The Ultimate Espresso Affogato by James Hoffmann

The video details an experiment using three different ice creams to determine which paired best with espresso:

Ice Cream Type	Key Ingredients	Result with Espresso
1. Frozen Custard	Heavy on egg yolks	Last Place. The eggs messed with the coffee taste, muting or blunting the espresso's flavor.
2. Fiori di Latte	Simple, milk-forward, uses cornstarch	Popular, but flawed. Had a lovely clean milk taste but was bland. Cornstarch gave it a gummy texture as it melted.
3. Egg-Free Vanilla	ChefSteps recipe (uses gums and vanilla bean pulp)	Popular, but flawed. Had good texture, but the vanilla was too strong (expensive and overwhelming) and the cooked milk taste was undesirable.

The ultimate ice cream was a hybrid that combined the best elements of the others:

Technique: Used Stella Parkes' technique (only heating a portion of the dairy) to avoid a "cooked milk" taste, while adding fresh milk and cream later.
Thickening: Used the thickening agents (gums/gelling agents) from the ChefSteps recipe.
Flavouring: Used a small amount of vanilla (about 1 gram of pulp and 5 grams of paste) to trigger the "delicious ice cream" association without overpowering the coffee.

In addition to the ice cream, two main preparation variables were tested: the ratio and the espresso temperature.

Element	Recommendation	Why?
Serving Vessel	Use a freezing cold cup.	This helps bring the espresso temperature down without melting too much of the ice cream.
Ratio	50 grams of ice cream to a single shot of espresso.	This ratio worked beautifully in testing.
Espresso Temperature	Pour the shot of espresso onto the ice cream hot.	The cold cup and ice cream quickly chill the espresso, while the hot pour melts just enough of the ice cream to dilute the espresso with a sweet, creamy flavour.
Espresso Type (Optional)	Use a slightly more ristretto (shorter) shot.	A shorter shot contains less bitterness, which is enhanced when chilled. The sugar from the ice cream mitigates any slight imbalance in acidity.
The speaker concludes that the finished product is "coffee first" with a nice pop of vanilla and a lovely milky finish.