Bialetti Moka Stove Top Espresso Maker - $29.99
Bialetti Venus 2 Cup Stove Top Stainless Steel
Espresso Maker - $80.00
De'Longhi EC155 15 BAR Pump Espresso and Cappuccino Maker
$80.00
Breville 800ESXL 15-Bar Triple Priming
Die Cast Espresso Machine - $350
If you have to ask, you can't afford it.
My machine is the Breville pictured above. I bought mine refurbished for considerably less than retail.
It surely can't take longer to fix an espresso drink at home than it takes to drive to or through Starbucks.
Click here to see a video of the inexpensive aluminum Bialetti stove top espresso maker to the sounds of La donna è mobile.
Click here to see a video of the Bialetti Venus 2 Cup Stove Top Stainless Steel
Espresso Maker
Click here to see a video of the De'Longhi EC155 in action.
Click here to see a video of the Breville in action.
"What can I get for you?
"I'll have a Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha with Whipped Cream (venti, 20 fl oz)"
If you actually ordered and drank this beverage, you would have consumed 660 calories, 22 g fat (15 g saturated), 95 g sugars. Sugar Equivalent: 8½ scoops Edy’s Slow Churned Rich and Creamy Coffee Ice Cream.
This post isn't about the calories in espresso drinks but how you can prepare them at home for a fraction of the cost.
Several years ago I belonged to a Financial Club based on "Your Money or Your Life," a great book about changing one's relationship with money to affect a new life and early retirement. When one of the members, a professor at UC San Francisco, tallied what he spent everyday on coffee and dietary accoutrements, he was incredulous about the monthly total, something over $200 / month in the early 90s! I've always remembered that and have not allowed myself to be a regular Peet's or Starbucks' consumer on a regular basis.
ReplyDeleteSince retirement I've refined my coffee drinking to one nice-sized cup each morning, as I've discovered that, for me, it's the idea of coffee more than the amount consumed. Being able to relax throughout the morning coffee is such a luxury for me and I've been keeping it warm with a coffee mug hot plate. No more. Yesterday I ordered an insulated traveling mug from Amazon after reading, oh yeah, your post!!! I'm going to have to add you as a monthly expense if I purchase many more of your suggestions!!!
Seriously, I may try one of the less expensive espresso makers you mentioned; I've never had one and think it would be a reminder of the wonderful espresso bars in Italy and Spain.
A quick story: when I first arrived in Provence to go to to the French language school in Villefranche, I stayed with French friends in Nice for a couple of weeks. Every Saturday morning they took the train across the border to Italy - for coffee! I accompanied them once and went regularly when I got settled in my apartment. They believed, and I agreed, that they just could not make the coffee as good as that bought in the little Saturday cafe . . the machine, the coffee grinder, the water, the ambience. Who knows? I do know that I bought the coffee beans and the end product sure wasn't as good as theirs!
I have my one-a-day cup of Keurig coffee each morning, and it lasts me a couple of hours, just sipping from time to time as I read blogs, etc. I, too, have a coffee warmer my cup sits on. I love my morning coffee and occasionally later in the day, but not often. I prefer Keurig's full flavored, rich K-Cups. In fact, I'm enjoying a cup right now. :)
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