Cold drinks for hot days

[JonathanM]

With the warmer weather recently, I have been experimenting with long cold drinks to suppliment my usual intake of coffee. My current favourite is:

Splash of maple syrup (10ml??).
Loads of ice cubes (enough to 80% fill the glass).
Just enough skimmed milk to fill the gaps between the ice cubes.
Stir well at this point - it mixes in the syrup and starts to melt the ice into the milk.
Top off with a double espresso. Either leave it to mix in as you drink for a stronger initial taste of coffee, or mix it in.

Has anyone else any suggestions they would like to share?

[Teme]

This is a rather large and basic one, but I like it in hot weather. Here we go:

- 20 ml of vanilla syrup
- 250 ml of cold 3,5% milk
- add four medium sized ice cubes
- stir well
- top off with a triple espresso

This also looks nice in a tall glass (I have it from one of those tall double walled Bodum glasses) with a contrast between the white milk in the bottom and the coffee on top - this naturally disappears when you mix the coffee in.

Also, I am currently in the market for a blender so that I can experiment with different ways of building the drink:
1) - syrup and milk into blender, blend into creamy texture, add ice cubes, add coffee?
2) - ice into blender, crush, add syrup and milk, blend and finally add coffee?
3) - ice, syrup and milk into blender, crush/blend and finally add coffee?
4) - all in and crush/blend?
5) - ???

Br,
Teme

[tisri]

Mixing milk, ice cream and a slug of espresso and buzzing it all up in a smoothie maker works well for me Yummie