5 Ways to Up Your At-Home Coffee Game
Let’s face it, that $6.00 latte on your way to the office adds up over a year, and making it yourself just doesn’t have that same taste. Here are five ways to turn your morning cup of joe into an artisan cappuccino or latte for a fraction of the price.
It’s an initial investment to save money
Before we begin, I’d like to impart some fun facts your way:
According to a poll of 1,008 people by Amerisleep, 79% drink caffeine everyday versus 21% who drink caffeine every other day.
They also state that Americans consume 400,000,000 cups of coffee every day, suggesting that our country and its workers basically function off of caffeine. Broken down even further, spending annually by gender is an eyeopener:
Women spend annually- $2327.00 Daily- $6.37
Men spend annually- $1934.00 Daily- $5.29
At most with a $300.00 initial expense for both an espresso machine and frother, that’s only .82 cents a day in comparison!
Now that we have put the daily cost for your on-the-go latte into perspective versus the initial investment for an in-home coffee bar, let’s begin.
1) Choosing your beans
First, let’s just say that when it comes to coffee beans you have a lot of choices. For the sake of simplification, we can cover the main four: light, medium, medium-dark, and dark.
Generally when coffee beans are roasted for longer periods of time they become darker in color, and the longer the roast the stronger the flavor. The lighter the roast, the more caffeine content per scoop of coffee.
Most blends labeled as espresso will hint towards a darker roast and thus a bolder and more robust flavor than light or medium roast beans. If you’re looking for a bean roast to use for at-home lattes, medium-dark/dark will be your best bet.
The grind will also play a large role in brewing, as a regular drip brew and espresso are vastly different. Brew coffee is coarser allowing more water to flow through, whereas espresso is finely ground allowing less water to flow through. The finer the grind the more extraction.
If you have doubt stop by or call your local coffee shop, they can also guide you through their selections and grind the beans to the right grind for at-home use.
2) The right equipment
It’s not as though you can’t make a bomb cup of regular black coffee with a traditional coffee pot maker, but this is about upping your caffeine game. If you’re on the hunt for a latte that tastes similar to a venti caramel macchiato you will be needing a way to make espresso, or something similar to it at least.
One option is a French press, the one I have for stronger brews at home is the Utopia Kitchen French Coffee Press from Amazon, it holds 32 ounces and can be used for both coffee and tea, for only $15.99 (there are more expensive options, but this will do the trick).
The directions for use are relatively easy (and can be found on the product webpage), goes as follows:
- Add 1 tablespoon of ground coffee for every 4 ounces of water
- Gradually add boiling water into the French press
- Let set for 4 minutes
- Press the plunger down slowly
- Voila, you have a strong cup of coffee
If you’re strapped for time and can’t spend 10 minutes each morning on the above method, let’s turn to my personal favorite, the Nespresso Vertuo Coffee and Espresso Machine. Basically, you get all the convenience of a Kuerig for a fraction of the price and a few perks along the way, setting you back $129.99 (it’s currently on sale, the regular price is $179.99).
With 4.6 out of 5.0 stars and thousands of reviews, this is the easiest and fastest way to get your espresso fix. The selection for single serve pods are pretty impressive as well, allowing you to choose your roast and notes, for both espresso and regular coffee. That, and Nespresso also strives for sustainability through recycling, which is the reason their coffee pods are made from aluminum. The website has this to say (for those that care about Eco-conscious businesses):
“We make our capsules out of aluminum because it protects the quality of our coffee and is infinitely recyclable. Through our free Nespresso Recycling Program, we can transform used capsules into the raw materials used in garden compost, new capsules, and even products like the RE:CYCLE bike by Vélosophy.”
There are of course thousands of products available that can give you a similar result, though these have been tested tried and true in my experience.
3) Flavoring your brew
Unless you’re a coffee puritan that lives for the bite of acidity that naturally comes with coffee and espresso, you’ll be wanting a few flavor options such as syrup and spices. Here are a few spices and flavor parings that can give you a further pick-me-up down below.
Vanilla : A mellow classic that can be pared with almost anything, the syrups can be purchased at the grocery store (normally on the coffee/tea aisle). If you’re looking for a more natural approach, find an extract instead (though take caution with its potency).
Cinnamon: Add some spice to your life while cutting calories, cinnamon is great to cancel out some of the more acidic notes found in coffee beans while also being a low calorie flavoring alternative.
Amaretto: Italian for “a little bitter”, this sweet liqueur originated in Saronno Italy and is extremely versatile. It’s multitudes of uses in baking, drinking straight, or in coffee, make it a great choice for lazy days at home.
Butter: Similar to bullet-proof coffee (the keto craze that adds unsalted butter and MCTs), but without the extra fats. An unsweetened option that still adds some pizazz.
Pumpkin Spice: This goes out to all the PSL lovers in the world, grab some pumpkin pie spice from your local grocery store and sprinkle it on to your desired strength.
Cocoa Powder/Chocolate: Add a teaspoon of cocoa powder or a fourth a bar of milk chocolate to your hot coffee for a caffeinated hot chocolate journey. For more excitement, top it with mini-marshmallows.
The possibilities are endless, so get creative! Contact your local coffee or tea house to see if they sell their syrups, they may have some interesting flavor combinations and you’ll be supporting your community.
4) Milk Choices
The taste of and protein structures of your milk (or alternative milk) can dramatically change the way your coffee tastes, so choose with care. The proteins of your milk can make it suitable or unsuitable for frothing and mixing with your coffee, so the options down below are only those that were deemed able to hold up under pressure and used in most coffee shops.
Whole milk, 2% milk, and Skim milk: All acceptable and traditionally used for lattes and cappuccinos. Whole milk has the highest fat content, making it ideal for art and cultivating the sugars while frothing.
Oat milk: Very similar to full-fat dairy milk with a smooth texture, this particular alternative milk is growing quickly in popularity.
Almond milk: A distinct nutty flavor, most prefer the sweetened or flavored variety.
Coconut milk: If you like the heavily present flavor of coconut, this may be your new and favorite go to.
Soy milk: A smooth texture with a relatively neutral taste.
Cashew milk: A less nuttier taste than almond milk with a consistency similar to dairy milk.
Many of the alternative milks featured here can also be made at home, but the process can prove to be more in-depth than many would care to go into. If you’re strapped for time there is zero shame in buying it from the grocery store.
5) Frothing & steaming
The deliciously formed froth on top of your latte didn’t get there on accident, and it just tastes so darn good. Well, there’s a couple of reasons why you can’t seem to replicate the results at home.
When you steam milk, you’re forcing air into the milk while heating it, thus cultivating and caramelizing the sugar within giving it that smooth sweet flavor. Simply heating the milk isn’t enough to recreate that same texture because air isn’t being blasted into it.
A jar: Fill the jar half the way, heat in microwave to desired temperature, place lid on jar, shake until frothy, swirl and tap milk to “groom” the larger bubbles out, spoon onto your coffee.
A French press: Fill 1/4th the way with heated milk and work the plunger until milk is to desired froth, spoon onto your coffee.
Milk frother: Probably the easiest alternative, you can get a hand frother or an electric frother, both would work wonderfully. They range anywhere from $15.00 to $50.00, though a mid-priced and decently rated one would do the job.
Ta-dah, you did it!
Integrate all these tips and tricks into your daily life and I can almost guarantee your coffee game will be enhanced ten fold (don’t sue me if it doesn’t).
Keep in mind though: There’s a lot of practice and experimentation involved in finding that perfect taste sweet spot, that’s the reason baristas rock at making your morning pick-me-up, and just like them you too will nail it down.
Armed with this knowledge I wish you luck!
