As autumn nears, I've been thinking wistfully about all the good food I ate this summer. Sun-warmed tomatoes and vibrant basil; pints of cherries; and many peaches, unadorned or basking in a dish of cream. I welcome the appearance of squash and apples at the market, but I don't want to say goodbye to summer.
Fortunately, I don't have to let go of all my warm-weather favorites. One of the best treats I had in the last few months was the "magic coffee" at Cafe Soleil. Like many things at Cafe Soleil, magic coffee is simple yet revelatory - icy, sweet, spicy and creamy, the perfect summer drink. Yet magic coffee is available year-round, and it's the Cafe's biggest-selling cold drink by far.
Even after my cup was empty, I couldn't get that taste out of my mind; I had to try making it myself. I mixed up cold-brewed coffee in a jar and threw in what I imagined to be the right proportions of cinnamon and brown sugar. I stuck it in the fridge and waited impatiently until the next morning to see what my imagination had wrought.
My experiment turned out well enough that I've used my recipe many times this summer. Luckily, chef Tory Miller of Cafe Soleil and L'Etoile is a generous soul and agreed to share a version of the coffee recipe aimed at the home cook.
At Cafe Soleil, magic coffee is made in 14-gallon batches and includes espresso as well as brewed coffee. The recipe's been in use at the cafe since 2003 or earlier, and it's been tweaked some over the years. "It's fun to play with the coffees, or different kinds of cinnamon if you go to Penzey's," Miller says. "It depends on how serious you are." (Color me serious: I have done both of these things.) Giving credit where credit is due, Miller notes that the cafe's current manager, Scott Spilger, has "perfected the magic coffee by changing the beans we're using." Spilger explains that varying the beans according to what coffee is currently being harvested allows for the best possible flavor all year long.
Cafe Soleil brews its coffee hot for this recipe, which helps the brown sugar dissolve, but if you want to go low-maintenance like me, cold-brewed works just fine. My homespun version omits the espresso (for the sole, sad reason that I lack an espresso machine). I also played around with a Scandinavian flavor variation. All three recipes are included below. On the days I can't get down to the cafe, a little homemade magic is still quite enchanting.
Cafe Soleil's Magic Coffee
for a 4-cup pot (serves 4 with ice)
Brew a pot of your favorite dark roast coffee. Once it's brewed, transfer to a pitcher and add 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 cup cream and 1 shot of espresso. Chill overnight, or cool and ice it down. Serve over ice. Proportions should be adjusted to the user's taste.
Cold-Brewed Magic
- 2/3 cup coarsely ground dark roast coffee
- 3 cups water
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
- milk, half-and-half or cream
Put ground coffee and water in a wide-mouth jar or other container with a cover; stir. Add cinnamon and brown sugar. Stir and cover. Refrigerate for 12 hours or overnight.
Using a sieve, strain the contents of the jar into a bowl, then strain back into the jar for easy storage in the refrigerator. To serve, fill a glass half full with ice, add coffee mixture about halfway or so up the glass, and top off with your choice of milk, cream, half-and-half or any combination thereof.
Scandinavian Magic
- 2/3 cup coarsely ground dark-roast coffee
- 3 cups water
- 1/4 teaspooon almond extract
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed fennel seeds
- 3 tablespoons white sugar
- milk, half-and-half or cream
Make cold-brewed magic as above, omitting cinnamon and dark brown sugar. Add almond extract, fennel seeds and white sugar after combining coffee and water; stir and cover. Continue recipe as above.
In the original print version of this story, the recipe was called "the cafe's official recipe" rather than one provided and meant for the home cook.
