Make Homemade Espresso Like a Pro

According to a poll by Accounting Principals, 82 percent of the American workforce regularly buys around $20 worth of coffee a week. That may sound like a small change for your week until you consider the annual cost inches toward $1,040.

That also doesn’t account for tips and breakfast splurges. Saving some cash could be one reason to start making your own coffee at home, but work-from-home moms have another reason. You’re too busy to run to the coffee shop and get it.

Working from home doesn’t mean you have to forgo coffee luxuries and reach for generic drip. Make your own homemade espresso like a pro for an indulgent, everyday treat. You may need the extra boost of caffeine to fuel your workday with kids in tow.

Get the Right Equipment

If you’re short on time and coffee-making inspiration, go right for the professional-looking machine that makes great espresso quickly.

The Nespresso machine features hermetically sealed capsules and tailor-made machines so you get the precise coffee, water, and purified air just right. Fortunately, you don’t need to know why it works so well, you just need to get your coffee beans ready and let it do the rest.

Ambitious moms ready to take the art of espresso making into their own hands can opt for a stovetop maker to make a quick and easy drink. But iFoodBlogger warns the end result is more like a cross between drip coffee and espresso than the real thing.

Try getting your feet wet slowly, then work up to the real thing.

Prep Your Beans

Despite popular belief, espresso isn’t a type of coffee bean or even a roast. Marketers use it to suggest the coffee will resemble the look and flavor of espresso. It’s actually created from the way you brew it and force steam through the beans.

Start with a coffee bean espresso lovers gravitate toward, like Arabica. Pour some in your coffee grinder (which should be set to fine grind) and get your beans ready for brewing. Choose a few different types of dark roasts and try them out until you find the one you like.

And, remember if buy green coffee beans you will need to roast them yourself. A good coffee roaster will bring out the flavor and aroma that you know and love.

Get your Ingredients Ready

There’s more to espresso than coffee beans.

Water that’s prone to sedimentation or tastes like minerals will sour your experience. Use water that’s clean, clear and odor-free. When in doubt, just use bottled water until you sort out a filter solution on your faucet or fridge.

True espresso is savored black, but you can always jazz it up and turn it into macchiato with a little milk foam. A quality espresso machine may already have a milk-frothing option, or you can do it yourself by shaking the milk in a jar until it foams, and then microwave until warm. Spoon onto your espresso and transform it into a cup.

Take a Bow

No espresso would be complete without adorable espresso cups and a little garnish. Opt for a white cup like the pros, or brighten your morning with some fun yellow polka dotted cups and saucers.

Pair with the smallest spoon you can find that doesn’t belong to your daughter’s dollhouse and sprinkle with a touch of cinnamon. Now you’re ready to face the day!