Guilty Pleasure #1

Sick of my running posts yet? Let's mix things up a little. I have guilty pleasures as I'm sure everyone does. What I find guilty may not be so guilty for some and vice-versa. Either way, it's a good way for you to get to know me better. I get these pleasures off my chest and we all have a good laugh. Some topics may be extreme, others not so much.

In part one, of my "Guilty Pleasure" series I introduce to you...iced coffee. So what, you say? "I drink coffee every day, what's the big deal?" I haven't kept count but I am probably at 400 consecutive days (even through the winter) of drinking an iced coffee. Not that crappy Tim Hortons or McDonalds kind. It's brewed my way, at Coffee Lodge in the Sarnia area or at home with my espresso machine.

Why so crazy? At home, I have a professional espresso machine and a coffee-shop size inventory of Torino flavour syrups. (see my collection in the photo above).

Here's my secret to the perfectly made iced coffee, it's only 4 ingredients: Lots of ice, espresso shot (or two), flavour shot, dairy. **Use a strong, sealable cup. Buy an actual iced coffee thermos or use the same cup you might use for smoothies**

1) Fill the entire cup with ice. The colder the better it will taste.

2) Pour 2oz. of dairy (milk, cream, chocolate milk, soy milk, etc) into the cup of ice.

3) Pour 1oz of flavour shot into the cup.

4) Pour the espresso shot in the cup.

5) Cover with lid and shake well. It is better shaken not stirred.

6) Enjoy!

I would recommend that you do not add sugar to cup as the flavour shot is mostly sugar. My favourite flavour shots are gingerbread, cupcake, salted caramel and cinnamon. You can buy the Torani bottles online for about $11-$12 per bottle and shipping is usually free with a $50 purchase or more. The bottle is 750ml (25oz) in size so ideally you will get 23-25 iced coffees out of it.