//metrognome logo// 

The sure signs that summer is upon us: days are longer, temperatures are higher and people are paying more for
 watered-down coffee. 

Yes, iced-coffee season is upon us, which means that iced-coffee scammers are gearing up to charge you more for
 less. 

But there are two people who stand against the iced-coffee scam, true New York heroes who believe that iced
 coffee can be a thing of beauty, not the greatest culinary fraud since frozen yogurt. 

Those heroes are Joe Rinaldi and Sarah DeVita, co-owners of Caffe Capri in Williamsburg. Their iced coffee is
 no scam because the ice itself is made from coffee — meaning this iced coffee stays good to the last drop
 rather than becoming watery bilge. 

"Other iced coffee is a rip-off!" said Rinaldi, who’s married to DeVita’s sister. "They’re more water than
 coffee." 

Loyal readers of this column will remember last year’s exclusive MetroGnome investigation that revealed that
 iced coffee costs an average of 70 cents MORE even though you get 2 to 10 ounces LESS coffee. 

Coffee-shop owners offered me a litany of reasons for the higher price, including the cost of those clear
 plastic cups, the cost of making ice, and even the cost of making stronger coffee to compensate for the
 melting ice. 

But their excuses were lies: plastic cups cost just 1.7 cents more apiece, ice costs less than a fifth of a
 cent in water and electricity, and the cost of the supposedly stronger coffee was completely offset because so
 much less coffee is actually in an iced coffee.

In fact, when the Gnome did the math, it turned out that iced coffee should cost up to 21 cents less than hot
 coffee.

This investigation would’ve certainly won me a Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting, but they gave it to
 the Wall Street Journal for its coverage of last year’s corporate scandals — even though Enron and WorldCom
 pale by comparison to iced coffee! Just ask Rinaldi.

"When I see people with those iced coffees with the big cubes, I just feel so sad for them," said Rinaldi, a
 native of Salerno, where iced coffee is a summer tradition, not a summer scam. 

"They are being ripped off and they don’t even know it." 

Those who have discovered Caffe Capri certainly do. All day long, customers make the journey off the beaten
 path for a Caffe Capri iced coffee, iced espresso or iced cappuccinos — all featuring ice made from rich
 coffee, not tap water. 

Now, if Rinaldi and DeVita could only focus their attention on iced tea. Talk about a scam! 

gersh.kuntzman@verizon.net