Summer’s almost here. Like everyone else, I’m pumped for picnics at the park, lazy days at the beach and driving around with the windows down. But if I’m being honest, these aren’t the things I’m looking forward to most.
Top of the list is a four-litre goon bag filled with delicious (and refreshing) black coffee from Melbourne roaster Seven Seeds.
For some people, coffee is a ritual to be savoured. They enjoy pouring hot water into a French press, pulling shots on their home espresso machine or putting a Moka pot on the stove each morning.
I am not one of those people. Like Veruca Salt, I want it now, Daddy.
The Seven Seeds cold filter cask, to call it by its official name, is unbeatable in this respect. Its dinky plastic tap dispenses about 20 glasses of black gold – pronto – before running dry. When you’re used to making coffee every day or going to your local, this is magical.
Portability is another advantage. You can take this silver chicken camping, to music festivals, the park, beach houses and so on. A few weeks ago Seven Seeds also put a similar coffee in cans for the first time, for even more convenience.
I’ve kept a bag in the fridge throughout the past two summers, ever since this treasure appeared on the market. I like to drink the coffee in a heavy tumbler (a whisky glass, essentially) with ice and a slice of orange. The larger the ice blocks, the better. Big blocks melt more slowly, reducing dilution and keeping your coffee delicious for longer (I use Kmart’s excellent silicone trays, which are $1.50 each and make removing the blocks super easy).
Apart from a slice of orange, you could also try making some of the combinations on the menu at Sydney cafe Dutch Smuggler. One adds plain lemonade, tonic water and a sprig of rosemary. Another, coffee, ginger beer and slices of lemon and lime. A third includes coconut water, coconut ice-cream and a sprinkle of cacao nibs.
Espresso Martinis, Vietnamese coffees and regular milk coffees are also options, but not ones I’d necessarily recommend. These do better when made with coffee brewed under pressure (i.e. espresso), which has a bitter, full-bodied finish that’s bold enough to cut through dairy. Filter coffee, like that found in Seven Seeds’ cask, is merely steeped in hot water, and has a comparatively subtle flavour that tends to get lost in milk.
However you choose to serve it, just know you’re one up on the people still drinking their coffee piping-hot throughout summer. Admit it, latte-drinkers: hot coffee just doesn’t hit the same mark on a blistering hot day.
sevenseeds.com.au
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