Week 3 Project -- Espresso

If you are allergic to caffeine — or feel yourself to be morally superior to its consumption — please look away.

I really love espresso, or to be more exact, espresso-based drinks. I love the artistry and technique used to create a drink. I love the wide array of possibility when it comes to choosing a drink. I love experimenting with new recipes, finding new combinations, or recreating my favorite drinks at home. The whole process of making a drink is almost meditative for me. I really enjoy the atmosphere and experience of going to a coffee shop and drinking my favorite drink.

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A brief and mediocre history lesson

Maybe, from time to time, you’ve found yourself trying to answer that age-old question, “What do goats and coffee have in common?” 🐐🐐

No? To be fair, it never occurred to me to consider this either. However, now that you’re aware of this question, and your curiosity is perhaps mildly piqued, allow me to give you the answer.

As chance would have it, goats are to thank for our discovery of the coffee tree. According to legend, in 11th century Ethiopia, a goat herder noticed that after eating the berries on a particular tree, his goats became excited and so energetic that they didn’t want to sleep at night.

After this discovery was made, the next question was (obviously), “What happens if I put this in my mouth?” So someone decided to make a drink out of the berries to see what would happen, and thus was coffee discovered.

Now, there’s a whole lot of stuff that happened between the 11th century and the invention of espresso in 1884 — including the church’s attempt to have coffee banned as the “bitter invention of Satan” and the intervention of the Pope himself declaring actually it was ok — but I don’t have the time to go into all of it (and you might not have the interest). Suffice to say, the discovery and spread of coffee around the world actually had a massive impact politically, economically, religiously, and even academically. Then, in 1884, Angelo Moriondo built and patented the first espresso machine, although the true espresso machine (which brewed individual servings as opposed to bulk) was not invented until 1901 by Luigi Bezzera. Espresso is defined as (briefly), “…a coffee-making method of Italian origin, in which a small amount of nearly boiling water is forced under pressure (expressed) through finely-ground coffee beans.”

Details aside, coffee and espresso have unquestionably become popular worldwide, with over 2.25 billion cups of coffee consumed each day.

I’m not going to try to get into the health pros or cons, or try to promote or dissuade consumption. My stance is pretty much, if you like it and it won’t kill you, do it (caveat: strictly as it pertains to coffee). However, it can get really expensive to go to a coffee shop every day (or even multiple times a day), and so I’ve decided to share with you my favorite home espresso machine, and the recipes for my four favorite drinks:

Bailey's Latte
Pumpkin Spice Latte
Eggnog Latte
White Mocha

For the first two, I’ve actually developed my own recipes that function as the base of the drink rather than using syrups. I’m also generously including a recipe for my white chocolate sauce, and homemade eggnog. 💅🏻

Bailey's Latte

Base Recipe — I’ve recreated the flavor of Bailey’s or Irish Cream into a non-alcoholic version.

2/3 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons instant coffee granules
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp almond extract

Mix together brown sugar, cocoa powder, and instant coffee granules — set aside. In a large pot (I usually double the recipe), combine cream and milk and heat. Once warm, add dry ingredients and whisk until fully combined. Heat until the mixture is steaming, but not boiling. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and almond extracts. Pour the mixture into a container (I usually use glass jars), allow to cool a little, and transfer to the refrigerator. Shake before using.

To make this drink, combine the base with milk to taste (personally, I like 2 parts base to 1 part milk). Then proceed as you would in making a normal latte.

Pumpkin Spice Latte

Base Recipe — A delicious fall cliché! My version includes actual pumpkin.

2 rounded tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
3/4 cup pumpkin purée (not pumpkin pie filling)
1 cup packed brown sugar
3 cups milk
3 cups heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla
small pinch of pink Himalayan sea salt

In a large pot, over medium heat, toast the pumpkin pie spice for around 1 minute, or until it smells good. Mix in brown sugar, pumpkin purée, and salt, stirring until well combined. Pour in milk and cream, and mix well. Continue to heat until just steaming, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Allow to cool to room temperature and transfer into a container (or just use heat proof glass bottles), and refrigerate.

Eggnog Latte

Base Recipe — To be honest, it’s easiest to just use store bought eggnog. If for some reason you feel like taking the extra time, then I'll give you a recipe. I was going to give you mine, but I don't remember it off the top of my head, and I moved so now I don't know where the notebook is in which I wrote it down. 🥺👉👈But I think I adapted it from this recipe:

6 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 to 1 1/2 cups bourbon, rum, cognac, or a mix (optional)
Freshly grated nutmeg for serving

You can find the rest of the recipe on The Kitchn. I personally always cook mine because otherwise the idea just grosses me out.

White Mocha Sauce

Sauce Recipe

6 oz. Lindt white chocolate, chopped
4 oz. Ghirardelli white chocolate, chopped
2/3 cups heavy cream
3-ish tablespoons salted butter
1/2 tsp vanilla

This is basically just making a white chocolate ganache. Place the white chocolate and butter in a mixing bowl. Heat the cream just until boiling, and pour into the bowl over the white chocolate and butter. Cover and let sit for a minute or so, and then whisk until everything is melted and smooth. Stir in the vanilla.