Summer’s here! Wherever you are in the world, I hope you’re enjoying the sunshine. I’m certainly taking every opportunity to write outside in my garden, amid all the tantalisingscents and vibrant colours and the sound of the breeze rustling the leaves and the distant waves crashing on the rocks. It’s wonderfully hot in the south of France – just how I like it; after all, I grew up in Egypt which is hardly cool in its warm months! But I know well that to manage the heat one needs a cool drink always to hand. And today I’m sharing with you my favourite drink to cool, refresh and revive: ideal for writing.

Iced coffee. Once, pairing those two words together might have earned you a confused eyebrow raise. Coffee cold? One of the earliest attempts at this was made by the French in the 19th century with a drink called mazagran: coffee, lemon and ice. Fast-forward to the 1990s and Starbucks and Pepsi attempted to revive mazagran in the form of a bottled soda-coffee. Disaster. But it was the first step in the ever-expanding proliferation of coffee houses in many countries now, which have seen coffee served cool become a well-known and well-loved treat.

But forget lumpy, creamy milkshakes served in enormous plastic beakers with wide straws. The Italians make iced coffee a drink of sophistication.In my novel The Echoes of Love, I couldn’t resist converting the English heroine, Venetia, to the ‘caffèshakerato’ cause:

She found an outdoor cafeteria with a cheerfully striped awning, and sat under a red umbrella sipping a caffèshakerato that had been poured into a wide-mouth, martini-type glass. It was Fabrizio who had introduced her to this frothy and creamy fresh-brewed espresso drink, shaken with ice and sugar. Venetia found that there was nothing more refreshing on a hot summer’s Italian afternoon.

It’s not just about the taste – simple, smooth with just the right topping of froth. It’s about the experience, which is greatly influenced by the drinking vessel of choice. Champagne is more enjoyable when sipped from a flute; wine from a wine glass; tea from a fine china tea cup; a latte from a tall latte glass – and the martini glass really makes the caffèshakerato special.

So, having dug out your martini glasses from the glassware cupboard and dusted off your cocktail shaker, you need just a few ingredients and you’re on the way to Italian iced coffee. Here’s my favourite twist on the shakerato, with that most essential of added ingredients: chocolate!

Ingredients

Half a cup of ice, crushed or in fairly small chunks

Shot of espresso – the finer the better – allowed to cool to room temperature

Vanilla syrup

Chocolate syrup

Chocolate sprinkles (cocoa powder works fine)

1. Drizzle the chocolate syrup around the inside of the chilled glass – I like to make a spiral shape.

2. Add the ice to the shaker.

2. Pour in the espresso and a generous slug of vanilla syrup.

3. Shake vigorously for half a minute and then strain into the glass.

4. Sprinkle with chocolate.

Enjoy!

Variations: Try garnishing with strawberry or orange; different syrups (Monin do a great range and the caramel one works beautifully with espresso); a dollop of your favourite ice-cream dropped on top (chocolate, anyone…?). You can use sugar rather than syrup, if you prefer; but you need to add this to the espresso when hot or it won’t dissolve properly.