Iced coffee

I spent my first few years of my life a long way north, seem to have somewhat acclimated to it; I really don't do heat. So, seein' as it's been getting warmer lately, I've been doing the iced coffee thing a fair bit of late.

And no, this ain't exactly a recipe blog. But it is my humble opinion that this concoction and the accompanying technique, developed in the labs of yours truly over recent summers, needs to be shared.

It goes like this:

1. Brew two demitasses worth of espresso, by whatever means suits your fancy (I use an electric pump-driven machine, myself).
2. Optional step: dissolve any sugar you might want into the espresso (I often put in a modest teaspoon). You want to do this now while it's hot and thus easier, 'cos this stuff isn't going to be too hot for much longer.
3. Chill the espresso. The following method can get it to nicely chilled in about a minute or two, which is probably the best you can do sans liquid Nitrogen: pour the espresso into a steel martini shaker, then put the martini shaker in a smallish mixing bowl full of ice water... enough water to float the ice and make sure heat gets carried away from the mixer, thassall. Stir the espresso gently (note to the scientifically disinclined: if you've a shaker which isn't steel, this ain't gonna work, or not with any speed—the stainless steel is usually quite thin and a good conductor of heat, which is why it works so well for this).
4. Pour chilled espresso and milk into a 16 oz. chilled beer mug about a third to a half full of ice cubes.

That's it. Very iced coffee in just a few minutes.

Yes, you probably could do this with just one demitasse, and a smaller mug. But I don't.