“I wanted to create a riff on the original and use coffee instead of tea, since Steve Palmer himself loves coffee. After some trial and error, I found the trick is to increase the drink’s lime flavor without increasing the acidity from the fruit.” —Michael Mai, Mercantile & Mash's coffee manager
Steve Palmer:
(Serves 1)
5 oz. cold-brew iced coffee, recipe follows
Juice from one lime, about 1¼ oz.
1 oz. lime oleo saccharum, recipe follows
Add all ingredients into a shaker with ice. Quickly shake for about seven seconds to aerate. Strain and pour over fresh ice.
For the cold-brew iced coffee:
Note: While Mai uses a kimchi fermenter to prevent oxidation during the brewing process at Mercantile and Mash, homebrewers can use a Mason jar.
Using the ratio of one (coffee beans) to 12½ (water) by weight, place a little less than 1½ oz. rinsed whole coffee beans into a rinsed paper filter and tie the top with twine, like a bouquet garni. Add the beans to an 18-oz. Mason jar. Tip: Mai uses Black Tap Coffee’s Finca Nueva Grenada, a Guatemalan coffee that’s “medium- to full-bodied, with hints of chocolate, nuts, and tamarind.”
Fill the Mason jar with water and seal the lid. Set aside in a dark space at room temperature and let brew for 24 hours.
Remove the beans and discard. Refrigerate before serving with ice. Stored in a Mason jar in the fridge, the coffee will keep for two days.
For the lime oleo saccharum:
Add the zest from five limes (be careful not to include the white pith) and one cup sugar to a bowl and stir. Cover and let sit for eight hours. Add two cups of boiling water slowly until the sugar dissolves. Strain into an airtight container, pressing on pieces of zest to extract as much liquid as possible. Stored in the fridge, the oleo saccharum will keep for one week.
