Fat Americano - Coffee with a "Twist"

Jo and I love coffee. The both of us growing up in Ipoh had exposed us to coffee at a very young age. I was not a fan of coffee growing up, but as I entered my teenage years, the love for coffee slowly grew.

Jo on the other hand, is a coffee junkie. I was told that, even at a very young age, Jo was never hindered by the bitter taste of coffee. Apparently, her parents tried to make her stop sucking on the pacifier once by putting a little coffee powder on the pacifier, but to their surprise, she loved it.

We are deeply blessed to be able to try different types of coffee each time we travel to a different country. The Blue Bottle Coffee from San Francisco and the Market Lane Coffee in Victoria Market, Melbourne still stands at the top of our list. Nevertheless, there are still tons of coffees we would love to try in the future.

A few months back while having coffee with some friends, the coffee bar offered our table a cup of chilled coffee, the Fat Americano, something they have been playing around or tinkering with. So what is a Fat Americano? A Fat Americano is like a regular Americano, but the water is replaced with soda, in this case, Coke, hence the "Fat" in front of the Americano.

Coffee with Coke, sounds like a bad idea? To my surprise the Fat Americano was actually quite good. The barista was kind enough to explain to us how they engineered that surprisingly interesting cup of coffee. Iced cold coke with a shot or two of espresso she said. So where is this coffee place you might ask? It is Butter and Beans, a rustic coffee place in Taman OUG. Do check them out, a great place for coffee, tea and to satisfy your cravings for desserts. Definitely a place worth dropping by especially on those lazy weekends where you just want to sit down and enjoy a good cuppa.

The Fat Americano has since became a constant craving for me, especially on a hot day (it's hot almost every day here in Malaysia, but some days, the humidity can really get to you). So one weekend, I decided to give the Fat Americano a try.

What do we need?

1 or 2 shots of espresso.

1 can of Coca Cola.

1 tall glass, filled with ice cubes.

Making the "espresso" at home

We do not have an espresso machine, but thanks to Jo, we do have a French coffee press in the kitchen. It is definitely not an true cup of espresso, but it is close enough to satisfy my craving for a Fat Americano.

First, I put 2 1/2 tablespoons of grounded coffee into the coffee press (I used Tchibo Espesso Milano Style coffee beans from Italy, a gift from Jo's friend some time back when he visited Italy). Filled the coffee press with hot water (enough to yield 2 cups of espresso). Try to use hot water instead of boiling hot water as boiling hot water might ruin the taste of the coffee yielded. Leave the coffee to steep for 4 minutes. Before pressing down the filter on the coffee press, I used a RM5 (approximately USD1.60) handheld milk frother from Daiso to try to created the crema-like top on the espresso. It did make the coffee a bit more frothier but of course not the crema we would see from using an espresso machine. After frothing the coffee in the press for about 2-3 minutes, remove the frother and slowly depress the plunger on the coffee press. Pour out the coffee into a small cup to cool(I managed to get 2 cups of "espresso", one for each cup of Fat Americano I am to prepare- for Jo and I). Fill a tall glass with ice cubes and empty a chilled can of coke into each glass of ice(approximately 150ml of Coke). Immediately after emptying the cans of Coke into the glasses, pour one shot of "espresso" into each glass of iced cold coke. Stir well and serve with a tall straw.

Hope this Fat Americano recipe will serve you when you crave for coffee but have an adventurous desire to try something with a twist.

Enjoy.