12 Absolute Best Ways To Upgrade Your Affogato, According To A Former Barista

There is nothing more refreshing and decadent in the summertime than a cool affogato. The bitterness of the espresso cuts into the sweetness of the ice cream, creating a tantalizing bite that will have you wondering if the affogato is more of a dessert or an energy boost. Can it not be both? I think it can. Actually, I know it can. An affogato, if you haven't caught the drift yet, is an Italian dessert with hazy origins and combines espresso with ice cream (usually vanilla bean) for the ultimate sweet treat that you never knew you needed.

While I would go for the traditional affogato any day (and have indulged in one in Italy and won't forget how tasty it was anytime soon), there are definitely some creative ways to spice up this classic that you'll want to try out for yourself. Whether you're making some homemade ingredients, doing some swap outs, or adding components into the mixture, affogato is sure to please, no matter what version it turns into. As a former barista who worked in a coffee shop partnered with an ice cream shop, I have had my fair share of brainstorms at work coming up with innovative affogato upgrades for our customers (and, let's be real, me and my coworkers). These tasty and creative affogato upgrades will have you wondering why you hadn't thought of them sooner.

Let's start out strong with these affogato upgrades with one of the most straightforward (though not necessarily easy to execute) tips: making your own ice cream. I mean, duh. Any sweet treat will always be enhanced by personally making one of the ingredients, and in this scenario, what sounds better than some delicious homemade vanilla bean ice cream topped with two espresso shots?

If you are apprehensive about this upgrade, not to fear. There are plenty of no-churn recipes out there that don't require you to go out and buy a Ninja Creami or any other ice cream-making device to create your culinary masterpiece. (One of these ice cream recipes will be sure to catch your eye — and sweet tooth.) And if you are wondering exactly how much vanilla bean ice cream you should be making, know that the traditional ratio for an affogato is two scoops of ice cream to two shots of espresso, so an equal number of scoops and shots will do the trick. But it never hurts to make some extra ice cream for when you realize how amazing affogatos are with homemade ice cream and need to immediately make another one.

A more out-there tip for the adventurous folks among us, roasting your own beans is a hobby in itself, like baking your own sourdough or canning your own pickles. But it is not a hobby without its rewards, chief among them being that you get to control the flavor, strength, amount, and, well, everything with your coffee beans when you roast them yourself.

There are tons of ways to do this at home without getting any expensive machinery involved, and they're all detailed in our guide to roasting coffee beans at home (consulted with coffee roasting masters, of course). And not only will roasting your own beans make the freshest possible espresso for your affogato, but combine that with homemade ice cream, and you might as well open up shop for your friends and family and make it an affogato party, with freshly roasted beans as a party favor for your guests to take home.

If you have been nervous about trying affogatos in the past because of cross-contamination concerns, do not worry: You can make your at-home affogato whatever you want it to be, whether you are lactose intolerant, vegan, gluten-free, or have other dietary concerns. For example, nowadays, there are plenty of nondairy ice creams available in the frozen aisle of your local grocery store to choose from, even in big-name stores like Target and Walmart.

In Tasting Table's vegan ice cream brands ranking specifically, our writer found Ben & Jerry's to be the best vegan ice cream brand, with SoDelicious and Alden's Organic following closely behind. But no matter the ice cream brand you select, you can veganize your affogato to your heart's content. Even better, you could always combine the previous tip with this one and make your own non-dairy and vegan ice cream at home for your affogato for that personalized touch (more on expanding from the traditional affogato vanilla bean ice cream flavor in a bit).

Now that I've established the affogato basics and how you can fundamentally adjust those to your needs and preferences, it's time for some funky flavor fun. Instead of the classic vanilla bean ice cream and regular espresso combination, you can do literally any combo you want. For starters, you don't necessarily have to use espresso, especially if you aren't a fan of strong coffee, you don't mind that the dessert isn't made especially traditionally, and you want to branch out.

By pairing like flavors together, you'll be able to really hone in the specific flavor both ingredients have outside of, well, dairy and coffee beans. For instance, if you do use vanilla ice cream, try pairing it with some vanilla-flavored coffee for a double vanilla vibrancy. Or, you could try blueberry-flavored coffee combined with blueberry ice cream to get that extra berry burst. Think about your favorite flavors in life, whether they be strawberry, coconut, caramel, or cookie dough, and I can guarantee you that some brand out there somewhere is making a coffee of that flavor, and that another brand (how kind of it) is also making an ice cream flavor of the same kind. They're out there.

While you have that blueberry-flavored coffee in your pantry, don't use it all up pairing it with just the blueberry ice cream. Rather, try out some innovative complementary flavor combinations. With that blueberry coffee, for example, pair it with two scoops of chocolate ice cream and prepare to sigh in satisfaction at how good it is.

If you are unsure of which flavors will complement each other well, consider flavors that already go together all the time. Perhaps a chocolate-flavored coffee would do well with mint chocolate chip ice cream, or a spicier coffee blend with a dark chocolate ice cream base. And, may I suggest a favorite: raspberry-flavored coffee with double dark chocolate ice cream? Trust me on this. You could even make an at-home affogato bar and put out a couple of different flavors of ice cream and a few different coffee flavor options and go to town mixing and matching to find your new favorites.

This tip may seem a bit more convoluted, but I promise it is not; walk with me here. While the traditional affogato is amazing and memorable, sometimes you want a more substantial treat to share with two people, or you want less of a liquidy mess at the bottom of your cup when you're close to finishing your affogato. That's where this trick comes in.

First, make your traditional affogato with a one-to-one ratio of scoops of your preferred ice cream flavor to shots of espresso. Then, dump it all in a blender (yes), add a generous amount of ice (yes) so that it blends extra thick, pour about half (depending on how much ice you added) of it into your cup, and then go ahead and add more scoops of ice cream and shots of espresso back on top of your new base. You're welcome for your new favorite dessert. 

When you're enjoying your treat, it will still taste the same, as the ingredients are the same throughout, but the thick milkshake base will help blend your espresso together in with the ice cream more seamlessly. And if you try the affogato shake and discover you like it as-is, then by all means, skip adding the extra ice cream and espresso and drink away.

Looking for a more adult version of an affogato? I've got you. To spike your affogato, you need to consider using the traditional coffee liqueurs you would use for any other coffee-based cocktail, like an espresso martini or an Irish coffee. Bailey's (or any Irish cream liquor, really), Kahula, and coffee-flavored vodka are all solid options, but don't be afraid to look outside of the box.

Thinking about coffee-flavored desserts in general, what would work better with this creamy sweet treat than Amaretto? Or, if you're a cinnamon lover, I think an ounce of Fireball would work wonderfully in your affogato, adding a warm kick to things. (Add a dash of cinnamon in there, too, and you're golden.) You could even add some chocolate mole bitters to the mix (just a dash) and watch the dessert drink spring to life. Start small with how much alcohol you add, since you can always add more after you've taste-tested it. To add the alcohol in, mix it with your espresso first and then pour both liquids together over the ice cream for a more seamless integration.

Now it's time to really switch things up. If espresso or coffee in general just isn't your thing, and you're always on the hunt for the best iced matcha at coffee shops, you need to swap your espresso for matcha, like, yesterday. And don't be skeptical — the substitution actually works quite well.

Because matcha has that extreme bitterness factor that espresso does, it still balances perfectly with the sweet vanilla ice cream. And if vanilla bean isn't what you are feeling at the moment, no worries — just think about the other types of sweeteners you would usually put in a matcha affogato, like honey, coconut milk (think coconut ice cream), or maple syrup. You can't tell me a matcha and maple syrup ice cream affogato doesn't sound like the hottest new bombshell to enter the villa, right? 

Make sure to use the proper tools, too, to make your matcha base so that it doesn't get clumpy in your ice cream. Use a proper bamboo whisk or electric whisk and be sure to read the directions on your container of ceremonial-grade matcha (yes, there is a difference between ceremonial-grade matcha and culinary-grade matcha) for the ideal ratio of matcha to hot water needed to create your mixture.

Fans of iced coffee but not necessarily iced lattes will be partial to this tip. Instead of hot, bitter espresso shots in your homemade affogato, try swapping it out with cold brew. There are, however, a few essential things you keep in mind when doing this swap, as it will change your ratios.

First, be aware that the caffeine level of espresso is different than cold brew, so be sure to read your cold brew bottle to understand how much caffeine is in a serving compared to how much is in two espresso shots. (It will vary based on the brand or if you make it yourself at home.) You will likely need to make this a more liquid-based drink than the traditional affogato, but by using cold brew instead of espresso for your caffeine, you will likely taste the difference less, and the cold brew will be much more forgiving and pleasing to your palate than straight espresso shots with only ice cream to cut them would be. Don't be afraid to add an extra scoop or two of your ice cream as well to even out greater amount of liquid from the cold brew.

I know what you're thinking — how could an affogato possibly work with soft serve instead of hard ice cream when the espresso already melts the hard ice cream fast as-is? My answer to you would be that to achieve this feat, there are a few adjustments needed to the standard recipe. Obviously, if you got a cup of soft serve and then dumped two piping hot espresso shots over it, the whole thing would melt within 30 seconds, and you'd maybe get two solid bites of affogato before feeling like a 5-year-old whose ice cream cone melted all over their hands in the stifling heat.

Avoid that sticky fate by popping your espresso shots in the fridge for a few minutes before making your concoction. I wouldn't recommend using alcohol, cold brew, or any other liquid substitutions or additions in this soft serve affogato, as soft serve ice cream is already teetering on the line between liquid and solid as it is, and we don't need to encourage it tipping to the liquid side any more than it already is. You can also pop your soft serve in the freezer for a few minutes to get it more solid and able to withstand the liquid waterfall. But these slight modifications will all be worth it in the end when you realize how genius this tip is, and how the creamy, sweet vanilla soft serve melds even better with the espresso than hard ice cream does.

Amp things up a notch and take the affogato from a dessert item to a caffeine boost by doubling up on the caffeine factor. You definitely have to love the taste of coffee for this one, but, luckily, if you adore affogatos, you probably already do love coffee. Instead of vanilla bean ice cream, use coffee ice cream with your espresso for the ultimate caffeine sweet treat dream.

This is the perfect solution for when it's hot and you're working outside, you need a midday pick-me-up, and you don't want plain coffee, but you do need more of a boost than the sugar rush an ice pop would give you. The double-caffeine affogato will solve all your summer working problems, and you don't have to go to a coffee shop or ice cream shop to achieve it. Just keep those two ingredients stocked at home so you can enjoy this phenomenon any time that you want.

I've covered matcha affogatos, boozy affogatos, and affogato milkshakes, and if you thought that was the end of the affogato variations on classic drinks, you would be sorely mistaken. What better drink to put a twist on than the dirty chai latte? A dirty chai latte, if you are unaware, is a chai latte with, of course, chai (chai is a type of tea originating in India and is traditionally called masala chai), milk, a bit of water, and an espresso shot, which is what makes it "dirty."

A dirty chai latte affogato is quite simple to make and involves adding your desired chai to the espresso, mixing them together, and then pouring the mixture over your scoops of ice cream. You can buy chai in powder form, in a tea bag, or even in liquid form in the grocery store pantry aisle. Whichever way you source your chai, be aware that it is a pretty bitter drink, so don't be afraid to add a dash of simple syrup into your liquid mixture in your affogato if you need even more sweetness than the ice cream can provide. Or just add more ice cream — you can never go wrong with more ice cream.