My Favorite Coffee Fix : Kopi C

Kopi C is something new to me. I mean, I have heard of Kopi C but I never drank it and I never bothered to find out what exactly is Kopi C until now.

What got me curious was when I was inadvertently served Kopi C when I ordered Kopi O at a restaurant. I wondered why the Kopi O was brown instead of black.

Then some of you commented that there was milk in the coffee. So I did some googling and found the recipe for Kopi C. What I learnt is the C stands for Carnation as in Carnation Evaporated Creamer.

Most if not all coffee shops or restaurants and coffee trucks use creamer. But I prefer full cream evaporated milk and not creamer because creamer contains not only milk but palm oil (and a slew of other ingredients). I have nothing against palm oil, I will cook with it but not drink it.

So I choose Ideal Full Cream Evaporated Milk. This is the brand that my late grandma used when I was a child.

As for coffee I use Ah Huat Kopi O Kosong.

It says no sugar added but there is sugar in the ingredients when they roast the coffee. But the amount I would say is not material.

So to make my Kopi C, I use two sachets of Ah Huat Kopi O.

I put two sachets into my mug.

Then I add boiling water, about 300ml to immerse the sachets of coffee.

Then I cover the mug and leave the kopi O to steep. For how long? I don't know, I just leave it there until I remember it is there hah...hah...hah...

Usually by the time I get to it, the coffee would have cooled down and I simply remove the sachets.

Then I add 3 or 4 tablespoons of evaporated milk.

Give it a stir to combine.

Then simply add ice. Lots of ice.

No need to add more water because the ice will melt and you don't want the Kopi C too diluted.

Then I keep it in the fridge to chill further. The ice will melt very slowly and I usually enjoy this after lunch on weekends.

I noticed that creamers contain a lot more ingredients like palm olein, starch extract and mono & diglycerides of fatty acids.

The only common ingredients in the two creamers above and Ideal Full Cream Evaporated Milk are stabilizers in the form of sodium phosphate and carrageenan. 

Ideal evaporated milk contains milk solids, milk fat, emulsifiers and stabilizers. The less ingredients the better. 

There is also a recipe on the can but that's not something that I fancy.

So this is how I enjoy Kopi C Ais Kosong in the comfort of my home.