no. 44: fall beverages for the PSL haters
October recipe round up featuring a black sesame latte, a chai spiced apple cider, miso caramel latte and a rosemary vanilla sparkling americano.
Intermezzo, by Sally Rooney. Everyone and their mother has reviewed the new novel from Irish novelist Sally Rooney, and I have happily ignored them all while I worked my way through. Rooney and I overlapped at Trinity College in Dublin around the same time, and I find her writing deeply nostalgic - so much so that I’m generally able to overlook any sentimental or stylistic critiques others may lob her way. Intermezzo, a story about two brothers following the death of their father, examines love and loneliness. I found myself deeply deeply moved by the descriptions of the minutiae of love, of longing and loss (reader, I wept).
I never liked chai until I had a real one, inspired by Kevin Wilson to make the real thing while I was messing around with at-home coffee recipes. I have become very loyal to One Stripe Chai, a south-Asian, woman owned brand that makes truly phenomenal tea blends with whole spices. I’ve been making a seasonal chai recipe on repeat (more below) and just had to restock.
In the spirit of a beverage round up, I would be remiss not to share my all time favorite mugs (especially since I get 87 messages asking about them anytime I share). I picked up these wave tumblers from Forest Ceramic Co. on Orcas Island a few years ago, and they have been centerpieces in my home ever since. Made in small batches, each one is uniquely marbled (and dishwasher safe). These mugs also feature in my coffee shop print collab!
If you are new to earlybird, you might not know that I built a fairly sizable following on tiktok during the pandemic sharing innovative at-home coffee recipes. It was my first foray into short form video, and a very fun way to get creative in the kitchen by trying out new flavors and techniques with coffee.
I know the recipe internet loves to proliferate at-home versions of all the Starbucks seasonal beverages – less sugar, less expensive, and all that. But I am personally not that excited about those flavors in the first place – my preferred recipes aren’t based on the trendy popular flavors at all, and instead are recreations that I made based on a unique meal or dessert of a drink that I had while traveling or visiting a new coffee shop - the kind of drink where you sit up like how did they *do* that???!! And then head home and immediately get to work messing around until I come up with something good.
Today I’m sharing extremely fall recipes that have nothing to do with pumpkin spice and everything to do with the tension that I feel is quintessentially fall – a little sweet, a little spicy, a little savory. The brisk chill and flushed cheeks, cold hands and overwarm in your wool sweater.
I’m trying a new format with how I’m sharing these recipes – This issue includes one free recipe for all subscribers, with three additional recipes below for paid subscribers.
would love your feedback — on the recipes and the format — I hope you enjoy as much as I did!
Inspired by a Black sesame tiramisu I had in Paris a few years ago, this drink is a little sweet, a little savory, all in all highly delicious. It’s nearly foolproof, and can be made with limited coffee machinery — while an espresso machine is ideal, you can make this with a nespresso, or a coffee concentrate alternative.
Ingredients:
⅓ cup black sesame seeds
2 cups of alternative milk of choice (recommend oat, but do you!)
Splash vanilla, pinch of salt
Sweetener of choice: about 1-2 tsp (recommend maple!)
2 shots of espresso or extremely strong coffee
To make - DIY Black Sesame Oat Milk:
Toast 1/3 cup black sesame seeds until fragrant
Blend with ~2 cups plain oat milk of choice + dash vanilla + dash salt. Optionally add sweetener of choice (1 date or a splash of maple syrup works well!)
Once blended, strain using a sieve or cheese cloth.
if you' aren’t into making this at home, you can also sub out for the three trees black sesame almond milk — I’ve had it and thought it was good!
For the latte: Steam or froth 12-16 oz of milk until *very foamy*, and add 2 shots of espresso. Top with a few toasted black sesame seeds, and a pinch of salt.
This works optimally when served with a shortbread or biscotti (or something equally hearty) for dunking.
looking for more recipes and ideas for food and coffee? check out the archive!
Ohhh can’t wait to try the sesame latte! Also 1/3 of the way through intermezzo and enjoying it!