The Cold Espresso is the most famous drink in Greece: that's what it is and how to prepare it!
All, everywhere, always. In Greece the espresso is drunk at any time of day, in any place, sitting at the bar or walking on the street. But it's not about the espresso we're used to, it's called Cold Espresso and drink strictly with the drinking straw.
Just arrived in Greece, that is Athens or Thessaloniki, you will wonder what all those people are drinking around the city. It's the first coffee you'll find in the menu list: you will order it immediately, because everyone around you is sipping it and you have to understand why. They will also ask you how much sugar you want: little, medium or a lot. First sip: not an American coffee with ice, but not even a cold Salento coffee. The taste is really that of the espresso which we know so well, but the experience is completely new.
Although we also drink espresso coffee for ourselves rite essential, the Espresso Freddo exceeds the sociality of our beloved Italian cup. Unless you are in the south, where you often drink even at the end of the evening, before going to sleep, in most of Italy the express is practically forbidden after 16:00, so as not to risk insomnia. It's an excuse to meet, of course, but you drink in a moment, sitting at the bar table or quickly at the bar.
In Greece Espresso is always drunk, even for the hour of our aperitif, instead of the Spritz, and you do not go anywhere without having a take-away to sip while walking. It's cool, yes, yet you don't only drink in the summer by the sea, but all year round.
Born by chance
It all started by chance in the 1957, during the International Fair of Thessaloniki. An employee had not found hot water to make an instant coffee and then thought of doing it directly with cold water, using a shaker: thus was born the Coffee Frappe, one of the most famous drinks in Greece.
in 90's, with the spread of the espresso, the attention to the coffee quality it has risen more and more: here the bartenders begin to experiment with different blends, to give life to the new drink preferred by the Greeks, the Freddo Espresso.
How is Cold Espresso prepared?
It's not just coffee poured on ice. It does this: double shot of espresso (if you like it, already sweetened by heat, so that the sugar dissolves well) and 3-4 ice cubes, in the mixer for a few seconds and you're done. The ice must not melt, watering down the taste, but it must shake enough to get one irresistible foam. It is served in the glass with other ice cubes and the inevitable straw.
You can't resist and want to add some milk? For you there is the Cappuccino cold: the milk must not be shaken together with the coffee, but it must be mounted separately and added only at the end, directly into the glass. The straw in this case is even more important and serves to mix the drink, harmoniously combining milk cream and coffee.
PS: in Greece the glass of water is always served together with the Cold Espresso.
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