Make Your Own F-in Lattes

I recently found out what a ghetto latte is – when I first heard the term, I thought it meant getting your lattes @a gas station. I prefer Sheetz over WaWa for gas station coffee, btw.

I don’t load up on half & half @the milk bar, but I do make my own fancy drinks both @home and @work. If you want to do the same thing, you’ll need two things:

My favorite way to make coffee – hot or iced – is with a French Press (I’ve also heard it called a Brazil Press). I got this @Target for around $15. The only hassle is that if you want to buy beans for it, you can’t get regular ground coffee – it will go right through the sieve. I buy beans and grind them in the store (if the grinder doesn’t smell like vanilla or mint or something) on the coarse setting. Some grinds still go through, but I’ll call that flavor.

It’s been hot here so I’ve been using the press to make iced coffee. This takes advanced planning, as you set it up, with the plunger all the way up, and let the grinds soak in cold water for 24 hours (if you want it almost syrupy). It’s worth it, and gives you quite a buzz. The only bummer @work is I have to go to the deli and buy a cup of ice for 35¢ so I don’t have to deal with the nasty office freezer.

The second tool you’ll need to be your own barista is a stovetop espresso maker. I got this on clearance @World Market for $4, marked down from $20. Originally I got this for camping (camp coffee is the best!), but lately I’ve been making lattes. The exact opposite from coarse grind, you’ll need espresso ground coffee for this maker. I’ll let this percolate while I heat up some milk in the microwave for about 90 seconds.

I used to whisk the milk into a froth but since then I’ve got an Aerolatte frother and that works pretty well. I’ve found that if you’re going to use a flavored syrup, don’t mix the syrup in with the milk – it won’t foam up. So there’s my definition of a ghetto latte. Later.

Coffee Marketing Stupidity

Being environmentally conscious and all, when I go to coffee shops I always bring my own cup. Most of the time I make my own, but once in a while going to a coffee shop is necessary. They can charge me what they want, they don’t have to rinse it out or anything, just as long as I’m saving a tree.

The cup I use is a halloween-themed Starbucks travel mug I got on clearance. You can barely see the Starbucks logo and it glows in the dark, so @the time I decided it was worth my 5$. Yes I’m aware that the cup costs the same price as the eggnog latte I was getting. I know I advocate being frugal, but the holiday drinks are a weakness of mine from the pumpkin lattes in late August until the Christmas-themed drinks stop. I’m human and I get wicked caffeine headaches.

I was in downtown DC for training last week, and I got there early because I wanted to get to the Metro before parking spaces ran out. So when I got into downtown I had time for a leisurely breakfast, with coffee. There was a Corner Bakery around the corner from where the training was.

Well, when I asked for a coffee @Corner Bakery I was told I couldn’t use my glow-in-the-dark cup for their coffee, that instead I would have to buy one of their travel mugs. So it’s only acceptable to save the planet if the cups have their logo on it, and it didn’t help that the lady @the counter was pulling some major attitude. I’m not trying to steal coffee, so don’t talk to me like I’m some kind of thief. Screw that, I went somewhere else.

It’s a shame since Corner Bakery has tasty breakfasts. Well, they just permanently lost a customer because of their asinine coffee policy.