Freddo Espresso
Φρέντο εσπρέσοFRED-oh es-PRES-oh
A double espresso whipped with a couple of ice cubes until it turns to foam, then poured over a fresh glass of ice. It is what most of Greece drinks all summer, and it takes about ninety seconds.
At a glance
- Coffee : ice
- 2 shots : 1 glass
- Active time
- 2 min
- Total time
- 2 min
- Makes
- 1 tall glass
- Serve
- Over ice
- Kit
- Spindle frother
Ingredients
Note: Order it the Greek way and the sugar is part of the name. Sketo is none, metrio is two teaspoons, glykos is four. This recipe is metrio.
Method
-
Pull the shots hot
Pull a double straight into a tall metal or plastic frothing cup. Add the sugar now, while the coffee is hot enough to dissolve it. Sugar added later just sits at the bottom of a cold drink.
-
Add two or three ice cubes and froth
Drop in the ice and run a handheld spindle frother at the surface for fifteen to twenty seconds. It goes from dark liquid to a thick pale foam that fills most of the cup.
Keep the spindle just under the surface. Too deep and it stirs instead of aerating.
Froth 15 to 20 seconds -
Pour over fresh ice
Fill a tall glass with fresh ice and pour the frothed coffee over it. The foam separates on the way down and settles as a pale cap two or three centimetres deep. Serve with a straw, because the foam sits where your lip would go.
Why this works
The foam is emulsified crema, and the ice is what makes it hold. Crema is a suspension of coffee oils and carbon dioxide in water, and it collapses within a minute in a hot cup. Chill it fast while agitating and the oils firm up around the air you are forcing in, which gives you a foam stable enough to last twenty minutes. Froth a hot espresso without ice and it goes flat almost immediately.
This is also why the shots must be hot when they go in. The whole effect depends on a rapid temperature drop happening at the same moment as the aeration. Chill the espresso first and then froth it, and there is no thermal shock left to do the work.
Two or three cubes is the right amount for a double. More than that and the ice melts into the coffee rather than chilling it, and you get a thin, watery drink with a thin foam to match. Pouring over fresh ice at the end is what keeps the dilution under control.
The handheld spindle frother is not a nice-to-have. Every Greek cafe has one, they cost very little, and nothing else produces quite the same texture. A cocktail shaker gets you about eighty per cent of the way, a milk frothing wand does not work at all because it is designed to inject steam.
Freddo cappuccino is the same drink with a cap of aphrogala on top: cold milk frothed with the same spindle until it thickens, no sugar, poured over the surface. If you can make one you can make both.
Variations
- Freddo cappuccino: top with aphrogala, cold milk frothed to a thick cold foam, unsweetened.
- Sketo, metrio, glykos: no sugar, two teaspoons, four. Decide before frothing, not after.
- With a shot of Metaxa: a Greek evening variant, poured in with the sugar.
Made it?
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Questions
Can I make it without a spindle frother?
A cocktail shaker works reasonably well: shake the hot espresso with the sugar and three cubes for about twenty seconds. The foam is coarser and does not last as long, but the drink is right. A milk steam wand does not work, because it adds steam rather than whipping.
What is the difference between freddo espresso and freddo cappuccino?
Freddo cappuccino is freddo espresso with a layer of aphrogala on top, which is cold milk frothed to a thick unsweetened foam. The coffee underneath is made identically.
Why is my foam thin?
Usually the espresso was not hot enough when it met the ice, or you frothed too deep in the cup. Keep the spindle just under the surface so it pulls air in.
Is this the same as a Greek frappé?
No, and in Greece confusing the two marks you out. Frappé is made with instant coffee shaken with a little water. Freddo is made with real espresso. They taste nothing alike.