffee sinks and the sugar is dissolved. Following this, the spoon is removed and the pot is put on a moderate heat so that the coffee does not come to the boil too quickly, without time to extract the flavour. No stirring is done beyond this point, as it would dissolve the foam. Just as the coffee comes to the boil the pot is removed from the heat. It is usually kept off the heat for a short time, then brought to the boil a second and a third time, then the coffee is poured into the cups. Getting the thickest possible layer of foam is considered the peak of the coffee maker’s art. Regardless of these techniques, getting the same amount of foam into all cups is hard to achieve, and the cup with the most foam is considered the best of the lot.

Vienna Coffee is the name of a popular traditional cream based coffee drink. It is made by preparing two shots of espresso in a standard sized coffee cup and infusing the coffee with whipped cream (as a replacement for milk and sugar) until the cup is full. Then the cream is twirled and optionally topped off with chocolate sprinkles

White Coffee is popular in Malaysia. The coffee beans are roasted with palm-oil margarine, and the resulting coffee is served with condensed milk. The taste is smooth and sweet, and is often served iced.

Wiener Melange is one small espresso served in a large cup of coffee with steamed milk foam added to the coffee

Witch’s Coffee is a liqueur coffee made with strega, sugar and cream Yuang Yuang or Ying Yong is a mixture of coffee and Hong Kong milk tea (black tea with condensed milk added to it)

Zebra Mocha, sometimes known as a “Black Tux” or a “Black and White”, is a mixture of regular mocha with a white chocolate mocha

I have been working my way through the fascinating history of tea, now I am going to tackle another favourite drink…..coffee! Let’s start with an A-D of coffee drinks the world over..

Affogato refers to the topping of a drink or dessert with a shot of espresso. Caramel or chocolate sauce might be added too

Americano is the word used to describe adding hot water in any quantity to any number of shots of espresso, depending on the strength desired

Antoccino is a single shot of espresso, served in an espresso cup with the same proportion of steamed milk

A Shot In The Dark is an espresso on top of filter coffee, served in a regular coffee cup

Baileys Irish Cream Coffee is a liqueur coffee with Baileys, cream and sugar added

Bicerin is a drink native to Turin in Italy in which espresso, drinking chocolate and whole milk are served layered in a glass

Black Eye is a strong dripped coffee with a couple of shots of espresso (see Red Eye or Dead Eye)

Black Tie is a Thai Iced Tea with the addition of spices like star anise, orange blossom water, iced black tea, tamarind, cream or condensed milk and to shots of espresso

Black and White is another name for a Zebra Mocha, a mixture of regular mocha with a white chocolate mocha

Black Tux is another name for a Zebra Mocha, a mixture of regular mocha with a white chocolate mocha

Brandy Coffee is filter coffee made with brandy, sugar and cream

Breve is coffee made with steamed half and half cream*

Café Allongé – a French Americano

Café Au Lait is the traditional French way of preparing dripped coffee with milk

Café Bombon is popular in Spain and is usually served in a glass for visual effect. It is an espresso or black coffee with the same amount of condensed milk added (see Kopi Susu Panas [Malaysia] or Gafeh Rom [Thailand])

Cafe Borgia is a mocha with orange rind and/or orange flavouring added

Café con Hielo is a Spanish drink made with espresso, condensed milk and ice (see Ca Phe Sua Da and Café del Tiempo)

Caffè latte is a portion of espresso and steamed milk, generally in a 1:3 to 1:5 ratio of espresso to milk, with a little foam on the top

Café de Olla or pot coffee is a traditional coffee-based drink, flavoured with cinnamon and piloncillo prepared using earthen clay pots or jars in Mexico and other Latin American countries

Café del Tiempo ([Summer] Weather Coffee) is a Spanish drink made with espresso, condensed milk and ice (see Ca Phe Sua Da and Café con Hielo)

Caffè Coretto, an espresso laced with sambuca, grappa or brandy

Caffè Marocchino is made from espresso, steamed milk, and a dusting of cocoa powder, similar to espressino

Cafe Mocha is typically one third espresso, two thirds steaamed milk, and the addition of chocolate syrup or powder

Caffè Tobio is an espresso made with an equal amount of regular coffee

Café Touba is named after the town of the same name in Senegal, and is the spiritual drink of the country. The coffee beans are mixed with selim (an African black pepper) during roasting, then the drink is prepared like filter coffee

Cafe Zorro is a double espresso or doppio added to hot water in a 1:1 ratio

Calypso Coffee is a liqueur coffee. Filter coffee with the addition of Tia Maria or Kahlua and Rum and cream and sugar

Ca phe sua da is Vietnamese and is made by mixing black coffee with about a quarter to a half as much sweetened condensed milk and then pouring it over ice. In Spain, there is a similar beverage called Café del Tiempo ([Summer] Weather Coffee) or Café con Hielo (Coffee with Ice). Similarly, Café Bombón can be served with ice. The coffee is served in a small cup and an empty small glass with ices cubes. Sugar or condensed milk is added in the small cup while the coffee is still hot, and then the coffee is poured in the small glass with ices. When the coffee is cooled, the remaining ice is removed with the help of a spoon.

Cappuccino is an espresso with hot milk, and steamed milk foam. A cappuccino usually exceeds the height of the cup, making the foam visible above the side of the cup. A cappuccino is traditionally served in a porcelain cup, which has good heat retention.

Chai Latte/Dirty Chai Latte uses the steamed milk of a normal cafè latte but flavoured with a spiced tea concentrate instead of with espresso. Add espresso shots to this for a “Dirty Chai Latte”
Chinesa is espresso and foamed milk in equal proportions in Madeira and it is served in a coffee cup
Chocolate Dalmatian is a white chocolate mocha topped with java chip and chocolate chip.

Café cortado is an espresso meaning ‘cut’ with a small amount of warm milk to reduce the acidity of the coffee. The ratio of milk to coffee is between 1:1 – 1:2, and the milk is added after the espresso. It is popular in Spain and Portugal, in Norway and Latin America. In Cuba, it is knon as a cortadito. There are several variations, including cortado condensada (espresso with condensed milk) and leche y leche (with condensed milk and cream on top). In the United States it is sometimes known as a “Gibraltar” (see Pingo or Garoto)

Cold Brew/Cold Press refers to steeping coffee beans in water at room temperature or colder for 12 hours or more before grinding the beansto make filter coffee which can be drunk hot or cold

Corfu Coffee is a liqueur coffee made with Kumquat Liqueur, cream and sugar

Dead Eye drip coffee to which espresso is added

Decaff is a coffee beverage made with decaffeinated beans.

Dirty Chai is Chai tea with a single shot of espresso. A small amount of a dairy or non-dairy beverage of choice is usually added to complete the drink.

Doppio in espresso is a double shot

Dry Cappuccinois a regular cappuccino with a small amount of foam and no steamed milk