Nearly every Saturday in good weather (and sometimes in not-so-good weather) I would walk the easy mile-long trek to my yoga studio, one of my favorite Chagrin Falls spots as I mentioned in my story, Sanctuary & the Road from Home. After I sweated and shavasana-ed to my heart’s content, I would stop into Tame Rabbit, a charming coffee shop in the building next door. I fell immediately in love with the whimsical aesthetic, friendly staff and adorable rabbit puns on their chalkboard that would change daily. It also helped that they made excellent coffee, which was the best that I’ve had since Italy. In addition, they have these jammy oat bars that are simply perfect (and that I have a bit of an addiction to).
Though I really wanted to share a recipe for my take on those jammy oat bars with you, as I’m moving out of the country this week, time got a bit away from me. So I stuck with what I could manage – coffee! Not just any coffee – a caffè shakerato.
Now, unless you’ve been to Italy in the summer, you’ve probably never even heard of this drink – but you should. It’s a perfect combination of sweet and bitter and is a bracingly cool lift on a humid summer day. It’s a simple drink really – just a shot of espresso combined with a bit of simple syrup or sugar, then shaken over ice until foamy in a cocktail shaker and poured into a clear glass (in Italy they use martini glasses, which is quite fancy, but also somehow appropriate). The drink is perfect – and I’ve had one nearly every Saturday this summer from Tame Rabbit.
They use simple syrup in their shakerato, which is amazing. However, since I rarely keep that stuff lying around, I’ve chosen to just use a bit of sugar, which is a perfectly acceptable alternative – just be sure the sugar dissolves in the drink. Now, grab your cocktail shaker and get to work – summer is almost over and you won’t want to miss this. If you don’t feel like making one yourself, head on over to Tame Rabbit and they’ll make sure you aren’t disappointed.
Note: I moved to Italy for graduate school this week (yay!) so I did not have much time to prepare everything picture wise. Therefore, I’ll be updating this post to include more pictures very soon.
Caffè Shakerato
Notes:
- You will need a cocktail shaker and an espresso maker for this recipe. If you don’t have a cocktail shaker, two glasses that will fit snugly within one another so that you can shake them will also work. If you don’t have an espresso maker (I use a small stovetop moka pot that I got on Amazon, it comes in multiple sizes:).
- Make sure you use espresso and not regular ground coffee in this.
- Serve in a cocktail glass if you want to be traditional (and fancy), but a small rocks glass works too.
Ingredients
1 shot freshly brewed espresso
1 tsp sugar (or simple syrup)
Ice
Method
1. Full cocktail shaker with ice. Add espresso (brewed) and sugar. Lid the shaker and shake that thing for a good minute.
2. Strain into a small glass or cocktail glass. It should be very cold and have a layer of foam in top. Drink up!
Serves one, but can easily be multiplied.
MEET ME AT THE LONG TABLE 