The Crema Real Corretto

You know how Italians wash out their espresso cup with grappa? There's actually a name for it. In the Veneto region they call it "resentin," rinse. You finish your espresso, there's a little coffee residue left clinging to the cup, and instead of letting that go to waste, you pour in a splash of grappa, swirl it around, and knock it back in one shot. It's an old tradition, born from the same instinct that gave the world grappa in the first place: don't waste anything.

I didn't know any of that when I started doing my own version. I just knew that after a good cappuccino, there's a ridiculous amount of crema and foam left clinging to the inside of the cup, and it felt like a crime to rinse that down the sink. So I started doing what I imagine some Italian nonno somewhere would nod at, except with a twist that's entirely mine.

The recipe

Pour your best cup of cappuccino. Drink it. When you're done, don't wash the cup yet. There should still be a good coat of foam and crema clinging to the inside.

Italians would reach for grappa here. I find that flavor a little too "classic" for what I'm going for, so I reach for Cointreau instead. Pour a shot into the cup, swirl it around so it picks up every bit of that leftover crema, and drink it down.

Here's where it gets personal. Growing up in Venezuela, there was an ice cream bar called Crema Real: vanilla and orange, creamy but somehow still refreshing. It was one of those flavors that just lives in your memory. The first time I did this with Cointreau instead of grappa, that's exactly what hit me. Vanilla and orange, wrapped around the last of a great cappuccino. I'd found my adult version.

Leveling up: the affogato version

If you want to take it further, start with an affogato instead: a shot of espresso poured over vanilla ice cream. Add half a shot of Cointreau on top. That's it. That's perfection in a cup.

As my friend Juan likes to say when a drink like this shows up, "Ya pasó el avión," which loosely translates to it's five o'clock somewhere. Feels right here.

What to brew it with

This one earns its coffee. I'd pour it with the Orange Label Medium Dark Roast from Gobbo Fabbro, which a little bird tells me is landing in the US soon. The orange notes in the roast and the orange in the Cointreau aren't a coincidence I planned, but I'm not going to pretend I'm mad about it either.

Try it, tell me what you name yours. I'm still deciding between calling this the Crema Real Corretto or just letting people call it whatever they want. Either way, don't pour that crema down the drain again.