Ask the Expert - What's the difference between a latte and a frappé?

The beautiful thing about coffee is that all drinks are open to interpretation and each outlet can be different. Here’s a rough guide to summer drinks at White Rabbit. 

The latte, a very familiar drink, consists of hot espresso coffee topped up with warm steamed milk. However in the summer, who wants a hot coffee in the hot summer sun? Bring on the blended iced latte; a hot espresso coffee topped up with cold milk, which is either poured over ice or blended with ice. Sometimes a little sugar is added to offset the slightly bitter taste of cold espresso. Here at White Rabbit we blend our iced lattes to give not just a cold drink but the full icy texture. At some other outlets this may be known as a frappé. However a White Rabbit frappé goes that step further and contains an additional scoop of vanilla ice cream to give a wonderful creamy texture! Swap vanilla ice cream for chocolate ice cream and you have a Mocha Frappé. Cool off with a coffee? Summer sorted! 

So considering it is summer, isn’t it just too hot for chocolate?

As you would expect a chocolatier to say, it is never too hot for chocolate! However, there are practical points to consider when buying and storing chocolate at this time of year. Chocolate melts at body temperature - well into the 30’s (in ℃). A lovely property when on the tongue, but not so great in full sunlight. So, on a warm day, direct sunlight is enemy number one! If you are out shopping for chocolate in summer, buy your chocolate on your way home, don’t carry it around town. Don’t put it in the boot of the car, instead keep it on the back seat with access to the air con. On arriving home, putting the chocolate directly in the fridge will damage it’s taste and texture - any rapid changes of temperature will do this to most foods, so keep it out of the fridge and let it acclimatise naturally.

Should I ever store chocolate in the fridge?

Ideally no, just keep it in a cool, dry place out of direct sunlight. Chocolate can be frozen, however to preserve its shelf life. To do this, wrap it in cling film and first place it in the fridge. After a few hours, transfer it to the freezer where it can remain for months. When defrosting, do the same but in reverse - take the chocolate out of the freezer and pop it into the fridge for a few hours to defrost before transferring it to room temperature. This way, the chocolate changes temperature gradually and is not shocked. This will avoid a white ‘bloom’ - the result of fats rising to the surface of the chocolate to produce a white sheen, which is edible, but looks unpleasant. 

For more information about White Rabbit Chocolatiers visit https://whiterabbitchocolatiers.co.uk. 

Produced by Lara Blythe and Ed Hawkes