kopi see (coffee with evaporated milk)

I'm really an americano kinda girl. If you're into coffee culture, you'd probably know that an americano (aka "long black" or "caffee lungo" or "aqua sporca") is what Italians call an espresso that's been diluted by at least an equal amount of hot water, into something the coffee gods of Europe deem suitable only for Americans with soft hands, and no stomach for real coffee. Don't shoot me, I'm just the messenger. It gets worse; "aqua sporca" is Italian for dirty water. *yikes* I am not making this up. And I have absolutely nothing against Americans, soft hands or weak coffee. I mean, I love weak coffee, apparently.

You're more likely to find me sipping an americano from a Starbucks or Coffee Bean thimble.... er....cup, when I find five-dollar bills on the sidewalk, or more often, slurping my caffeinated home brew out of my trusty cafetiere, rather than enjoying a steaming cup of kopi from the nearest kopi tiam. The kopi tiam or coffee shop is a local institution renowned for  unpretentious, sock-it-to-your-solar-plexus coffee and tea based beverages that won't make your wallet cry, even after three mammoth shots, or a round for every one in the house, for that matter. Makes you wonder how these guys can operate, often right around the clock, serving up liquid gold, without charging you the earth for it. Best get your head out of the horse's mouth and pucker up to another cup of kopi instead...

I love me a steaming, fragrant cup of local teh tarik, but the kopi tiam style coffees, I find a lot less charming because I don't like my coffee beans brassy and brazen, roasted nigh unto death and crusted with virtually carbonised sugar. As you could probably imagine, the kind of coffee that emerges from such beans has nothing in common with the words "nuance" or "bouquet". It's all body - bitter, black, very, very toasty, smack you on the forehead, thick as sludge, BODY. Not my coffee style. Usually.

There is one, and only one style of coffee I enjoy from the kopi tiam though. Kopi see. It's also the only kind of milked coffee I will touch. All that bitterness and body is tamed by silky, creamy evaporated milk into something quite beautiful. The minute the steaming coffee hits the pool of evaporated milk and sugar at the bottom of the glass, the most gorgeous toasted nut and caramel aromas unfurl from the swirling waves of cold milk and hot coffee, lingering just long enough at the tip of the nose to tantalise and intoxicate, on their heavenward journey, no doubt, to tempt the angels. I'm pretty sure, in heaven, the one thing you remember of your earthly existence, is the smell of coffee, first thing in the morning. That, and possibly...... sizzling bacon.

click here for printable recipe