Pistachio went from a flavour to an obsession in this city, and the coffee menus followed. The iced pistachio Spanish latte now turns up everywhere from Al Wasl Road to Al Bateen, usually at 32 to 38 dirhams. It is a Spanish latte with one extra ingredient, and it costs about six dirhams to make at home.
Paste or syrup?
This is the decision that makes or breaks the drink.
Pistachio syrup is easier. It dissolves cleanly, it never splits, and it keeps for months. It also tastes more of sugar and almond essence than of pistachio, because most commercial pistachio syrups contain very little actual pistachio.
Pistachio paste — the 100 percent kind sold in Middle Eastern grocers, not the sweetened spread — tastes dramatically better and is what the good cafes use. It needs loosening first or it clumps, and it will separate if the drink sits. Stir it into the condensed milk before anything else touches it and that problem disappears.
If you buy paste, check the label. If sugar is the first ingredient you have bought a spread, not a paste.
Why it splits, and how to stop it
Pistachio paste is largely oil. Drop it into cold milk and it seizes into little beads that float. The fix is order of operations: paste into condensed milk first, hot espresso onto that, stir until glossy, and only then introduce anything cold.
Ingredients
- 1 double shot espresso (18 g in, 36 g out)
- 15 ml sweetened condensed milk
- 15 ml pistachio syrup, or 1 tbsp unsweetened pistachio paste
- 180 ml cold whole milk
- A glass of ice
- Crushed pistachios to finish
Method
-
Loosen the pistachio
Stir the pistachio paste into the condensed milk in the bottom of a jug until it is completely smooth. If you are using syrup, just combine them. -
Espresso straight on top
Pull a 36 g double shot directly onto the mixture and stir until glossy and fully dissolved. The heat is what makes the paste behave. -
Ice and milk
Fill a tall glass to the top with ice and pour in the cold milk, leaving about three centimetres clear. -
Layer it
Pour the espresso mixture slowly over the back of a spoon so it sits on top. That dark-over-pale layer is the whole visual. -
Finish and stir
Scatter crushed pistachios over the top. Photograph it layered, then stir before you drink it.
What you need from CurioBox
Questions people ask
Any Middle Eastern or Iranian grocer stocks it, and the large supermarkets carry it in the baking aisle. Look for 100 percent pistachio with no added sugar — the sweetened spreads make the drink cloying.
Yes. Steam the milk instead of using ice and pour as normal. It is good, though the pistachio reads more clearly cold.
You can, but it is thin and the flavour is faint. Use dairy milk for body and get the pistachio from paste.
Around 5-7 dirhams a glass depending on your beans, against 32-38 in a cafe.
