Iced Espresso

The first half of the old road story is retold here, while the original is buried here. Perhaps I’ve used bits and pieces, but stumbling across the coffee tale about iced espresso in DC, or wherever, made me think.

That original post, it was a “spit and post” road entry. The real interaction, I’ve told this to fellow coffee aficionados and natives alike. I was in London. They were having an unseasonably hot summer. I ordered my typical Texas fare, “A double on the rocks.” London has, or had at the time, a seriously superior coffee-shop outlet/chain called Nero’s. More common than the Seattle conglomerate. Way better coffee, mostly.

“I’d like a double, on ice.” (Nero’s house shot is a double espresso, Italian Roast).

Guy behind the counter looked at me, “Two?”

“Yeah, two shots of espresso.”

He shook his head, no, “Two?”

“Yeah, two, one for me, one for her,” I indicated by traveling companion at the time.

He shook his head, no, “Two?”

“Two shots, two drinks, on ice, yeah…”

He shook his head, no, “Two?”

I looked at him. He held up two cubes of ice.

Language barriers, it would be ever so much nicer if they spoke English.

People might rail against “espresso on ice,” but it has its merits. As I navigate the mean streets and the dusty urban trails, me, clutching an icy beverage as the only protection from searing summer heat, what happens? The ice begins to melt. The espresso is diluted with the ice water and becomes a really cold “americano” coffee.

Still, that poor kid, that hot summer in the UK. Could’ve started a new beverage sensation.

“It’s a new sensation.”