Wednesday, January 13, 2021

Frappe the greek coffee!

 

The national  Greek  coffee !!
 

 
 
Have you eve imagined to use and drink  instant coffee with a different way ? Here is the idea on how Greek people for four decades made their own delicious kind coffee.
 
Background:  though I am not an expert of the history of frappé  a short search on the Greek  web pages  shown me several interesting info . It all  become true on ca 1957  when a employee of the mother company of
Nescafé, Nestlé during the  International  trade fair of Thessaloniki was by chance experimenting (?) shaking instant coffee  into a plastic shaker with cold water. The results  were very much approved by the public who  tested it as a refreshment in a hot (I presume ) day of the start of September . As per info the mother company tried to promote  this Greek invention internationally  with very low  success.
As per the info  frappé  is  consumed in Balkan countries sligtly modifed and Thailand Malaysiain on a minor level. I remember when I was in Singapore on 2000 and asked  for a frappé the barman was  astounded tough afterwards he prepared  it for me!!

Recent news: as of 2006 , the first natonal frappe competition has been held, during the Cofeebiz exhibition , held on 12.3.6 in the TIF's (Thessaloniki International Fair) facilities. Participants of the competition shown except the typical  ice-cold cofee, their ideas  by adding  several typical bar refreshments as Kahlua and Bailey's and milk cream and adding syrups for design. The  winner won a  EU 1000 prize in cash the seciond a cash of Eu 500 and the third winner was woman! It is also said that frappe today is  the greek trademark, as   suvlaki and djadjiki was the other years...
 
 
How frappe  is made
 
Ingredients
Instant coffee   1 spoon
Sugar 1 spoon
Cold Water
Ice cubes
(milk)
 
Instructions:
The original way: Put sugar and coffee together with 3 tablespoons of water into a covered can or anything that has lid and shake it very well until  it becomes foam . Then add [ice]cold water , ice cubes and milk if you wish
 
The more modern way   Nowadays we use very high-speed drillers modified with propeller in their end see the  pictures ! (alternatively you can use hi speed  drink stirrer or multi though the  second can be used for multiple servings ).
Here is the way I  do it. Very small  quantity of  water is put inside the glass of water (about  4-6 mm) then  I add  sugar and stir it very well  until sugar is mostly dissolved. Then I add instant coffee and stir the mix thoroughly until it becomes as concrete foam (ie in just 10-15 seconds) I then add the ice cubes and put the straw. Many others add sugar and cofee together.
If more water is put in before stirring more foam will be produced. You may also experiment with  it.




 

A handy frappe stirrer .  See the  propeller at the right end. This offers the best foam


In both cases the result is a black brownish coloured drink. The  foam made  the original way is not so concrete as using a stirrer /drink mixer
 
Versions:
Yu may experiment with the quantity of both coffee and sugar. More coffee means æheavier frappé Æ, less coffee means lighter  frappé. More sugar means sweeter frappe, no sugar means æpureÆ 
 
If you  wish you may  add  some condensed milk. This is the way my wife drinks her coffee.
 
How is  consumed : Frappé is consumed mostly with straw and slowly (supped) for about  20 minutes until the ice cubes are dissolved. Many Greeks drink it on their work mostly accompanied by smoking and  in bars when they are 'calming' them reselves  together with their  frinds.For the history again , frappe especially for 80s was a synonym with  laziness and calmness.
 
 
My versions/experiments:
1 . I also experimented  with orange juice, presumably fresh or short duration, replacing the water in both stages( foam and content). It is my personal taste.  
2.  I added  a pinch of instant  coffee into a small glass of fresh orange juice and just mixed it.This gives a different  taste.
 
Feel free to advise me at greekdx (at) otenet dot  gr on how you enjoy this refreshment.
 
LINKS
Here is  a link with some more info on
http://www.answers.com/topic/greek-frapp-coffee?method=6
 
and here several recipes
http://www.kadifeli.com/vasil/frappe.html
http://www.coffee-recipe.com/frappe-coffee/
http://greekfood.about.com/od/mezethesdrinks/ht/frappe.htm

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