Saturday, August 12, 2017

Making a Latte at Home


Lattes at Home

If I go to a fancy coffee shop, I usually just order a cup of black coffee. If the coffee is too strong, sometimes I'll splurge and add in a little half-n-half. 

A few weeks back, I went CRAZY and actually ordered a latte (espresso with steamed/foamy milk).  I asked if they had almond milk and I figured I would give that a try. Mistake! Big MISTAKE!  The almond milk ruined my drink.  It's just my humble opinion, but I just did not like it ONE BIT. 

Fast forward a week or so... my yarn shop moved to a new location. There is a great little coffee place practically across the street so I went in and ordered a small latte with whole cow's milk.  Oh my! It was a very tasty treat but... let me tell you... it was too expensive.  I think it was $3.83 for a little drink.

This got me to thinking... with a kitchen full of awesome gadgets at home, what could I use to make a latte at home to save money? I did not want to get in the habit of spending $4.00 or more each time I went to the yarn shop to knit with friends or teach a class.

My fancy Keurig HOT 2.0 Coffee Brewer allows me to select how many ounces of water I use each time I brew a pod of coffee. I selected 4 ounces of water but I usually use 12 ounces of water. The result with 4 ounces of water... very strong coffee, just like espresso.




Next, I got out my Immersion Blender... AKA:  Stick Blender... AKA: Boat Motor.




I heated up some milk in a microwave safe container. This tall cup is a measuring cup that came with my immersion blender.  You basically need to move the immersion blender in and out of the hot milk... so you want a container that is on the taller side so that the hot milk does not splash out and burn you.  You have to move the immersion blender up and down... in and out of the milk... in order to incorporate some air into the milk to fluff it up and make some foam.


Of course you have to have some specialized gadgets like these to make a latte at home.  But I was pretty tickled to figure out how to make a nice latte at home without purchasing any other tools or equipment.  Truth be told, I ordinarily don't have cow's milk in the house but just happened to have some since Zach has been home from college and he likes it on his cereal.    


So I'll have a few more lattes before the milk runs out... today's latte was good with the Avocado Black Bean Brownies I made yesterday. Did you see that recipe? It was in yesterday's post!



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