Eiscafé Rialto in Solingen, Germany, has been my favourite ice cream parlour for more than a decade.
Recently, owner Vita offered me a new drink from the menu: affogato al caffè, also known as Espresso Affogato. It means: “drowned in coffee” and that’s exactly what it is.

A big scoop of ice cream is smothered in a shot of espresso. It turns the coffee cold and starts melting the ice cream and you end up with the original “iced coffee”.

As someone who regularly burns their tongue by trying to drink things that are still too hot, I can’t believe I managed to reach the age of 27 before finding out about affogato!

The espresso is strong, but sweetened by the ice cream, and as the ice cream melts, the mixture turns thick and smooth. I order mine with hazelnut ice cream because I like the flavour. Traditionally, affogato is served with vanilla ice cream, but you can choose any flavour you like if you feel up for an experiment.

You either drink it, scoop it up with a spoon or do what I do: take a sip, then use the spoon to roll the ice cream around in the espresso, take a bit of ice cream off with the spoon and then repeat the process.

Especially in summer, I can see affogato go down a treat with the coffee-loving crowd. The espresso is still a shock to the system and wakes you up, but you also get the added flavour and richness of the ice cream, and the whole drink is cold and refreshing.

A summer must-try!

Hazelnut affogato al caffè: € 2.40

Eiscafé Rialto, Hauptstrasse, Solingen, Germany