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Forget French pressing or the pour-over method: there's a different type of coffee brewing that's sparking the attention of java lovers. It's called cold-brewing, and it's a lengthy (but easy) process.

Cold-brewing involves saturating ground coffee beans in cold, filtered water, covering the container and letting it sit out at room temperature for 12 hours, then straining out the coffee grounds. The efforts are by no means immediate, but the end result might win you over: cold brews are lighter and thinner, and their flavors won't be weakened by ice. In contrast to brewing a hot cup of coffee, which draws out the acidity and bitterness of beans, a cold brew slowly extracts the bean's flavorful oils.

Food Network chef Jeff Mauro has been whipping up a lot of blended iced coffee drinks lately, and a cold brew is his preferred method. He adds, "I just think, as far as for the iced coffee application, there is no better way, because you are not brewing it over ice and diluting it. It takes time to do it, but the payoff is great."

Twelve hours may seem like a lifetime, but this method really just involves remembering to combine the two ingredients while prepping dinner so you can wake up to refreshing, invigorating cold-brewed coffee in the morning. The brew is concentrated, so dilute it with filtered water to your liking, and then serve over ice. Stay tuned for Jeff's recipe for cold-brewed coffee, which he uses for his signature Peanut Butter and Jelly Blended Coffee.

Milk's favorite cookie has a new pair of friends.

Beginning today, Oreo is teaming up with both Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins to offer a new line of menu items inspired by the creme-filled cookie.

The Kraft Foods cookie, which turns 100 this year, will play a starring role in two Dunkin' Donuts doughnut flavors (Oreo Donut and Oreo Crumble Donut) as well as two drink flavors (Coffee Oreo Coolatta and Vanilla Bean Coolatta). Baskin-Robbins customers will see the cookie in a flavor-of-the-month Oreo-flavored chocolate ice cream, Oreo ice cream cake bites, a soft serve mix, and a layered chocolate sundae.

Oreo's collaborations with Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins are hot on the heels of Nestlé's new rollout of Girl Scout Cookie-flavored Crunch bars. The candy bars inspired by favorite Girl Scout cookie flavors have been so popular that they're expected to sell out by September, and it's hard to imagine the beloved Oreo cookie not experiencing the same success. Does the future hold more food collaborations like these? All signs point to yes.

Source: Dunkin' Donuts

Lately, it seems as though every restaurant is introducing drinks with the most unlikely of savory ingredients. We recently noted sweet heat making an appearance in cocktails, and there are, of course, those classic cocktails whose seemingly odd savory pairings actually work miraculously (a dirty martini and spicy Bloody Mary come to mind). But a number of newer concepts with less-than-conventional drink ingredients — beef, bacon, vinegar, and whole egg, to name a few — are also poised to make their mark.

San Francisco's Fifth Floor restaurant serves a Wild Goose Chase cocktail that is rimmed with foie gras powder rim and garnished with a foie gras-stuffed prune. Chicagoland area-based Vie offers The Ecto Shrub, a green cocktail whose chief ingredient is a vinegar-based okra syrup. Savory spices are branding cocktails, too: at Scott & Co. in Tuscon, AZ, the bar serves a whole slew of unusual cocktails, including the Grillo Canción, flavored with cumin syrup and celery bitters.

I'm curious to know what you think. Is there room on the menu for a few more oddities that could eventually turn to classic favorites? Do you see these cocktails making menu history on their way to becoming classics, or will the fad burn out quickly?

Source: Flickr user miamism

In the past year, there's been significant growth nationwide in the number of fast-casual eateries, from burger joints to healthier comfort-food fixtures. The latest craze we've noticed hitting this scene? Asian-themed chain restaurants.

Chipotle could've tackled a number of ethnic eats, so the Mexican chain certainly caught our attention when it unveiled its plan for ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen, "inspired by the traditional shophouses through Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam." Then we raised our eyebrows when a former chef at San Francisco's renowned Slanted Door restaurant opened the first of what will be several Bay Area locations of Asian Box, a healthier riff on Asian street food.

Meanwhile, Canada-based Wok Box has been preparing to bring its stir-fry boxes and curry dishes to the western part of the United States this year. And just this week, a former Hooters chef announced his new venture, a minichain of Atlanta-based Latin fusion restaurants bearing the name Taqueria Tsunami.

Regardless of where diners are in the country, it's clear they're on the lookout for the explosive flavor combinations that come from Southeast Asian cuisines. Are you excited at the prospect of more Southeast Asian cuisine in your neck of the woods?

Photo courtesy Sonya Yu for Asian Box

When I arrived in Miami a couple of weeks ago, I quickly discovered that South Beach figures weren't the only local offering to be sizzling hot — so were the cocktails themselves. Everywhere I turned, it seemed, someone had a jalapeño cocktail in hand, from the tropical tequila punch served at the welcome happy hour to the pepper-infused passion fruit daiquiri served under the tasting tents. This wasn't limited to the weekend's festivities, either: even nearby haunts offered a semblance of the same thing. At De Rodriguez Cuba down the street, customers could order passion picosos, with blanco tequila, fresh jalapeño, passion fruit puree, agave, lime, and salt. Another night, I wound down at The Setai with a chili passion martini, which had plenty of heat, thanks to chili-infused vodka and a foil of sweetness from ginger syrup.

Maybe South Florida's tropical demeanor makes it especially ripe for spicy, equatorial cocktails, but we're hoping this sweet-spicy beverage movement quickly makes its way west. Like the sweet-savory combo, heat and charm together go a long way. Have you noticed a similar trend at watering holes near you?