Avocado Coffee (Es Alpukat Kopi)
Recommended coffee:
Grind size: Medium to medium-coarse for phin
Tools:
Blender
Spoon
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Raise your hands if you’ve ever asked for extra guacamole at Chipotle or spent $12 on two slices of avocado toasts for brunch, which probably costs you only one-third of the price to make it at home? If you plead guilty, we are then on the same team #AvocadoAddicts.
Before learning avocado can be cooked with savory dishes, as a Vietnamese, I grew up having this delicious nutrient fruit (yes, it’s a fruit) blended into shakes. Sinh tố bơ (avocados smoothie) is like a household staple in Saigon: you can find it from a neighborhood mom-and-pop dessert shop to a luxurious five-star restaurant. Same ingredients but different price tags.
Avocado shake, in fact, is also popular in Indonesia as well as the Philippines and Brazil. I discovered about es alpukat kopi (iced coffee with avocado and chocolate syrup) a few years ago at Kopi Kopi, an Indonesian coffeehouse near NYU in Greenwich Village. My first sip of the Indonesian-styled avocado coffee combo was unforgettable enlightenment. The buttery green berry, the mildly sweet condensed milk, the chocolatey fudge, and the punchy coffee on a bed of crushed ice, all harmoniously swirl together, melting in my mouth.
My version of es alpukat is very simple with 5 ingredients: coffee, ripe avocado, condensed milk, oat milk, and ice. You can be creative by adding coconut milk or young coconut meat, or toasted coconut chips.
INGREDIENTS
2.5-3 tablespoons (~25g or .88oz) of medium-dark or dark roast coffee
1 medium ripe avocado, halved and pitted
2 tablespoons of sweetened condensed milk
1/2 to 3/4 cup of whole-milk or alternative (I usually go for either oat milk or soy milk)
1 cup crushed ice
1 teaspoon of sugar (optional)
Chocolate syrup (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS
Prep your coffee by grinding the beans to a medium coarseness. For this recipe, we chose to brew with the Vietnamese coffee filter (phin). The brew time takes about 8-10 minutes. You can check out our full tutorial on how to use phin here.
Scoop out the avocado flesh into a glass or bowl.
Add 2 tablespoons of condensed milk or more if you’re a sweet tooth.
There are two options: (1) gently smash the avocado with a fork/spoon or (2) mix it in a blender. If you choose the latter, add about 3/4 cup of regular or plant-based milk.
Blend everything at a high speed until the mixture becomes smooth and pourable. However, I prefer leaving my avocado shake a little bit chunky.
Coat the glass with chocolate syrup (this step is optional).
Pour the blended mixture into the glass, then crushed ice and top with the chilled coffee.
