I can almost guarantee that this is the Best Hangover Cure Ever. Sweet, cold, and caffeinated. However, it is also pretty clear that I made this (badly) and took photographs (badly) whilst being slightly hungover myself so, dear reader, you're going to need a bit of imagination here.
This coffee has brought me back to life many mornings in Thailand - there's something extra special about buying it from the street sellers who serve it in a plastic bag with a straw and drinking it whilst meandering along in the heat. I did briefly consider putting mine into plastic bags but given that I was having trouble making it at all, I thought I'd keep it as simple as possible.
All you need to make two servings (with enough to make ice cream as well) is to make half a pot of very strong (double or triple strength) coffee. Or use instant, I'm sure it would work fine. I don't think this is authentic for Thai iced coffee but I once read somewhere that Vietnamese iced coffee is made using cardamom pods too, so I like to crush a couple of pods and add to the pot to brew with the coffee. I'm not sure you can taste the cardamom but I like the ritual of adding it. Once made, leave the coffee to cool to room temperature.
Put half a cup of the cooled coffee into each glass and add approx two tablespoons of condensed milk per person, and mix well. Add lots of ice and a slosh of cold milk. Taste and add more coffee, condensed milk, ice and milk as needed. It needs to be very strong and very sweet and very cold.
Here's how not to do it - pouring the coffee over ice and not mixing the condensed milk properly. I poured it all back out into another glass and mixed it properly before pouring back.
Anyway, on this occasion it didn't really matter what it looked like - it WORKS! And it's delicious of course in the summer too.
Or how about making coffee ice cream?
Put 600ml double cream and a tin of condensed milk (397g) into a big bowl with another quarter of a cup (or a couple of tablespoons) of the cooled strong coffee, and whisk with an electric whisk until fluffy soft peaks are created. Pour into a tub and put in the freezer overnight.
And that's it. Really good and really easy.
If I get the iced coffee looking a bit better next time I make it, I'll add another picture.
And given that today is New Year's Eve, that time could well be tomorrow ... in the meantime, happy new year everyone!
