How To Make Dirty Coffee Like A Pro (Easy Recipe & Technique)

This is Dirty Coffee, a trendy Asian coffee drink now coming to Europe. You might have tasted specialty cafes in Japan, Thailand, South Korea or China. In Asia, I mean, it's really attractive. You know, you see the brand and you already kind of feel like, oh, what is this drink? I want to have it too, because it looks really great. In this video, we'll show you how to make Dirty Coffee using only two ingredients, espresso and milk. Yeah, the recipe is very simple, but with the help of this video's sponsor, Milkbot, we'll go much deeper and share tips and tricks to help you make Dirty Coffee like a pro. In its essence, Dirty Coffee is hot espresso on cold milk served in a glass. There is no ice, no straw or spoon. You don't stir it to experience the dynamic interplay of temperatures and flavors as you sip through the cup. Here is our simple Dirty Coffee recipe. We use a nice simple glass that can fit about 180 milliliters of liquid. We cool it down by putting it into the fridge for a few minutes. Then we fill it with 130 grams of chilled milk. For espresso, we use 18 grams of coffee and we aim for 45 grams of extracted espresso split in two shots. We raise and tilt the glasses so the milk almost touches the spouts at the beginning of the extraction. That helps us to keep separate layers of milk and espresso at the start and after a few seconds we can put it on the tray or scale to control the espresso extraction. You start seeing the espresso layering of the milk and just slowly blending while keeping a visual separation. What's the best glass for Dirty Coffee? Any glass can work well, but since Dirty Coffee is a very visual coffee drink, you can really play with it. Our typical glasses can fit 150 to 200 milliliters of liquid. That's a good starting point. The shape of the glass also has an impact on the drinking experience. The narrower neck of the glass, the more intense coffee flavor in the first sip and the higher temperature contrast between espresso and milk. Wider glass, the milkier taste and less contrast. The thin layer of espresso is getting cold faster. It's very important not to use warm glass, for instance glass sitting on the top of the coffee machine or from dishwasher. Ideally, you would store glasses for Dirty Coffee in a cooler like we often do for beer or cocktails. A dedicated glass can make the drink special. In Asia, Dirty Coffee has already established a category for itself in many online stores and you can see some of the glasses here on the table. Now, what's the best milk for Dirty Coffee? The key is to have dense milk that can hold an espresso layer on top to make the drink interesting both visually and also taste-wise. Let's look at four possible options with pros and cons. Option one is using regular full-fat milk that you need to cool down a lot which helps you to keep the layer of espresso on the top. Still, when compared very soon it blends together turning it into the iced cappuccino without ice. Option number two is regular full-fat milk mixed with sweetened condensed milk which is popular version of Dirty Coffee in Thailand. It can hold the layer better but is much more sweeter, overpowering coffee itself when drinking. Option number three is homemade free distilled milk that have all the right characteristics but is labor-intensive to prepare. Difficult to make consistent with a short shelf life. And option four is what we use today, Milbok. It's an out-of-the-box solution. It's partially condensed milk produced in the Czech Republic that takes inspiration from the World Barista Championships. There are no additives, they just remove part of milk's water content while increasing all essential nutrients to work well with coffee. Okay, so we have glass, we have milk, now it's time for coffee. What coffee is well suited for Dirty Coffee? You can play with different types. We use naturally processed coffee from Honduras. I believe naturally processed or fermented coffees can work really, really well. What was interesting for us to learn was that Asian baristas usually choose the best beans for Dirty Coffee since for many customers it's the closest to experiencing pure espresso. Espresso culture is not a common thing over there and it's an opportunity to let people experience tasty espresso. Our typical espresso recipe was 18 grams in and 45 grams out. The milk to coffee ratio is a personal preference. We use single espresso when making two Dirty Coffees at once in a smaller glass. We use double espresso for bigger glasses when we fill 160 to 180 milliliters of milk. Now, pouring espresso over milk. There are two techniques. Number one, straight from spouts. That's the most efficient way to prepare Dirty Coffee. You need to practice and add the routine of raising and tilting the glass at the beginning of the extraction as spouts almost touch the milk. Then you can put it back on the tray or scale. Number two is over the spoon. A familiar technique when making Irish coffee. It can make two very distinct layers. Less dirty though and you need some additional steps and tools. Now that we talk about the basics, it's time for the ultimate Dirty Coffee that we discussed with Milbox co-founder David Bichra. Are you ready? You get a dedicated fancy looking glass. Put it to the freezer for a couple of minutes. Then fill it with chilled Milbox. Prepare a shot, pour milk to the glass and raise it as close to the spouts as possible. Keep the glass there for the whole extraction while possibly rotating the glass. Look at it, take a photo and drink it. I mean it looks amazing, right? And it tastes great too. Okay, now that you saw all the details, what do you think about Dirty Coffee? Would you like to taste it? Or if you are barista, would you like to serve it in your cafe? For us, it combines a lot of reasons why it might become popular. For customers, it's an eye-catching drink with interesting tasting experience. For baristas, it's fast to prepare coffee drink that promotes craft of making tasty espresso. And for cafe managers, it's a proven coffee drink that is quickly made and quickly consumed. Let us know what you think and I will see you in the next video very soon. Bye!