Coffee Tao

I turn 30 tomorrow, and as a bit of a celebratory drink I offer this simple but excellent drink idea from the blog Beers Beers Beers, to which I was pointed by the ever-on-top-of-things Mark.

The idea is incredibly simple: it’s a shot of espresso poured into a pint of Guinness. It’s one of those ideas that if, like me, you’d never heard of it, you’d wonder why you’d never thought of it. I’ve had “espresso stouts” before, where coffee grounds are used in the beer’s production, but the ones I’ve had have typically been underwhelming and hard to find in any case. The Dufrain cuts straight to the chase in a simple, pleasing way that anyone can make.

Upon hearing about it I had to try it, so I bopped over to Online Coffee on the way home and ordered a Guinness and an espresso. Unfortunately they only had Guinness in the can, which I typically dislike, but I tried it anyway.

The espresso looked good at least, with a rich, even crema. My ingredients assembled, I took the plunge:

The result? Actually, at first it wasn’t too great; canned Guinness tends to taste tinny and alkaline, and this held true here. But the closer I got to the bottom, where the espresso sediment had settled and the drink overall approached room temperature, I was rewarded with a thick, malt-like chocolate flavor with a tobacco-y finish that I really enjoyed. In a way the espresso “fills out” or adds heft to the mouthfeel of the Guinness, which, if you’re well versed in stouts, is actually pretty dry and somewhat lacking in body for a dark beer. I’d love to try it again with a properly-poured, room-temperature stout, and use a double-espresso instead of a single shot, but I liked this experiment enough to recommend it unreservedly.