If you’re a caffeine-addicted person like the rest of the student population at CU, you’re probably used to either waiting in long lines for a much-needed latte or you’re tolerating watery coffee that you’ve been taught to make like the rest of America.
I worked at a Starbucks over the summer, and since I’ve left to resume school I realized there was an itch that desperately needed to be scratched: the itch to create fancy drinks that taste amazing. The combination of that and the isolation that comes with quarantining lead to my experimenting with my new coffee and espresso machine I was gifted as an apartment-warming present. Trial and error lead to these recipes that you’ll be happy to try!
Here are some things to note before we get started.
Roasts are important. I like light-roasted coffee, which uses less heat to roast, because of its fruity flavor. The first time I had a mild coffee I was BLOWN AWAY. It’s honestly the reason why I started diving into the colorful world of coffee. Medium roasts are balanced and smooth. It’s what you have when you order a coffee from Starbucks. However, some people swear by dark roasts because they have a more caramel-like, sweet taste. It’s by far the most popular roast in the United States! To be honest, I just find that stuff bitter as hell and it’s safe to call it a waste of water. I don’t have a strong opinion though.
- The Layered Iced Macchiato
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Prettiest coffee on the planet? I think so!
Ingredients:
Any amount of cold vanilla soymilk – the consistency is extremely important.
A glass that can fit in between an espresso machine.
Espresso.
Steps:
1. Pour vanilla soymilk into a glass. I found that the best milk for this recipe is soymilk because it’s the best consistency for the espresso to float on top. And who doesn’t want to drink sweet, vanilla-flavored goodness with some fruity coffee?
2. Put the glass directly underneath the spout(s) where espresso is dispensed. It should slowly start creating a layer of espresso that floats on top of the soymilk.
I accidentally created this recipe when I was too lazy to put espresso in a separate shot glass. I just wanted to reduce the number of dishes to be cleaned so I put my glass of soymilk beneath the espresso machine, only to birth a new recipe of coffee the world will never forget. It tastes creamy and sweet because of the milk, complementing the layer of espresso.
- Kohi Gyunyu (Japanese Coffee Milk)
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It’s like a Japanese version of chocolate milk.
Ingredients:
Half a cup of cold, whole milk
Half a cup of drip coffee – I used Target’s cheapest ground coffee because this is honestly going to be sweetened to death. It’s a medium roast.
Six teaspoons of white sugar
Steps:
1. Make drip coffee as your ground coffee tells you to.
2. Mix coffee and milk.
3. Put sugar in and stir very well.
4. Put it in your refrigerator for at least 10 minutes.
- The Craig Benson
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My friend’s recipe. It seems simple but it tastes amazing!
Ingredients:
Half a cup vanilla creamer with stevia. He says it makes your coffee taste super sweet but the stevia is essential.
Two cups of whole bean coffee. “The roast should be medium or dark to balance out the creamer,” according to him, “For me, I tend to like a light roast with milk.” He just told me to grind the beans.
Steps:
1. Grind the beans.
2. Put it through a drip coffee machine.
3. Mix coffee and creamer. It seems like a lot of creamer but I promise you it’ll taste amazing.
This seems like a really basic recipe but it feels like an in-between of candy and coffee. It’s also my go-to. This recipe has gotten me through every homework assignment I’ve done in college since the beginning of February this year. 10/10 recommend.
- My Macchiato Recipe
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Heavenly.
Ingredients:
A single shot of LIGHT roast espresso beans, finely ground. Honestly, I tried using a dark roast and medium roast on this one and it ends up tasting like actual dirt so unless you like the taste of nasty, wet mud more than a sip of heaven, make it a light roast.
About a cup of almond milk.
Steps:
1. Grind the beans and stamp them into a single shot holder. Don’t make the espresso yet unless you want to kill the shot.
2. Take some almond milk in a steaming pitcher. Submerge the steaming wand underneath your milk until it starts swirling.
3. Foam your milk by putting the tip of the steaming wand to the surface until the foam bubbles become big. You want at least a third of your milk to be foam.
4. Make your espresso (I just rinse the steaming pitcher and put the espresso in there).
5. Create a heart shape while you pour your espresso into your cloudy foam. Your heart doesn’t have to be perfect as long as you attempt it! It’s the love in it that counts
This is my ideal rainy or cold day macchiato because it tastes like almonds. The foaminess honestly makes it a lot better because it’s so mellow it almost tastes buttery. And the heart’s really cute.
I hope you like my recipes! Enjoy!