The seventeenth drink of my thirty day book as a bev series is an iced hojicha latte with ube cold foam based on my paperback edition of Forty-two Minutes by Janay Harden.
Bought this novel during one of my indie hauls last year. Since it’s under 300 pgs, I’m hoping it’ll be just the kind of quick read to help me get out of my current reading slump.
This beverage’s name is:
‘indigo on ice’
Name Explained: Felt crafty with the name since the female main character of the book is named Indigo and the drink is also indigo-ish in hue. Also referencing being on thin ice since the story starts off with Indigo in such a crazy scenario, lol.
Hojicha: Since I was using more milk in this beverage than my previous TKaM drink, I decided to add more hojicha and water in the ratio, resulting in 4.5 – 5 g hojicha to 55 ml water as opposed to the 3.5 : 45 from last time. The result wasn’t too overpowering; I kept the sweetness about the same at 13 g since I found the last drink to be a tad too sweet and it was perfect this time around.
Teal Milk: Blue spirulina has been a very useful tool in the beverages I’ve made so far, so I expanded my arsenal and purchased a green version so I could adjust the hue of the milk to match the cover. They’re essentially flavorless, but very vibrant. I used almond milk since the nuttiness pairs well with the hojicha.
Ube Cold Foam: Condensed ube is very dark, so to brighten it and broaden its flavor profile I mixed it with some freeze dried ube when making the cold foam. I added less milk so that the resulting foam would be thicker and remain on top of the beverage instead of melting in. Because both ubes were sweet and flavored enough, I didn’t add any additional flavors or sweeteners.
RATING: Overall I’d give the final drink a 4.5.
Flavor Combination: I enjoyed the hojicha and ube together, the only reason I docked off half a point is because I’ve previously experimented with ube and matcha and found that to be a better combo. The nuttiness of the hojicha could potentially be better served by something with a more complementary flavor.
Ease: This drink was fairly simple to make. Hojicha isn’t like matcha and doesn’t need to be sifted and whisked so the process could be even faster, I simply chose to do so which added to the overall time.
Appearance: I loved the overall color match of the final drink. I think the spirulinas blended to the perfect green-blue hue, as did the ubes for the purple foam. The only reason I didn’t give a full 5 is I felt I could’ve added some white in the form of a garnish to represent the novel’s text and embellishments to make the beverage prettier.
Ways to Improve: I think this drink wasn’t too sweet and was very enjoyable. I wouldn’t change anything about the ratios going forward when remaking it.
Links to all items used:
Glass Bottles (exact): https://amzn.to/4cpPEVK
Glass Bottles (alternative): https://amzn.to/4tpfSO1
Hojicha (exact): https://amzn.to/4seDVih
Hojicha (alternative): https://hojicha.co/
Agave (exact): https://amzn.to/4bsnabU
Chawan/Tea Bowl (exact): https://amzn.to/4bsmXWa
Almond Milk (exact): https://amzn.to/3PFjjkx
Green Spirulina (exact): https://amzn.to/4tYmFOx
Blue Spirulina (exact): https://amzn.to/4uJnufv
Condensed Ube (exact): https://amzn.to/40MMswP
Purple Sweet Potato Powder (exact): https://amzn.to/4t2csQy
Heavy Whipping Cream (exact): https://www.publix.com/pd/publix-whipping-cream-heavy/RIO-PCI-112684
Whole Milk (exact): https://tgleedairy.com/products/whole-milk-plastic-quart/
Ice Tray (exact): https://amzn.to/4rtaQ17
Frother (exact): https://amzn.to/41mrmp5
This post contains some affiliate links which means a commission may be received, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link.
A video showing the process should be up soon~
Thanks for reading, have a great week!
~ C.C.
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