I spent a good five hours today hoeing in the orchard, and even though it was only 85° or so, I worked up quite a sweat. Some of those weeds are tenacious little buggers! And besides, I’m a total wimp.

When I finished and walked back home, I thought I would just pass out on the couch for twenty minutes, and afterwards I’d have enough energy to finish my work for the day. But when I walked in the kitchen door, I saw the leftover coffee from this morning. And I remembered how, back in high school, I used to make what I thought was Thai iced coffee on hot, tiring afternoons.

The drink that you get in most Thai restaurants (or, at least, what I get) is just bad coffee mixed with sweetened condensed milk. Sometimes they throw in some spices -vanilla and cardamom seem like safe bets – but there’s really not much to it. Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m not too psyched about cans of processed milk. It’s hard enough to find decent dairy producers, so decent cans-o-dairy producers? Nah, it doesn’t seem like anyone at that end of the market is going to be as humane or environmentally and socially responsible as I’d like. (as a side note, I’ve heard from a fairly reliable source – my boss/teacher – that Straus is a genuinely good company, and Clover is alright too. Beware Horizon though, supposedly they’re a bunch of bastards.)

Besides, milk in cans? That is seriously weird. It seems more like healthy skepticism than paranoia to be wary of any foods you can’t make in a home kitchen.

Without the scary can, I still managed to make myself a pretty good substitute for Thai iced coffee, and it is doing a mighty fine job of cooling me down and waking me up.

Iced & Spiced Coffee

Ingredients

• ½ cup whole milk
• 1 heaping tablespoon dark brown sugar (you know, the really flavorful kind)
• pinch of cinnamon
• few grinds of fresh nutmeg
• ice to fill cup
• bit over ½ cup cold coffee (cold-brewed would be nice)

1. In a pint glass (or mason jar), combine milk, sugar, and spices. Stir vigorously and see if you can’t get some of that sugar to dissolve.
2. Add ice to the top of the glass.
3. Add the coffee and stir some more.

Seriously. I pulled one espresso shot on Monday, a zillion yesterday, and five zillion today. I think I’m starting to get consistent, but I still lack a sense for the dosing, the distributing, and the tamping. And milk? Holy crap. Overload. I have a giganto-blister on my finger where I accidentally steamed it today.

Tomorrow’s my last day of training. Color me not-so-confident. Scott, my manager, tells me not to fear the coffee. Respect, yes, but fear, no.

(By the way, I got a new job. In case you hadn’t noticed. If you’re in San Francisco, head up to Divisadero & California and I’ll make you a mediocre drink.)