So Simple...

I like to order one of the simplest espresso drinks imaginable: 4 shots over ice. It has 2 ingredients (unless you count solid and liquid water as two ingredients), ice and espresso. It should be deadly simple to make. I do it at home all the time using either cold coffee or "shots" made using a French Drip device (like they use for Vietnamese iced coffee).

The recipe:
pour 4 shots over a full cup of ice.

This is actually how I order it most of the time, after multiple instances of being handed a cup full of lightly brown water with ice slivers slowly disappearing. Even being so specific, it still doesn't come out right most times. Today the problem was that the shots were pulled too long, resulting in weak, overly bitter espresso (a common problem, I must admit) that was so hot, and that collected into such a large volume, that it melted almost all of the ice, resulting in a watery drink.

Why do I keep ordering it? Because it's worth it when done right. Also, it's sugar free. I usually add some half & half, and if it's made right, the cream floats on top of the beautifully black espresso, mingling only slowly into a nice rich brown. The drink is bitter (but not acrid) and creamy, again, very simple, but the simplicity is the essence of the whole thing, unlike all the drinks that have froth and foam and caramel and milk and whipped cream and oh, wait, did you want some espresso in there?

I'm not above drinking the occasional chocolate milk disguised as a mocha, butI don't always want my coffee to taste like a candy bar, and if I want the whole thing to be cold, well, there I am again, ordering something that I can only hope will be right. It makes me wish for customer-operated espresso machines, where I could pull my own shots, measure out my own ice, and the success or failure of the drink would be on me.