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Writing about food is generally Laura’s thing, but I am currently in love with Cafe de Olla, a spiced Mexican coffee. There appear to be about a million different preparations, but this is the one we’ve been making, and I adore it.

Cafe de Olla

• 5 cups water
• 1/2 cup coarsely ground dark-roast coffee
• 4 oz. piloncillo (Mexican dark brown sugar)
• 3 2-inch sticks of cinnamon
• 5 whole cloves
• Peel from 1/3 of an orange, without pith

Bring four cups of the water to a boil in a saucepan, and then add in the coffee, piloncillo, cinnamon, cloves, and orange peel. Stir them in and enjoy the nice froth of the coffee, and then lower the heat until the mixture is simmering.

Stir occasionally if you want to make sure the piloncillo dissolves, but you can mostly leave it alone.

After five minutes, take it off the heat, and mix in the remaining cup of water to cool it down a little.

Cover it and let it sit for another five minutes, and then strain and serve. You won’t need any milk — just serve it black.

I like to pour it into a french press after the simmering so that it’s easier to strain and serve, but the pouring can be messy if you’re not careful.

Traditionally this gets made in little earthenware pots called ollas, but I bet you don’t have any. Make this anyway — it’s great even if it’s not perfectly authentic.