Caffeine Kick Mondays: An Introduction

Someone once told me that since I'm apparently a health nut, that I should give up coffee altogether. Um excuse me, I cannot do that unless our society adapts its time patterns to night owls. Yes, I'm a night owl. Waking up in the morning to me is torturous and before I've eaten anything or had my coffee, good luck having any sort of meaningful conversation with me...

Coffee addiction is one of those vices I will most likely not be able to eliminate completely, so I just try to remind myself that I need to drink more water since caffeine has a tendency to drive the water out of your body. I tried out all sorts of ways to make my coffee at home in an attempt to decrease my out and about purchases of soy-lattes and iced americanos. But hey, with all these amazing coffee recipes out there and my stubborn nature, it's worth a try. Very soon, Mondays shall therefore be dedicated to Caffeine Kick related posts where I take you on a journey of endless coffee drink discoveries, recipe options and tricks!

And in honour of this Monday...

Hot latte without a milk steamer?

With all the kitchen gadgets that I own, I am still reluctant about buying coffee making ones since I know those investments won't really decrease my spending on coffees outside of the house. Hence when I do want to make my own "latte" and my little cheap foaming gadget broke down, I decided to earn my lattes with a little arm workout. Literally. I put some warm nut milk in a small mason jar, close it up and shake until my arm hurts and it becomes properly foamy. I thought I was doing something cool and unusual and so did the people who saw me in the act, until I saw a few recipes with the same technique. It hit me afterwards that I was basically making a "frappe". Making a foamy base by using a little mason jar as a shaker is therefore not that unusual when you think about it. Oh well, no more original discoveries for today, but I guess I had an idea that others find handy as well. 

*Tip: Before "shaking'' the almond milk, I sweeten it first with some stevia or maple syrup, possibly some vanilla extract if I feel like it. Then I add the coffee to the sweetened milk base. That way the foam comes out on top & stays there;)

There you have it! Now I shall conquer my Monday with a foamy moustache on fleek;)