What would be more appropriate than to talk about my romance with espresso? I need to coin a term for this relationship... You know, like bromance. Espresso + romance = you know what, I'm not going to even try to make myself look stupid. All I can say is, espresso is one of the loves of my life. If you want to start a friendship, convince me to do something, or just try to impress me, all you need to do is take me to a lovely local coffee shop and buy me a 12 oz whole milk latte with an extra shot half caff. (My favorite places are Mayfly, Mean Mug, and Plus Coffee)
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The title of this blog entry is taken from some meme I saw floating around on Facebook. While depression is a real issue, this meme accurately describes how I feel about it. I couldn't help but laugh (at myself) at how much I rely on my espresso, I look forward to it every day. It makes my day a little brighter. Pair with a little devotion in the morning, and I'm invincible! And no, I don't have my quiet time EVERY morning. Not with a 2 yr old poking my face to wake me up at 7 am and a 7 week old crying to be fed as soon as he wakes up about 15 minutes later. Then comes the morning diaper changes, breakfast, and "play Legos mommyyyyyy". I do my best to make my latte, say a prayer, and power through the day. Before Fitz was born, I created one devotion "lesson plan" (sorry, I'm a teacher) a week that I would do with Silas where he would memorize a verse and learn a new worship song. It actually worked amazingly well! I haven't done it in a while because of the new baby... But hopefully start again soon once we get a better routine going. I'll write a post about it sometime and include the plans. Maybe I could publish it :O
Anyway, if you love espresso like me, but can only enjoy it when you can make it to a coffee shop, I have a recommendation. You don't even need electricity. It's called an Aeropress, and it is a manual, easy way to make espresso shots!! I use it EVERY DAY and it saves me so much money. ($4 lattes add up...) You can buy one on Amazon for $30. It looks like this:
Find yourself some locally roasted coffee beans and have them grind the beans using an espresso grind. This just means it is ground finely. I pay $10-$12 for my favorite coffee and it lasts me 2-4 weeks. My favorites to use are Sumatra Human Tiger from Mean Mug or Honduras from Mayfly. Both are roasted in-house! Here is the Mean Mug blend I'm currently using:
I open the Aeropress at about where the number 2 is (see pic) and I measure one heaping scoop (scooper comes with Aeropress) of the espresso grounds (about 18g) and place it in the Aeropress. Fill with hot water (not quite boiling) and stir. Attach filter, let sit for 1.5 minutes, and press in to your coffee mug.
Voila! You have your espresso. My favorite to make at home is an iced latte. I just add milk, ice, and a little simple syrup (sugar water... Just Google it!). If you want it hot, warm up some milk, add to your espresso, and mix in simple syrup or honey. You could even substitute milk with almond milk or another milk of your choice.
I wish I had a fancy espresso machine on a custom coffee cart, but I don't have that much money. This is just as good when you make it right (yes, you can mess it up.) But with a little practice, you can have that amazing latte every day from home that is also super easy to clean up. If you don't believe me, come on over. I'll make you one as long as you hold Fitz for a while... And play Legos with Silas.
Side note: I had a great date idea for coffee loving couples. Wade and I are planning a "coffee tour" where we take a day and tour all of the local coffee shops around Chattanooga, learn about where or how they roast their coffee, and sample it. Also, it would be such a great setting for conversation with your man or a friend. We are going to go to places we haven't been before, but also the ones we love. We can compare how each tastes all in the same day. I'm thinking we would buy one drink at each to split so we wouldn't consume too much caffeine. Would anyone else be interested in doing that?!