I love coffee.

Some of you may already know that about me. Coffee has been a vital part of my existence since I was eight years old. Yes, I said eight years old. I had always adored the smell of coffee. And from the time I was a younger nipper I delighted in sneaking sips from my grandmother’s forgotten cold cups of coffee left on her side table. But at the ripe age of eight, at the recommendation of my pediatrician, I was given permission to drink a tiny cup of coffee to calm down my otherwise bright-eyed-and-bushy-tailed nature.

It was then that my love affair with coffee began.

Fast forward to my honeymoon in Greece with My Yanni.  This. This is where I fell in love with a frappé. You see I’m a hot coffee girl. I drink hot coffee on a 102 degree day. It’s just what I do. My Yanni on the other hand drinks cold coffee on a 32 below zero day. It’s just what he does. However, when in Greece do as the Greeks, right? So I tried a delicious frothy, perfectly chilly frappé on a 102 degree day and fell head-over-heels in love. We drank those glorious drinks every day all summer long whilst sitting underneath his grandmother’s gorgeous grapevines eating apricot jam.

From time to time I like to go back to Greece by sipping on a frappé with my eyes closed and my mind wide open on a chilly winter’s day. Turns a ho-hum day into a happy one in minutes.

You can too! This is all it takes.

Some instant coffee.

My Yanni & I love to use Nescafé ® instant coffee for our frappés. For one thing…Nescafé rhymes with frappé, *just kidding* in truth, we used it in Greece for our frappés 19 years ago so it holds a fond place in our frappé loving hearts. (This is not a paid post for Nescafé by the way.)

You’ll want to use a large glass to allow for proper froth-to-coffee-ratio. You’ll see what I mean later.

First, pour a heaping tablespoon of instant coffee into your large glass.

Next, add a teaspoon of sugar (or more if you like it really sweet).

Then pour in some milk to taste. We like to use a very large splash of milk or to be more precise, about 1/8 cup.

Next, add some ice cold water until the glass is a little over half full.

Now, at this point, the next step is to mix the concoction until it has a fabulous froth that almost fills the rest of the glass. I found a neat little battery operated hand held milk frother that we like to use. But in Greece we used a shaker with a lid and it worked like a dream. If using a shaker just add the ice cubes before you shake the daylights out of it for about 30 seconds and you should get the same fabulous frothy effect.

So, if using a  neat little battery operated hand held mixer, mix the frappé until you see that everything is evenly incorporated…

and long enough that you’ve got a fabulous froth that equals the amount of coffee in your glass but leaves some room at the top for a handful of ice cubes.

Remember that proper froth-to-coffee-ratio I mentioned earlier?

Cold is key for a fantastic frappé. I’m always amazed at how many ice cubes My Yanni can fit into his glass.

Then insert a straw through the frothy foam…

and sip away until you find yourself smack dab in Greece underneath the grapevines on Yaya’s front porch.

Oh, happy day. 

xoxo,

Wenderly

Here’s the easy recipe:

Happy Day Frappé

1 heaping Tablespoon instant coffee
1 teaspoon sugar
1/8 cup milk
1 cup cold water
handful of ice cubes

In a large glass, pour in a heaping spoonful of instant coffee, add a teaspoon of sugar, 1/8 cup of milk and 1 cold cup of water.

Place a battery operated hand held mixer into cup and mix until incorporated and frothy. Add handful of ice cubes.

If using a shaker with a lid, add ice cubes before shaking vigorously for at least 30 seconds.

ENJOY!