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Creating delicious coffee at home has beoame all the more important during quarantine. What are some must-have elements for great at-home coffee?
The beauty of coffee is it can be as simple or as intricate as you want! I recommend having a food scale (that has gram measurements), a burr grinder, and a brew method of your choice. My current home lineup is a Hario V60 Drip Scale, a Baratza Encore Burr Grinder, and an AeroPress.
For someone starting out, a hand-crank burr grinder, a scale, and a French press can create exceptional coffee every day! A few great new additions to our shelves are the G70 and C70 brewers from St Anthony Industries; they are a unique adaptation of the popular Chemex and Melitta cone, with a proprietary filter that works for both! They are exceptionally versatile and would help transform your at-home pour overs.
What should we look for when buying coffee to make at home?
There are a number of variables for what to look for, but the first thing you should look at is taste notes. While certain coffee varietals, and to some extent regions, have prevalent taste notes, that isn’t always definitive. As you explore new coffees, the processing method is a good place to start. Most coffees purchased in the U.S. are washed-process coffees. If you’re interested in exploring new and exciting flavors, look for some natural, honey, or anaerobically-processed coffees! Coffee has an incredible breadth of diversity of flavor, so don’t be afraid to try new things. I’m a sucker for natural-processed coffees from all around the world! Explore new roasts, new regions, new varietals!
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How can we continue to create a coffeehouse experience in our own homes, even as shops re-open?
There are a couple “rules” we implement in the cafe that if transported to your kitchen will help ensure your coffee experience at home is as close to coffeehouse quality as possible, and they all revolve around consistency. Make sure you’re using the same temperature of water, that your coffee is all ground in the same consistency/grind size for a single brew type, and that you are pre-heating or warming your mug. Above all else however, establish a “dial-in” for your brew method and beans. In our cafes, we establish recipes and monitor them daily to ensure that the flavor is perfect. Don’t just settle with “2 tbs of coffee” if the flavor is wrong—adjust your grind, brew time, or dose to find the best flavor!
What are some easy at-home recipes to take us beyond the standard cup of coffee?
Cold brew is one of my go-to’s for easy at home brewing. Provided you have a French press (or even better an at home Toddy brewer) and time, you can make cafe-quality coffee. If you’re looking for something a little more adventurous for your regular hot coffee, I would recommend making some simple syrups (infused with lavender!) at home. It’s easier than you think.
There are a lot of fun trends in the coffee world right now! What are some of your favorites?
Sparkling espresso! One of the trends that has resurfaced is the idea of reimagining an Iced Americano with sparkling water. Something cropping up in New York and a lot of the east coast is Espresso Lemonades, which is definitely an acquired taste, but the blend of the two really makes you rethink the flavor possibilities of both coffee and lemonade! Most recently, the Dalgona trend was made wildly popular by social media and was an exciting opportunity for everyone self-isolating during COVID to explore some of the more unique methods of brewing coffee. We created a specialty adaptation using a high TDS cold brew concentrate from our partners over at Metric coffee and have had great guest reception!
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What are some unique coffee offerings people can get at Foxtrot?
Our current summer seasonal specials are some of my favorites we’ve ever concocted! We offer a few kegged products that we make in house that are quite exciting. From our Oatly Draft Latte to a limited run of a Nitro Chai Latte, we’re always trying to find something exciting and innovative. Next up for R&D is a nitrogenated lemonade for a refreshing decaf offering as we head deeper into the summer. Stay tuned…
Explain the benefits between the different non-dairy milk options we have for our next order.
There are a lot of reasons why people choose their milk alternatives (i.e. environmental impact, allergies, and taste). Oat milk has made quite a splash given that out of the most common of milk alternatives (oat, soy, almond), it is one of the most environmentally friendly while simultaneously having the least harmful allergens! It also resembles whole milk when steamed/aerated, which makes it wildly popular in cafes. It also has the propensity to make everything vaguely taste like a cookie, which is an added bonus! Some of the other new and exciting options that may soon be making guest appearances behind the bar at Foxtrot are macadamia nut and hemp milks! For at-home consumption, I recommend whichever milk alternative you like best!
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What is your personal Dalgona coffee at home recipe?
While not truly Dalgona, my wife and I used the same principles of whipped instant coffee to make an incredible frosting for some coffee cake muffins…but for a little afternoon treat I’ll typically utilize some of the cold brew concentrate from our cafes and recreate our cafe version at home. For my recommended traditional Dalgona recipe, check out Foxtrot’s saved Instagram stories under the Coffee Bar header!
What are you most looking forward to for summer dining in Chicago?
I’m a sucker for a good patio, and with COVID, the city is reimagining and expanding ways that restaurants, bars, and cafes can utilize their curbside to the fullest—Foxtrot locations included. Any way to ensure both guest and employee safety while enjoying the warm weather is great in my book!
If you do want to mix things up and grab coffee to go, you can visit one of Foxtrot’s walk-up windows, or check out our tried and true list of favorite Chicago coffee shops!
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