With Thanksgiving looming and winter on the horizon, one great way to stay perked up and cozy is to indulge in one of the Bay Area’s favorite cocktail combos: coffee cocktails.
Portland, Oregon-based coffee journalists Jordan Michelman and Zachary Carlsen recently released their second book, “But First, Coffee: A Guide to Brewing from the Kitchen to the Bar” (Union Square & Co., $20) that highlights the best ways to use a bag of coffee beans — including some Bay Area-inspired cocktails. We spoke with Michelman to learn more.
Q: How did this cookbook come about?
A: My co-author Zachary and I publish a daily coffee news and culture website about everything from cool coffee shops in the Czech Republic to new coffee brewing gear and equipment. In 2018, we did our first book, “Rules of Coffee” with Ten Speed Press, about the history of coffee. At some point, it dawned on us that we may have written the first coffee book ever that never actually told you how to make a cup of coffee.
For this book, we wanted to pull together everything we’ve learned about how to appreciate coffee as a delicacy in your own home, starting out with a cool bag of coffee and asking: What are all the things you can do? It turns out, there’s quite a lot.
Q: Can you tell us about the Bay Area-related recipes for Irish Coffee and Chartreuse Cappuccino?
A: We were in San Francisco, when we finalized the agreement for the book, and we agreed that any sensible coffee lover with good news like this should go and celebrate at the Buena Vista Cafe with Irish Coffee. And we did, and they were wonderful and perfect.
(But) we ordered a zero proof Irish Coffee along with the classic and had a funny experience: They made us a beautiful drink, but it didn’t have anything different, they just omitted the whiskey. It was a challenge for us to play with that format, pay homage to this place we love, but adapt (the drink) in a way that drew on other tips and tricks to make a fun zero-proof take.
For the Chartreuse Cappuccino, I have to give all the credit to Paul Einbund at The Morris. This is his drink. He’s really one of the foremost experts on Chartreuse in the world. It’s such an interesting, brilliant drink, and his approach involves steaming the milk and the Chartreuse together along with a little bit of Indonesian dark sugar. It’s the most delicious, frothy, wonderful drink.
Q: Are there new coffee trends you’re noticing these days?
A: It used to be that there were a lot fewer roasters for a coffee shop to subscribe to. Certain roasters would limit who could be part of their wholesale program, and it felt like a record label or something — if you served that coffee menu, you were part of the cool crew. (Now,) lots more mom-and-pop places are roasting their own coffee. And it’s not just coffee shops — it’s bakeries roasting their own coffee, like at Craftsman and Wolves. They’re able to roast their own coffee in a way they say complements their pastries. And there’s been a proliferation of collaborative roasting spaces where a cafe can rent time and space and roast their own.
Another big trend that’s getting ready to punch through into the mainstream has to do with how coffee is processed. One thing that’s starting to be really popular now is sometimes referred to as the cold ferment or fruit processing method, where when you’re taking the cherry fruit off the seed, (you’re) throwing that seed in with papaya, oranges, grapes or some other kinds of agricultural products that naturally infuse those flavors into the finished product.
Find “But First, Coffee: A Guide to Brewing from the Kitchen to the Bar” online and at local independent bookstores via https://bookshop.org/.