How are you guys doing? Hanging in there? We’re doing our best over here — meal planning two weeks in advance, trying to get everybody on board with kids yoga, and FaceTiming friends and family like our lives depend on it.
Some of you might not know that my very first job was at Starbucks. I worked as a barista for 6 years — from age 16 all the way through college. (Fun fact: I hated coffee and didn’t even drink it until I started going to UCLA and discovered Coffeemate French Vanilla creamer — oh, college.) Because of all those years of slinging espresso, I’ve always played around in the kitchen to try and recreate my coffee drinks of choice at home, A. Because I’m frugal, and B. Because sometimes I just don’t want to wait/explain all the modifications I want.
Ok, buckle up for this one guys, cuz there’s a lot of info in this post. But we’re in quarantine so we’ve got all the time in the world to master a new skill right? Right!
To start with, let’s cover the basics. Obviously if you want to make an espresso drink, an espresso maker is preferred. Stovetop versions are the most economical, Nespresso machines are a nice mid-range option (we have an ancient one that works great!), or you can go nuts and be a real pro with something like this.
A standard espresso shot is around 1-1.5 ounces and here’s the size and shot breakdowns from Peets and Starbucks:
| Peet’s Size | Total Ounces/Shots | Starbucks Size | Total Ounces/Shots |
| Small | 12oz / 2 shots | Tall | 12 oz / 1 shot |
| Medium | 16 oz / 2 shots | Grande | 16 oz / 2 shots |
| Large | 20 oz / 3 shots | Venti | 20 oz / 2 shots |
| Cold Venti | 24 oz / 3 shots |
Once you have the general size/shot breakdown, you can move onto the next most important part: milk and foam. If you’re just heating up milk, you don’t need any special equipment, but if you want to make a “real” latte, cappuccino, etc., you’ll need some sort of milk frother. Here’s a budget option, this is a good mid-range and easy-to-use option, and then of course there’s the big kahuna again: this guy. You could try using a hand blender, but it will likely be a bit clunky.
There are a few different types of milk foam, which, without getting too technical, have to do with how much air is introduced into the milk as it’s heated. Basically, if you’re using the budget or really expensive frother options linked above, you’ll be able to control the type of foam you make by where you position the frothing wand — closer to the surface of the milk means lighter, more airy foam, while just below the surface (a sort of slow introduction of air into the milk) means denser, more velvety foam. (I don’t want to get too into the weeds with this, so feel free to look up a youtube video on this — it’s easier if you can visualize it.) The mid-range option above makes foam for you with the touch of a button, so while you won’t be able to control the type of foam you get, the ease of use is pretty nice. Below is how to make the sort of “basic” espresso drinks offered at just about every coffeeshop:
| Macchiato | espresso + 1 ounce steamed milk and/or foam |
| Gibralter / Cortado | espresso + 2 ounces milk and foam |
| Flat White | espresso + 2-4 ounces foamed milk* |
| Cappuccino | espresso topped with roughly half milk and half foam |
| Latte | espresso with milk, topped with a small bit of foam |
*A flat white requires a bit more finesse, as it’s generally two ristretto (long pull) espresso shots and milk that has been steamed in a specific way to create a very velvety texture. Definitely doable to recreate this at home, but it might require googling some tutorials to get it just right.
Milk is generally steamed to somewhere between 145 – 165 degrees (Blue Bottle goes lower, around 145-150, Starbucks and Peet’s tend to go higher, around 160-165). I think 155-160 is perfect, but I honestly never use a thermometer and just eyeball it.
So, based on the above, if you generally order a grande latte at the coffee shop, you would put 2 shots of espresso into a 16 ounce glass, top with steamed milk and finish it with a bit of foam. Want to make a small cappuccino? If you like Peet’s version use 2 shots espresso, 1 shot if you like Starbucks version, and add it to a 12 ounce mug. Top it with half steamed milk and half foam and voila! Cappuccino!
If you’re looking to make a cafe au lait (called a “misto” at Starbucks), just combine 1:1 regular coffee with steamed milk and top with foam.
Want to make a flavored latte? Make a flavored simple syrup and add it to your drink of choice. Combine equal parts sugar and water into a saucepan and heat until the sugar dissolves, then add in your flavoring. Vanilla bean or paste works great for this, though vanilla or other extracts work as well.
The general ratio for syrups are below. Please note that “flavored syrups” are things like vanilla, hazelnut, cinnamon dolce, etc. “Mocha syrup” is not simple syrup based (it’s more along the lines of Hershey’s Syrup) and the ratios below are for both regular and white chocolate mochas.:
| Size | Flavored Syrup Amount / Mocha Syrup Amount |
| 12 oz (Small / Tall) | 0.75 oz / 1.5 oz |
| 16 oz (Medium / Grande) | 1 oz / 2 oz |
| 20 oz (Large / Venti) | 1.25 oz / 2.5 oz |
| 24 oz (Iced Venti) | 1.5 oz / 3 oz |
I like mine less sweet, so I generally go with 1/4 – 1/2 oz in a 16 oz for regular syrups and around 0.5 – 1oz of mocha syrup.
My usual go-to is some form of mocha. You can use Hersey’s syrup for this, but I think regular chocolate actually tastes better, so I use that. Right now I’m obsessed with the Dark Chocolate Orange Mocha from Peet’s, and so recreated it at home with this recipe:
Dark Chocolate Orange Mocha
- 2 pieces orange-flavored dark chocolate (I use 2 wedges of the Terry’s or Trader Joe’s dark chocolate orange)
- small pinch of salt
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 cup milk (I use whole)
- 3 Nespresso pods (I use 1 lungo + 2 regular pods) — ends up being roughly 6-8oz of coffee
- Finely chop your chocolate, then add it to your milk, along with salt and sugar. Heat it together in a small pot while espresso shots pull. Once milk is warmed and chocolate is dissolved, add milk mixture to espresso and ta-da! Dark chocolate orange mocha. (You can use this same recipe to make a standard mocha, just replace the orange chocolate with regular chocolate of your choice — one with a mid-range cocoa content, around 40-60% cacao, works well.)
For other coffee drinks, here are some previous recipes for an at-home mocha and and gingerbread latte.
Social distancing sucks, but your coffee habit doesn’t have to suffer!