Shakerato Coffee: Nutrition and Diet

Generality

Shaken coffee is a "stirred" drink (from the English verb to shake), prepared with espresso coffee and ice cubes; in addition, at the customer's discretion, a sweetener can be added.

It is "a very widespread and well-known preparation; it can be said with certainty that in Italy it is one of the essential working" bases "for a room-bar operator / technician, so much" that in hotel schools it is taught in the very early stages of the three-year program .
Contrary to what can be deduced by analyzing the etymology of the name, shaken coffee is a typical Italian product and not English or American. In fact, even in Anglo-Saxon countries the drink is known by the term "Italianized" (shaken, less frequently "shaked coffee ").
It is consumed mainly in the summer due to its thirst-quenching capacity associated with the taste of coffee.

Nutritional Characteristics

“Traditional” shaken coffee is a drink that contains caffeine.
For this reason it is not recommended to be consumed or abused in children, pregnant / breastfeeding women, heart patients, hypertensive patients and those suffering from certain digestive system disorders such as: gastritis, ulcer, gastroesophageal reflux and irritable colon with diarrhea.
The heat of the shaken coffee depends on the presence or absence, and quantity, of sugars. An average sweetened product contains 7-14 g per 100-150 ml, or 25-50 kcal.
Energy is provided exclusively by simple carbohydrates, nutrients to be taken with caution in case of: hyperglycemia, type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertriglyceridemia, tendency to dental caries.
It does not contain lactose, gluten or potentially allergenic molecules.
There are no noteworthy philosophical-food implications (vegetarianism, veganism, etc.).
A clarification regarding the hygienic aspect is a must. Shaken coffee or similar cocktails are the main culprits for the so-called “traveler's diarrhea”. In some countries where purification is not yet within everyone's reach, ice is often packaged with unhealthy water rich in pathogenic microorganisms. It is advisable to avoid consumption or to check the purity of the water used.

Recipe

The shaken coffee recipe is quite simple, but it changes considerably according to the skill of the barista / barman.
It can be produced using various types of cocktail shakers (Boston Shaker, Cobbler Shaker, French Shaker and Bullet Shaker), of different materials (metal or metal and glass), with human or electric propulsion.
The shaken coffee can be served in any glass but cocktail ones such as martini glass or champagne glass (for example the Asti glass) would be more suitable. It is not uncommon for champagne flutes, collins glasses, granities and tumblers to be used.
While not requiring any decoration, some create a sugary rim on the glass, sprinkle the surface foam with cocoa or coffee powder or place one or three coffee beans on it.
Since this is a frozen cocktail, it is first of all advisable to cool both the glass and the shaker by filling them with ice.
We now come to the choice of the fundamental ingredient: coffee. This should be of the espresso type but the drink can also be packaged using that of the mocha.
To obtain a portion of shaken coffee, 100 ml of espresso coffee is sufficient.
The basic coffee can be the result of the infusion of one or two elongated portions (since a normal espresso coffee is equivalent to 25 ml) or of four normal portions; the latter solution is not widely adopted as it increases the cost of the drink which, moreover, it will be less thirst-quenching and will contain significant concentrations of caffeine.
Do not take this last delivery as if it were a fixed rule as it can vary significantly.
After having learned from the customer which sweetener he likes and how much, it is necessary to drain the shaker from the residual cooling water, add the espresso coffee, the sweetener in the useful doses and start shaking.
The stirring technique cannot be described but it is recommended to continue until the entire beverage has been reduced to a foam. However, it is also necessary not to overdo it; the risk would be to excessively melt the ice which dilutes the drink excessively.
Then comes the moment of service; the better the shaking, the more difficult it becomes to serve the drink due to the foamy consistency which slows down the descent through the filter.
When needed, taking care not to let the ice pass, it is advisable to open the shaker and use a long barman's spoon.
This must be done quickly or the consistency of the drink will be compromised.
The shaken coffee should still be predominantly frothy with an evident "dismantling" process (similar to that of stout beers - black, Guinness type - which seem to decant).
The optimal serving temperature is around 10 ° C.

Variable Ingredients

The variations of shaken coffee concern:

• Type of coffee stain: espresso is recommended but some use the drink obtained with the mocha.
• Type of coffee: in addition to the different blends, some customers ask for a decaffeinated shaken coffee.
• Degree of sweetening (expressed in beet sugar sachets; 1 sachet = 7 g): normal (7-14 g of sucrose), slightly sweet (7 g of sucrose), bitter (without sucrose), sweet (14-21 g sucrose) or very sweet (> 21 g of sucrose).
• Type of sweetener: granular sugar (white beet, brown cane), syrups (glucose from corn, agave, maple, etc.), acaloric sweeteners (stevia extract, acesulfame potassium, sodium cyclamate, sodium saccharinate, etc.).
• Alcoholic correction: whiskey cream is particularly used; other possible ones are sambuca, coffee or chocolate liqueur.