#UseWhatYouHave: How to Make Coffee Milk Using Your Leftover Coffee
As most of my coffee lover friends know, yesterday was #NationalCoffeeDay and although I drank copious amounts of coffee, I still had about a third of a pot left. I started to think about ways I could use that leftover coffee and a Hallmark movie came to mind. In this movie, one of the characters wanted the American version of a latte (coffee with milk), but since they were in Italy, they ended up getting just milk. And it came to me-what if I could use that left over coffee to make some sort of 'coffee' drink that would blend together much like a chocolate milk? Little did I know that there was such a thing as coffee milk, and that it's actually the state drink of Rhode Island! I'm not going to share what secret ingredients I used (because I had to give it a little Texas spin) but I will link the blog that gave me the inspiration to go home and try it here. I'm telling you, we can eliminate a lot of the waste we produce if we really put our minds to it.
The recipe involves making a coffee syrup. You could go and buy coffee-flavored syrup, but where would the fun (or sustainability) be in that? If you have leftover coffee, take 2 cups and pour it into a small pot. Add 1 cup of sugar and let it simmer for about 30 minutes. *A quick note on simmering: items will simmer when the fire is at a low-medium to medium heat with the top off or vented to let steam out. In simmering, you're looking for a reduction in liquid mass. In this coffee syrup, you'll notice the consistency change from 'more liquid' to 'more solid'. And the longer you let something simmer, the thicker it will get. But this is still coffee-if you let it cook too long, it might just start tasting like burnt coffee.
After you've cooked your coffee syrup, you'll let it cool in a heat safe container and store it in your refrigerator for (at the most) 2 weeks. Add to your milk to taste. In the first glass I had, I used about 1/4 of a cup of syrup to 2 cups of milk. I tasted it and almost fell out because it was SO GOOD! It reminded me of a high-priced refrigerated coffee drink, and tasted 10x's better. I rushed the glass to my son to taste it and he quickly hijacked it. He gave it a 9.5 out of 10 stars, which, for a teenager, is pretty awesome!
How are you finding ways to use the leftovers in your kitchen? Let us know in the comments below. And as I find new ways to eliminate #foodwaste I'll make sure to share the knowledge.