The Bar Cart Staple That's Key To Perfectly Shaken Iced Coffee

Frothy, cold, full of delicious flavor, and just the right amount of caffeine, shaken iced coffee is a treat to drink whether it's made at your favorite coffee house or in your kitchen. According to The Kitchn, the frothy goodness found in shaken iced coffee comes from the process of aeration, which happens when you shake a drink, like coffee or an alcoholic beverage, in a cocktail shaker. The Kitchn explains that using a cocktail shaker helps sugar and other sweeteners dissolve and provides texture to your iced coffee, thanks to all the bubbles introduced from the aeration process. For the best results, they d recommend you use an extra strong cold brew when making shaken iced coffee. 

And America's Test Kitchen has a similar tip and recommends only using espresso when you shake an iced coffee drink. The outlet explains that espresso tends to be more concentrated and better retains its flavor even when it's diluted because of the ice. Although it may sound like an unlikely tool to use for coffee, using this bar cart staple is ideal for whipping up your iced coffee fix or for coffee cocktails.

Besides making perfect shaken iced coffee, the cocktail shaker is, not surprisingly, also a key tool in making coffee cocktails. Although you may be familiar with Irish coffee, which combines hot coffee with Irish whiskey, there are more ways to combine coffee and spirits. Many of the newer coffee cocktail recipes include spirits such as vodka, Kahlúa, and even tequila, plus a bit of coffee, to make a tasty mixed drink. If you've never tried one, coffee cocktails have seen a rise in popularity in recent years, as Insanely Good Recipes reports. 

Many coffee cocktails combine cold coffee and ice and are created with a cocktail shaker. The variety in these java-infused drinks ranges from an espresso Martini to a coffee-forward old fashioned as the Coffee Pot details. Now that you know what tool gives you perfect, frothy iced coffee, or a delicious coffee cocktail, try using a cocktail shaker for your next java fix, or when you want a coffee-forward mixed drink.