I use cold brew coffee ice cubes all the time, but this drink just missed the mark. I will get to the details but first…
My parents recently visited from the United States and I took them on a little temple tour which included the Grand Palace. Since I have been in many times I opted out of this round and instead decided to find a coffee shop to hide out in. Across from Silapakorn University there is an outdoor mall, of course, which boasts a Starbucks overlooking the Chao Phraya river. As tempting as the view was, and apparently it was very tempting because every table and stool were occupied, I instead went for a smaller shop – without the view.
The shop was packed but as I walked up a couple left a table open and I figured I better jump in.
Ice Cube Coffee, is it Worth the Wait?
The visual presentation of the ice cube coffee automatically caught my eye as something unique. A tall glass cup full of black coffee ice cubes topped with a foam hinted with caramel and served with a carafe of warm milk. When I poured the milk over the ice a pleasant steam rose from the glass. Going well so far.
As would be expected, the first sips were very milky because not much of the coffee ice had melted yet. A nice creamy drink is delicious but I’m not sold that this was better than a latte or affogato. I mean considering the coffee cubes were once brewed hot (americanos according to the menu) and then frozen and now being melted there is no way that is going to compare to a fresh espresso or even coffee cubes made with cold brewed coffee.
I sat around a bit and waited for the ice to melt so that I wasn’t just drinking the milk. I poured the warm milk at 13:45 and by 14:04 the ice was still only half melted or half frozen depending on how you look at things – coffee philosophy.
I stirred and waited and sipped and ate a couple pieces of ice but by 14:17 – 32 minutes after having poured the milk – I gave up and slammed what was left of the milk and just crunched the remaining coffee cubes. The coffee cubes themselves were bitter but since they are served with a lot of milk you would normally not notice.
This is the kind of drink that has some display and presentation interest but to actually sit down and drink it, unless you are more patient with your coffee than I am, it just takes too long to melt into the drink. Pretty much from the first sip I was wanting to just blend it so I could drink it.
An affogato is similar and better (which this cafe did have). Or maybe the coffee cubes would be better in a cold brew coffee that you want to withstand the Bangkok heat and not get watered down.
At any rate, I got to stay out of the sun and try a new drink for 110฿, not bad.