DIY recipes are beloved for many reasons; saving money, saving time and the rewarding task of simply doing it yourself. Today is a post that is clearly off topic from the normal USB hacks and news we typically post about. Today we are talking about making a Starbucks coffee at home. Not the standard black coffee from Starbucks, but the more delicious variety like the vanilla latte.
At the time of this post the Coronavirus is in full swing and many Starbucks shops are closed, or operating on limited hours, or the drive-thru line is too long for the wait. Here is your in-home solution:
The first thing to understand is how sweet Starbucks really makes their drinks. It is well known the calorie intake and carbohydrate count for a vanilla latte is fairly high. This DIY recipe will help you control those intake amounts to help better control the sugar intake your body gets from these sweet-delicious-energy-giving drinks.
We should really give Starbucks serious credit on figuring out the right bit of sugar and caffeine to jump start the heart rate in a legally addictive way.
Starting with a vanilla latte, the true magic of this drink is the full, frothy milk. No requirement for a fancy frother which you see on the Starbucks countertop, but rather a simple $40 (about) milk frother from Amazon will do the trick (Miroco). The Miroco is a fantastic product and truly a life changer for making coffee flavored drinks. Probably the best “appliance” purchase we’ve made since the introduction of the DVR in 1999 (feel free to challenge us on this claim {wink}).
The First step is to brew your coffee. Use any brand. If you really want the exact taste of a Starbucks version, use their coffee, but honestly, they put enough sugar and syrup into these drinks, the coffee brand doesn’t matter all that much.
Once the coffee is brewed, fire up the milk frother.
By default the Miroco will froth the milk and warm it as well. There is an option to froth the milk without warming it. Letting the milk warm as it froths will yield the best results. From the image below you can see inside the cup of the frother. Miroco uses an oval spring like mechanism which spins at different speeds during the frothing process, while at the same time the bottom of the cup will heat and warm the milk.
The key to good tasting froth is adding sugar. This is where you may control the carb intake for your drink. We use the pink packet Sweet-n-low for our sugar. Experiment with the sugars you like until you figure out which taste best suits your buds.
While the milk frother is doing its work, pour yourself some coffee and add the vanilla syrup. The brand which Starbucks uses is called Torani and also found on Amazon. Torani lists one serving as two tablespoons which has 20 carbohydrates. Any dietitian will tell you that serving is too much. Again, this is where you may control the amount of sugar intake you have for a vanilla latte and keep yourself in marginally better health.
If you let the milk frother run its full course, the total time is about one minute. Once the frother is done the light on the front will turn off. At this point, remove the lid and pour your perfectly frothed milk into your vanilla flavored coffee.
Your DIY Starbucks vanilla latte is now complete.
Torani has four popular flavors: Vanilla, french vanilla, hazelnut and caramel. You can apply the same technique for a caramel macchiato latte; don’t forget to add the caramel syrup on the top of your frothed milk.
The Miroco is very easy to clean. With your fingers you can pull out the spring mechanism and wash it with soap. The inside of the cup is a non-stick surface so again, very easy to clean. The inside cup is waterproof so rinsing under running water is a snap. Clean up time is less than one minute.
With all this said, a small investment of $40(ish) will give you years of Starbucks quality tasting coffee drinks and lattes. A really nice way to save money, save time and control your sugar intake.
Source: GetUSB.info
