さて今週も本日で仕事はエンド。なんですが、わたしは継続案件で脳味噌パンパン。
　まぁ、こういうアタマの状態はむしろ活性化して楽しくもある。どんどん行くぞ、っと。
　で、そういうときにウレシイのがコーヒータイム。あんまり飲み過ぎると就寝時、夜間のトイレが気になってしまいますが、青春期以降、慣れ親しんできた嗜好品はこころ安らぐ。
　そのコーヒー、夏場には自然にアイスコーヒーということになりますが、ことしからカミさんからの業務命令で中に入れる「アイス」をドリップコーヒーで落としたコーヒーで作ることになりました。
　写真はそのアイス。作り方も特段変わっていなくて、落としたコーヒーを冷凍庫に仕舞い込んで、凍結したら、温水の流水で型枠をあたためてカパッと外して貯め込んでおくだけ。
　先日、親族が九州から一行できたときに、食後にお出ししたら大感激してくれて、数日経っても「あれ、よかったよね（笑）」と喜んでくれていたとの情報を聞いた。ドやぁ、であります（笑）。
　日本人は千利休など、茶の湯文化が盛り上がってきた文化風土ですが、コーヒーは洋風料理の浸透と共に栄えてきた飲食文化なのでしょう。わたしのような戦後世代では、抹茶、煎茶などの文化よりも、より大衆化した文化として楽しんできた。
　そういうなかでのひと工夫として、このアイスコーヒーとコーヒー氷の組み合わせは面白い。
　〜氷が溶けても味が薄まらない非常に理にかなった美味しい工夫。
　メリット１　味が薄まらない: 普通の水で作った氷だと、溶けたときにコーヒーが水っぽくなってしまいます。コーヒーで作った氷なら、溶けても濃さが保たれる。
　メリット２　最後まで美味しい: 飲むのに時間がかかっても、コーヒーの風味やコクがしっかりキープされる。〜　という解説がAIからかえってきていた。
　サケも遡上してきて、朝晩の冷え込みも10度を下回ってきて、もうすぐアイスコーヒーも季節はずれになってくる札幌ですが、もうちょっと、この夏季限定コーヒー文化を楽しみたいと思います。

●お知らせ
拙書「作家と住空間」幻冬舎から電子書籍で発刊
お求めはAmazonで。
https://amzn.asia/d/eUiv9yO

English version⬇

[Adding “Ice” Made from Drip Coffee to Iced Coffee]
People praised it, saying, “The flavor never gets watered down.” The process of making it is fun, too (lol). I wonder if I can enjoy it a little more here in Sapporo. …

　Well, today marks the end of another workweek. That said, I’m completely swamped with ongoing projects.
Well, this kind of mental state actually gets me fired up and is kind of fun. Let’s keep pushing forward!
And what’s really nice at times like this is coffee break. If I drink too much, I end up worrying about having to get up to use the bathroom at night, but this indulgence—which I’ve grown accustomed to since my teenage years—is truly soothing.
　That coffee naturally turns into iced coffee during the summer, but starting this year, my wife issued an official order: the “ice” I put in it has to be made from brewed drip coffee.
　The photo shows that iced coffee. The method isn’t particularly different: I just put the brewed coffee in the freezer, and once it’s frozen, I warm the mold under running warm water, pop it out, and store it.
The other day, when a group of relatives came to visit from Kyushu, I served it to them after a meal, and they were absolutely thrilled. I heard that even a few days later, they were still raving, “That was really good, wasn’t it? (laughs).” I’m so proud! (laughs).
　While Japan has a cultural background where the tea ceremony—as exemplified by Sen no Rikyū—has flourished, coffee culture has likely developed alongside the spread of Western cuisine. For my generation, born after the war, we’ve enjoyed coffee as a more mainstream culture rather than the traditional tea ceremonies like matcha or sencha.
　In that context, this combination of iced coffee and coffee ice cubes is an interesting twist.
　~It’s a delicious and highly logical idea that keeps the flavor from diluting even as the ice melts.
　Benefit 1: The flavor doesn’t dilute: If you use ice made from plain water, the coffee becomes watery as it melts. But if you use ice made from coffee, the richness is preserved even as it melts.
　Benefit 2: It tastes great until the very end: Even if it takes a while to drink, the coffee’s flavor and body are firmly maintained.~ That’s the explanation I received from the AI.
　Salmon are swimming upstream, and morning and evening temperatures are dropping below 10 degrees—it won’t be long before iced coffee is out of season here in Sapporo, but I’d like to enjoy this summer-only coffee culture just a little longer.

● Announcement
My book, “Writers and Living Spaces,” has been published as an e-book by Gentosha.
Available on Amazon.
　
　

Posted on 10月 2nd, 2026 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 未分類