Pineapple Summers
New York Coffee, encouraging you to spend all of your money on yellow fruit.
It’s almost officially summer and the longest day of the year, meaning people are outside more, the trains are packed at all hours of the weekend [except 4pm, for some reason], and the parks have more people and cute dogs than blades of grass.
And, while pineapple and coconut might not be the most refreshing drink in the world1, the thick sweetness of a pineapple syrup can pair great with a humid, humid, humid summer [15:49]. In fact, a pineapple ice cream soft-serve would be delightful right now.
So, if you’re looking to make a pineapple based drink, and you’ve been waiting on a recipe in this newsletter for the last 3 weeks:
Here is pineapple, 100 (okay, just five) ways.
But first, the weather:
Play this on shuffle!
I added a few New York City artists/buskers to this playlist. If you know any NYC-based artists, send them to me at @nycoffeenewsletter on Instagram!
This week’s coffee shop spotlights!
Double the spotlight!
Mid, lots of mid, lots to go around.
Pause Cafe is a Moroccan cafe in SoHo with a huge menu and a terrible “it’s what most of our customers like” chai. I can imagine now why the barista looked reluctant to recommend it. The menu is great for food it seems, but the clientele is a strange line of (A) people that are forced to work in a cramped sauna of an outdoor seating area and (B) those that enjoy taking stress out on service workers. I can imagine this café in a place less cramped.
noa, a café is a café famous for their marketing budget cookie-croissant abominations. You’d think after:
Cookie Croissants [Crookie]
Cubes, et al, and
Onioissants (No, no! Just NO!),
We’d have some regular, half-decent croissants. Ah well.
Instead, noa, a café leans on their pastries and nice baristas as a substitute for having good coffee.
What’s new, Jude?
No More Cafe, if you want to call it a coffee shop, is a “zero-proof hideaway” which also serves coffee. I am normally against fads, but this is a thing.
Regular NYC looks like it could be the next thing [FiDi]. Has the very hilarious “Milo & Oatis”, which is a dirty oat milk Milo with ice cream🤤
Sunflower is opening another brunch café in East Village. Coffee is ok, but at least they’re pretty.
CAFE 2BY2 in East Village
Pop-ups
Tomorrow: Coco & Nibs in Williamsburg
Next Saturday (June 22): NY Coffee Roaster Showcase
Break time!
You probably knew this, but pineapple is a great way to eat and be eaten! It contain bromelain, which is a mixture of two protein-breaking-down enzymes. As you eat pineapple or touch pineapple juice, bromelain is digesting you! You can even remove your fingerprints if you do it a lot.
And now…
Coffee news!
Ah, we’ll have to skip this this week.
The Recipe Section
Pineapple! A lot!
This will be surprisingly long and surprisingly short.
There are 5 pineapple recipes herein:
The “Regular”, some cooked ingredient with simple syrup
The “Blended reg”, same ingredients, blended, no heat
The “I am a 4-hour caramalizing onions type of person”
The “char”
The “My brother gave me this recipe”
It is my responsibility as a professional to let you know that if you’re paying more than $3 for a pineapple, you’re paying too much. To check if it’s ripe, look for a yellow color, a sweet smell at the base [but not fermented], and gorgeous, green leaves. It should look like the picture above.
It’s your monthly reminder to use all five of your senses if you want good food.
To cut the pineapple, cut each side from top to bottom, like you’re peeling off a barrel surrounding the pineapple. Clean it extremely thoroughly before cutting, especially if you are going to use the rind.
Chop the leaves off before if you like, and then use it as a centerpiece in a vase. You can also serve them as a garnish, or put a few leaves on the plate with the coffee cup.
You can also try these recipes with pink pineapple, because “pink pineapple” sounds a lot cooler on a menu 👍
For all of these [except for the last one], the recipe is straightforward enough:
Pineapple
2 cups water
2 cups sugar
adjust as needed
Here we go:
The regular is simple, very very simple for all of those that still haven’t tried a recipe yet. Make the simple syrup by simmering the water with sugar until melted, then add a can of pineapple chunks, tidbits, or cubes [doesn’t matter, the shapes are marketing] and cook for a little while. You should replace some or all of the water with the juice from the can. If using only 1 cup water/sugar, you might have enough to replace all the water with pineapple juice. It might be a little sweet if you do this, so reduce the sugar.
The blended reg is just like the name, take the meat out of the pineapple and blend it with 2/2 cups. I like it with vanilla. Keep in mind with the blended version you need a good strainer. You can mix it with coconut milk and cream if you like a non-coffee latte.
The “char” is something I sure hope you can do in a restaurant setting, but if you’re like me get out your favorite potato/avocado masher and put a pineapple slice on it.
Turn the heat on medium-high to high and place the potato masher metal-down on top of the burner. It should look a little like this:
High-Quality Content Get some char lines and then add it to #2
It’s a lot easier with a barbeque
This one involves smoking the pineapple. I created a makeshift smoker in my oven—a large pan or bowl with smoking chips soaked in water, but not dripping, a smaller bowl sitting on top to hold pineapple, and a large bowl to create an enclosed dome. You want the bowls to keep steam in, but if you wrap it up you might make it too tight. Leave for 3–4 hours, soaking the chips again halfway through (I understand this will release the steam, but that’s okay, it’s better than creating a fire).
You are completely able to do this with the pineapple rinds—that’s what I did. A great way to reduce waste.
You will need to strain this one too, if you blend it. You can also steep them in simple syrup if you don’t want to go through all the trouble.
This one is a similar process to charring, in a pan.
Get ½” thick pineapple slices and cook them in a salamander or saute pan on high heat/no oil until char forms.
Add slices to 1qt of sugar, blend, and strain
Each of the 5 recipes has their own niche.
A simple, pineappley cooked flavor. Goes great with demerara, molasses‑y sugars. Is a nice syrup to go with coconut and piña colada.
Blended is a more refreshing pineapple, a lot better with white sugar.
Char is great for garnish, and a lovely complex flavor. This and 5 is great for lemonades and clearer drinks where the complexity can shine.
Smoky is best for drinks where there is a light flavor but also a lot of room for many flavors coming from the pineapple, like a clarified hojicha.
See 3, a lot easier and you can get more char.
Thanks for tuning in!
It’s over already??
Enjoy your coffee!