Beat It Up!

My go-to morning or afternoon drink when mate just doesn’t do it…a Batido! I learned how to make this from my beautiful and beloved Nelida. When I was young, just hearing the ‘clack, clack, clack’ sound of the spoon beating inside a mug got me super excited.
So I guess I can say making myself a batido makes me feel at home, all comfy inside. It is a bit of a process, but a good cup of coffee should be right?! Some people may be against this post because they don’t like instant coffee – but that’s alright! I say try it, and if you still don’t like it at least you have a reason not to!

1.5 rounded tablespoon of instant coffee
1.5 rounded tablespoon of sugar of your choice
Splash of water
1 cup of milk of your choice (or enough to fill your favorite mug)

Start by grabbing your favorite mug, put the coffee and sugar in and mix them together. Now let me stop right here to say something about the sugar. It has to be real sugar or raw brown sugar. Unfortunately stevia, or any powdery ‘light sugars’ don’t work. This is because for the texture to come out right the sugar needs to be grainy…if that makes sense. Just trust me and use the real thing!
Put your milk in a pot and start to warm it up.
Now add a splash of water to the coffee-sugar mix, just enough, not too much! Grab your spoon and get your beat on!

‘Clack, clack, clack’ switch hands ‘clack, clack, clack’

You’ll start to notice how the coffee-sugar mix starts to get creamy and turns a beautiful camel color. Don’t stop beating until it’s just right…with experience you’ll know! 😉
Your milk should be nice and hot by now. Pour it carefully into your mug as you simultaneously and slowly stir with your other hand. The creamy mixture you created will dissolve into the milk and a perfect frothy cream will form at the top of the mug – perfection!
Know you don’t need to use all milk, I know that for some this could be too heavy – try replacing half with water and see what you like! Make it yours by adding whatever you like to the mix. I’ve tried a bit of cinnamon for a little spice or a little cocoa powder for a mocha version!
Good morning, good afternoon…start it or end it right!

Not just another cookie…

Now, this is what I call a Chocolate Chip Cookie. And yes, I have capitalized all the C’s…because Culture Espresso Bar on 38th between 6th Ave. and Broadway deserves it!

Apart from having really delicious tasting coffee – I mean the kind you don’t even have to put sugar in-, these guys know what they’re doing when it comes to the CCC. Crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside, the perfect chocolate chip to dough ratio. It just cannot get any better than this (and if it can, and did, let me know where I can get some!).

So, either people who work in the area get a notice when these delights come out of the oven or they’ve developed a heightened sense of smell for them. The first time I was here I went looking for the cookies…all thanks to my handy dandy Foursquare. Got there, you could smell in the air that these were JUST being taken out of the oven (lucky me!) and they made me wait 10 minutes until my little fingers could handle the heat! Ugh! But maaaan was it worth it!

I ordered a flat white, finally got my ginormous cookie and sat down to enjoy! I broke apart my first bite, chocolate oozing out, there really is no way to explain this…is there?! Just plain melt-in-your-mouth goodness.

All of a sudden, while I’m trying to enjoy my moment, people start swarming in, I’m not kidding here, they were all there for cookies! Orders went something like this: One cookie with iced coffee, two cookies to go, 1 CCC for here 4 to go please!…in a matter of 10 minutes (the time it took me to enjoy my merienda – too quick? too slow? who cares!) the fact is THEY WERE GONE! =O

So yes, I think these people know when they come out of the oven…and it’s a good thing I don’t work in the area because my already developed sense of smell for – food in general – would become dangerous! But if you are close by and need a lift after a hard days work…stop, smell, step inside and enjoy…a really great cookie! =)