Dirty coffee is a delicious scrumptious modern coffee flavor. It might sound a little weird when you first hear the name but this is the name of this Asian-origin coffee drink. Dirty coffee is just a name nothing dirty about it, in fact, it has a delightful attractive appearance, taste, and aroma.
What makes Dirty Coffee so special is that it originates from Asian countries like China and Japan. Like most other coffee flavors this drink is made with the combination of espresso and milk. However, milk is chilled before adding hot concentrated espresso onto it.
Let’s look into the details of this uniquely named coffee drink.
What is dirty coffee?
This drink is unique just because of its weird name otherwise it brews with traditional espresso and chilled milk. To be precise it adds two ristretto shots pour into the cup of cold milk.
When concentrated espresso or two shots of ristretto is added to cold milk it gives a scrumptious taste and aroma. Picking the right glass size and adding espresso to milk in a precise manner is essential for dirty coffee to get the desired taste.
Origin of Dirty Coffee
If you are in Asian countries like Japan Thailand or China you will get dirty coffee in most coffee shops. You can ask Barista for one espresso shot with chilled milk.
No one exactly knows the exact origin of this coffee flavor however, few believe it originated somewhere in Japan. After some time its popularity grew to other parts of Asia like China, Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
Why it is called Dirty Coffee?
Nothing is dirty about this coffee, the only reason is when a hot ristretto shot pours into the cup of cold milk it is mixed with milk slowly, after some time giving a slightly messy look in the glass.
However, this messy appearance can be avoided if you get expertise in adding espresso to milk. The perfect method add espresso slowly and gently to keep espresso at the top of the milk. It will give a more attractive layered appearance and a less messy look to this coffee.
Why ristretto instead of espresso in Dirty coffee?
Ristretto is more concentrated, intense, and small in size compared to espresso. It depends on your preference what you like to add espresso or ristretto. Cold water and espresso are the only ingredients needed for the perfect coffee.
A ristretto is about 20 ml in size. An espresso with more water and ground coffee is 30 ml in size. Also, check the difference between a long shot vs a ristretto.
Picking the right coffee beans
When brewing strong concentrated coffee, the role of coffee beans becomes crucial. I would recommend darkly roasted espresso beans for this drink. But usually, Arabica coffee beans are used to make espresso shots. In case, you prefer ristretto shots the darkly roasted coffee beans should be a better choice. As we know ristretto is a more concentrated, strong coffee than espresso.
How to brew dirty coffee at home?
This coffee flavor is easy to make at home with whole milk, coffee beans, an espresso machine, or any other coffee maker. Also, it requires chilled milk instead of room temperature milk.
Ingredients
- Whole milk 130 ml
- Two ristretto shots
- 180 ml size glass
Instructions
Now follow these steps.
- First, place milk in to freezer to get it chilled.
- Pour the chilled milk into the glass.
- Now prepare two concentrated ristretto shots. Or prepare one espresso shot of 40 ml size.
The last but most important step is to pour the espresso shot gently at the top of the chilled milk and ensure that the espresso layer stays at the top. It will give an aesthetic appearance and mouthwatering taste.
Now you can enjoy this delicious Asian origin drink.
Taste of dirty coffee
When hot espresso is added to chilled milk, it gives a unique taste that you don’t expect from other milk and espresso drinks, like cappuccino or latte.
It tastes similar to dark chocolate with earthy notes and subtle sweetness. With espresso at the top adds intensity to the drink and chilled milk adds smoothness.
This coffee is a perfect alternative if you want a smoother espresso flavor.
What is the caffeine level in dirty coffee?
All the caffeine depends on the types of coffee beans you add to your espresso. If you prefer darkly roasted coffee beans, it will have more caffeine. A single cup of dirty coffee has around 70 to 80 mg of caffeine. Also, check the caffeine level in espresso shots.
How to make dirty coffee flavorful and delicious?
You can add certain flavors to make it more scrumptious. However, the real taste of dirty can only be enjoyed with the combination of milk and ristretto.
This drink is also made with other flavors like adding chocolate syrup, heavy cream, and coconut sugar. Also you can add spices, cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon. All these ingredients will increase the taste of this coffee.
Dirty coffee: Is it a cold drink?
An interesting debate, is whether we can call dirty coffee a cold drink or a hot drink? When hot espresso pour over the chilled milk it slowly changes its appearance and temperature. It becomes slightly hot but still remains cold.
Dirty coffee vs iced coffees: what are the differences?
Hot espresso turns cold when added to chilled milk. Unlike iced coffees, dirty coffee is a cold drink without any iced in it. And it is not as cold as iced coffee but certainly, it is a cold coffee with a balanced temperature. Most of the iced coffees add ice cubes at the top, which makes drinks cold and icy. While dirty coffee never adds iced cubes.
If you want a cold drink but without adding ice to it, dirty coffee is certainly a great option for you. Also, check the difference between iced latte vs iced coffee.
Dirty coffee vs dirty chai latte: what is the difference?
There are certain differences between the two, dirty chai latte comes with more ingredients than dirty coffee. A dirty chai latte is more robust and pungent in taste since it adds one or two shots of espresso with black tea. Also, it includes steamed milk and other spices like black pepper, cardamom, cloves, ginger, and cinnamon.
On the other hand, this coffee is only restricted to espresso and cold milk. Dirty chai latte is a much more flavorful and delicious drink if we compare it with Dirty coffee.
Also, check the difference between cold brew vs breve.
Conclusion
Dirty coffee is a simple and easy-to-make drink. Yet it is the favorite coffee drink for many. Especially if you like the cold milk with espresso. Since most other flavors add room temperature milk to espresso, this coffee comes with a unique combination.
You can brew this coffee at home with a simple method, however you need to pour espresso over chilled with precision to get the perfect taste.
