I Love Coffee! by Susan Zimmer is such a fun book. You’ll learn all about the history of coffee, how to make a perfect cup, and find recipes for over 100 specialty coffee drinks! Best of all, the recipes seem fairly easy.
The first part of this book is devoted to learning about coffee. It covers all kinds of things I never knew about the different types of coffee beans, the countries that grow coffee, and how it is harvested and processed. There are even directions for roasting your own coffee beans. You’ll also find guidelines for choosing, grinding, blending varieties, and storing the beans.
And who knew that there were so many ways to brew coffee? The book explains the advantages and disadvantages of the automatic drip, the manual drip , the percolator, the cold-press, the French press, the vacuum pot, and the Middle Eastern Method.
Espresso brewing gets its very own chapter which includes the explanation of crema, and a breakdown of the various methods and machines.
Fun quotes and interesting facts about coffee are scattered throughout the book. For example, brewed espresso contains over six hundred chemical components. And it takes about forty-two coffee beans to make a single serving of espresso.
Chapter Four explains how to make coffee drinks, how to steam and froth milk, and even how to make shapes like leafs and hearts on top of lattes.
The second half of the book is devoted to recipes that I can’t wait to try. Recipes for hot coffees, iced and blended drinks, martinis, dessert drinks, seasonal coffee drinks are included. There are even directions and tips for making your own coffee syrups and whipped cream.
Some of the recipes I can’t wait to try are: Black Forest Latte, Amaretto Mochaccino, and Café Mudslide. The coffee drinks all look and sound very fancy, but the directions are straight forward and the ingredients are minimal. The Fake-a-Frappéccino takes strong coffee or espresso, chocolate syrup, vanilla-flavored syrup, milk, crushed ice, and whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles for garnish. I skipped the garnish, but the rest of the drink tasted just like the Frappuccino that I love from Starbucks.
I’d recommend the book to anyone looking to buy a new coffee maker and to people who would love to make fun coffee drinks for themselves and guests.
Also See:
My Peppermint Mocha – A Budget Necessity. Yumm
Thanksgiving 101 – Rick Rodgers