Shab-Bidar
The night owl's coffee: aragh, cardamom coffee, date syrup and a pinch of salt, shaken to a foam.
Ingredients
| Ingredient | ml | oz |
|---|---|---|
| Aragh sagi (Iranian raisin spirit) | 45 ml | 1½ oz |
| Chilled cardamom coffee concentrate · homemade, P31 | 30 ml | 1 oz |
| Date syrup · homemade, P13 | 15 ml | ½ oz |
| Cardamom syrup · homemade, P03 | 5 ml | 1 tsp |
| Plain saline · homemade, P29 | 2 drops |
Ounces are rounded; measure in ml for accuracy. Homemade items link to their own page.
chilled coupe
shaken hard with ice, served up
three coffee beans and a pinch of ground cardamom on the foam
The story
Shab-bidar is the one who stays up: the student before exams, the host washing glasses at three in the morning, the whole city of Tehran, which never really sleeps and runs on coffee and tea. Cold coffee shaken with spirit is the drink of staying up, and aragh does something vodka cannot: its raisin and caramel notes meet the coffee halfway. Cardamom coffee, brewed the Persian Gulf way, does the bitter work; date syrup sweetens it the way the south sweetens coffee; a pinch of salt sharpens everything. No coffee liqueur needed.
Method
- Chill a coupe.
- Shake the aragh, coffee concentrate, date syrup, cardamom syrup and saline very hard with ice for 15 seconds to build the foam.
- Double-strain into the coupe and let the crema settle.
- Three coffee beans in the centre and a pinch of ground cardamom.
How it tastes
Bitter coffee and cardamom first, then date sweetness and the raisin of the spirit, salt at the edges. Silky foam, not sweet, strong.
Persian taste: talkh-shirin (bittersweet)
Pair it with
- Food: Late: a plate of dates stuffed with walnuts, or nothing at all.
- Sweet: Sohan from Qom, or a slice of halva.
- Snack: Salted almonds
Variations
Chai
30 ml strong black tea with cardamom in place of the coffee.
Liqueur
10 ml coffee liqueur and the date syrup down to 10 ml for a sweeter build.
Dessert
A small scoop of saffron ice cream dropped into the coupe: a bastani affogato.
Balancing tips
- The coffee must be cold and strong; weak coffee kills the foam.
- Shake harder and longer than you think.
- Date syrups vary in sweetness; adjust between 10 and 15 ml.
Allergens
- No common allergens.
- Contains alcohol. Please drink responsibly.
Development notes
- Status: original recipe draft v0.1, not yet taste-tested.
- Test 10 ml aquafaba for a thicker crema.
- Test with a Turkish-grind brew.
Watch it mixed
Follow along
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Tehran, imagined
