Home-made Affogato!

 Today I made my own affogato at home! The bean I used was a Costa Rica from Brazil. It has a mild smell and not really strong taste so many female like Costa Rica.

 Prepare the Moka Pot for espresso and the hand mill for grinding

 Use just the same method as I did with the Espresso making!

 Yay! I pictured the moment when espresso was coming up to the upper chamber from the bottom chamber! And! Can you see that yellow-goldish Crema? Espresso! LOL

 Prepare a scoop or two of vanila ice cream! I putted some banana at the bottom. :)

 Then pour the prepared espresso on the ice cream. It will melt as you pour the hot hot espresso on it

 My first affogato ! My dad said it was delicious so I'm satisfied! HAHAHAHAHA

Mommy's Instant Coffee Collection!

 These are all instant coffees of my mother! She bought several kinds of instant coffees when we're living in Malaysia and Singapore.

Theses are the coffees from Malaysia. They are Ali Cafe which I introduced last time!

There are different kinds of instant coffees but the only difference is about the amount of sugar! I guess..

These are the white coffee from Singapore! My mom bought it in Singapore but it's from Malaysia too. LOL  Although they are called WHITE coffee, they are not White.

Here is a definition and explanation from WIKIPEDIA

Ipoh "white" coffee is a popular coffee drink which originated in Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia. The coffee beans are roasted with palm-oil margarine, and the resulting coffee is served with condensed milk. ^[1] The term "white coffee" originates from the literal translation of its Chinese name, which was introduced in the 19th century by Chinese migrants who came to work in the local tin mines.^{[citation needed]}
Traditionally, Malaysian style "black" coffee roast (Kopi-O) is produced by roasting the beans with sugar, margarine and wheat. ^[2] "White" coffee, on the other hand, is produced with only margarine and without any sugar, resulting in a less dark roast. Chang Jiang White Coffee is one of the example of traditional style of white coffee. Ipoh White Coffee is also widely available in an instant version.^[1] It is sometimes consumed after dinner.^[3]

There are some Korean ones too! But my mom said they are not as good as Malaysia's!

Don't know why :)

THese are coffees from Indonesia! When we went to Bali, she bought packages and she said they are good! They are from the coffee farm in Bali.

Affogato

Have you ever tried Affogato? Affogato is a type of dessert with  a scoop of vanila ice-cream or gelato deeped in a shot of espresso. Affogato literally means 'drowned' in Italian.
In my opinion, this is one of the best dessert ever! The bitter taste of espresso and a sweet and creamy taste of vanila ice cream produce harmonious taste! Also, when the hot espresso and  cold ice cream mix and melt in mouth, you can enjoy speical feeling of cold ice cream melting and hot espresso spreding!
Ah, I should make an Affogato for me next week!

Ali Cafe from Malaysia

What is Ali Coffee and why is it special?

Tongkat ali coffee has become a household name for many men over the past couple of years. In fact, tongkat ali coffee is the latest craze to take over towns in certain countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia. In the past, Tongkat ali used to be limited to the wild tropical forests of SouthEast Asia.

Tongkat ali coffee is a widely available product throughout the Southeast Asian region. It has become popular in the western part of the world from recently following many accounts of success stories from the east. Tongkat ali is renowned in its ability to promote energy, vitality and improved resistance.

However, its bitter taste is something that many scientists and food technologists have not been able to defeat. That is why you are able to find tongkat ali coffee in supermarkets and pharmacies today.
Tongkat ali coffee is usually made from selected coffee beans, sugar and non dairy creamer mixed with Tongkat ali roots. The benefits of tongkat ali coffee can be seen as the same as using tongkat ali pills.
However for the regular user, drinking tongkat ali coffee comes with less social stigma and self anxiety than having to chew on pills which reminds themselves of sexual dysfunction related problems that one may undergo. The same is the reason why experts suggest that tongkat ali coffee is a great way to feel good about oneself while curing problems related to low sexual libido or sexual dysfunctions.
After effects are a great concern attached to alternative medicines such as tongkat ali. In fact, Taiwan put a ban on tongkat ali coffee and ordered supermarkets to remove the products from their shelves following a whirlpool of contradictions and misbelieves that led the official to believe that rongkat ali coffee has negative side effects on consumers. However, latest research shows that unlike vigra, which can be unhealthy for those suffering with high blood pressure and heart disease, tongkat ali is on to the helpful side where it increases sexual desire and provides vitality while controlling high blood pressure.
Controversy surrounding tongkat ali coffee does not end there. In certain countries, the term Tongkat ali coffee is prohibited because the term may give the impression that the drink is 100% tongkat ali. Should any product contain 100% tongkat ali, it would fall under traditional medicine instead of as a food supplement. Therefore, tongkat ali manufacturers are careful to send the product out in the market as a food supplement rather than a traditional medicine, for food supplements can be bought over the counter or off the shelf at supermarkets and pharmacies as opposed to traditional medicines that may need prescriptions.


When I lived in Malaysia, my parents were ADDICTED to this coffee. It's an instant coffee an has special ingrediant called 'Tongak Ali'. It is known as good for people's health! and it is really tasty! yum! If you want to taste some, ask me! I have plenty of them :)

The Cost between various Coffee Franchise Shops in Korea.

 Where do you prefer between various coffee franchise shops? Well, personally I like Starbucks the most since it has the best chocolate drinks :)... However, the coast of the coffee in these various shops are different. Why? It seems all similar, isn't it? Although they get different beans from different regions, their qualities are similar to each others. However, according to the chart above, Coffee Bean has the most expensive Americano(4000won) among 6 different shops. However, the Hollys has the cheapest Americano(3500won). For the Caffe Latte, Coffee Bean, again, has the most expensive one(4500won). For the cheapest, Tom ans Toms has the cheapest Caffe Latte(3900won). Generally, the Coffee Bean coast the most among the other shops. So, if you live in South Korea, by this chart, contrast the coffee coast and try to distinct the taste or atmosphere of the coffee shop!

El Salvador Espresso by Moka Pot

I think espresso is the basic of different kinds of coffees. It changes into various coffees with different ingredients added. But, since good espresso machines are quite expensive to buy, I use 'Moka Pot' to make espresso-like coffee.

This (←) one is the Moka Pot. It is also kwon as a macchinetta (literally "small machine") or "Italian coffee pot". According to my mother most of the Italians have at least one pot at their home. It is a stove top coffee maker which produces strong espresso-like coffee.  SO, it is a good tool to make coffee similar to the espresso if you do not have espresso machine. Moka Pot is divided into three different parts : Collecting Chamber(upper part), Basket (inner part), and Bottom Chamber(bottom part). 

This(←) is the Basket of moka pot. The coffee is putted on it and the water comes up to collecting chamber through it. 

The bean I choose for today is El Salvador form El Salvador, Central America. It is one of my favorite! It has mild and sweet scent. It has the exactly same scent of coffee in my imagiantion. :) love it!

Firstly, prepare the roasted El Salvador bean. Then measure the weigh. 7gram for a person is adequate. But I just used coffee scoup  ... :) 

Then, get the coffee grinder. I have two coffee grinder and this one is Kalita's coffee grinder. It is more classical than the other one, Hario. Personally I prefer Hario to Kalita because it is more practical. However I left it in my another home in Jeonju so i had to use it for today.

Now, put the bean into the grinder and spin the handle until it grinds the beans totally. For the moka pot, it is good to grind the bean fine and softly. So adjust the grinder for finest particle.

Can you see how coffee bean turned into coffee powder? It is very soft and fine!

If the coffee powder is ready, pour water into the bottom chamber.

Then, put the basket in the bottom chamber and put the coffee power on it.

Flatten and press the coffee powder with such thing as spoon.

Put the upper chamber on to the bottom chamber and boil. Put it on the stove and level the flame to the smallest and mildest one because the handle can be burned. Be careful! Also, it is better to have trivet to set the moca pot on the stove.

When it boils, turn off the stove. The coffee finally appeared in the coellecting chamber!

This coffee from moka pot is quite thick and bitter, similar to the espresso. Therefore, you can add other kinds of ingredients such as sugar, water or milk. For me, who do not drink coffee often, it was too bitter T^T although the scent was amazing.

I mixed the coffee with water and sugar! it was definately better! If you pour more water, it turns into Americano and if you mix the coffee with milk, it turns into latte! How easy to make a cup of variety of coffees by moka pot!

Do you like Coffee?

Basically, most of the people spend their whole day with coffee.

They begin their morning with coffee. Caffeine!

Also, drink a lot of coffee while they work.

Moreover, coffee is obviously needed after they finish their lunch.

Again, they drink coffee when they interact with the others.

Some people even drink coffee after their dinner.

We drink liters of coffee everyday but barely know about it.

What kind of coffee do you know other than Latte, Cappuccino and Americano?

Have you ever tasted coffee from other than franchise coffee shops such as Starbucks or Coffee Bean?

If you do not so, you have got to learn a lot more to enjoy coffee properly!

In this blog, I would like to introduce different kinds of coffee beans and coffee, methods to make coffee, instant coffee and various coffee shops in Korea.

Coffee is really charming if you have a little knowlege of it.

So! be enchanted by coffee!