When you want both coffee and ice cream after a meal, Affogato satisfies both cravings at once. This classic Italian dessert looks simple to make, but behind it lie the differences between Italian Gelato and American ice cream, espresso extraction parameters, and moka pot alternatives. This article starts with the definition of Affogato, explains Gelato's characteristics in fat content, air content, and serving temperature, then presents the common ways coffee shops serve it, and offers two home preparation paths—espresso and moka pot. Finally, it includes Front Street Coffee's recommended blend and extraction advice, helping you make an Affogato at home with a texture close to tiramisu.

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Entering September, summer is nearing its end, but temperatures in many parts of the south remain high, and many people want a cup of coffee after a meal to help with digestion. Yet despite being quite full, another thought pops into their head: let's have some ice cream too! After all, dessert goes into a "second stomach," so of course there's still room. So should you have coffee or ice cream? Why not combine the two and make an Affogato.

What exactly is Affogato?

Simply put, Affogato is a dessert made by pouring espresso over Italian ice cream. Although it doesn't look complicated, it, like tiramisu, is a classic dessert that represents Italy. A truly refined Affogato uses Italian Gelato.

Compared with the more commonly seen American ice cream, Gelato's differences mainly lie in three aspects: fat content, air content, and temperature. Compared with ice cream, Gelato's recipe uses a lower proportion of cream and more milk, so its fat content is lower, usually falling between 4% and 8%.

In addition, Gelato emphasizes "natural churning and even cooling" during production, with a very slow churning speed, aiming to incorporate as little air as possible. The less air, the denser the texture and the richer the flavor layers.

Gelato has another special feature: it is made at a higher temperature than ice cream. Its standard storage temperature is minus 25 to minus 18 degrees Celsius, and when served it must be maintained at minus 15 to minus 12 degrees Celsius. So Gelato melts more easily in the mouth than ice cream.

However, Gelato is not easy to buy on the market and is rather expensive, so many coffee shops use original or vanilla ice cream paired with espresso to make Affogato. Although the texture is not as soft and smooth as Gelato, it is still a dessert you will love after just one taste.

How do you make Affogato?

The core operation of Affogato is pouring espresso over ice cream, using the hot coffee to melt the ice cream and form a thick layer of foam on the surface. If it is served in a coffee shop, an espresso machine is usually used for extraction. If you don't have an espresso machine at home, you can also use a moka pot to brew a higher-concentration coffee.

For the espresso used to make Affogato, Front Street recommends "Front Street Coffee Sunflower Warm Sun Blend Coffee Beans." This bean consists of 70% Honduras Sherry coffee beans and 30% Yirgacheffe Red Cherry coffee beans. The extracted product carries whiskey aroma, gentle berry sweetness and acidity, and flavors of vanilla cream and nutty caramel. Paired with vanilla ice cream, it is like a tiramisu-flavored Affogato.

When making Affogato, there is no hard-and-fast rule about the ratio of coffee to ice cream; you can decide how much coffee to add entirely according to personal preference. In Italy, the common practice is one scoop of ice cream with about 2oz of espresso.

How do you extract espresso or high-concentration coffee?

Every espresso machine and espresso grinder has different power and performance, so the extraction parameters will naturally differ. Even with the same coffee beans, different machines will produce different extraction results. So before formally making Affogato, you need to first adjust the espresso extraction parameters.

Front Street Coffee suggests using 20g of very finely ground coffee powder, extracting 40g of coffee liquid, with an extraction time of 25 to 30 seconds as a reference for flow rate testing. Each extraction should be confirmed by taste, and only when the espresso flavor meets your requirements should you start making Affogato.

If you use a moka pot instead, although the concentration is not as strong as an espresso machine and there will be less crema, it can still be used to make Affogato. For operating the moka pot, Front Street suggests first filling the lower chamber with cold water (hot water will scald your hands), then placing the filter basket into the lower chamber, cupping your hand around the basket, and filling the basket with grounds until a small mound forms in the middle. After the surrounding grounds fill the gaps in the basket, directly attach the upper chamber and tighten it.

Then place it on a gas stove and heat over low heat. When you hear a "whoosh" sound, it means the coffee liquid is starting to surge upward. At this point, turn off the heat directly and wait for the coffee liquid to rise. After letting it cool slightly, you can start making Affogato.

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.