COFFEE AT HOME // A beginner's attempt at cafe au lait

Even though all my classmates would be chugging through cup after cup of coffee when we'd stay up all night getting projects done during college, I always held coffee at an arm's distance. Mainly because I never wanted to spend money on it, and it always made me kind of jittery and shaky.

However, all of that changed when I had first cup of coffee with milk. Don't get me wrong- I still didn't want to spend money on it, and it still made me jittery, but it tasted so good that it was enough to win me over!

Now that coffee has become a regular part of my morning routine (I've been really spoiled by the fancy espresso machine at work) I decided to give it a try at making it at home to enjoy it on the weekends, and to save some money. What I really wish I could learn is how to make lattes at home, but I decided to stop myself from doing this being that I have absolutely zero barrista skills, and decided to start with something simpler and that didn't involve buying machines.


Some Ingredients:






What I did:
I don't have a name for what I made, but it's probably closest to a cafe au lait. I read that a true cafe au lait is coffee with steamed milk, but I couldn't resist adding a little bit of milk foam, because that to me is the best part. And I also used a coffee dripper, instead of a french press. (Coffee experts, please forgive me!) I added some chocolate shavings that were leftover from a milkshake I made for taylor, and it tasted really good as it was melting into the milk and coffee, a small extra that made a big difference!

1. Ground coffee beans and put in filter over coffee dripper. I used Sumatra beans.

2. Boil water, I let it sit for a while and tried to keep it at 200 degrees to keep the coffee from coming out bitter. Poured it into filter in increments (waited a few minutes in between pours)

3. Poured milk into jar, shook it until it doubled in size, and then microwaved on high for 45 seconds.

4. Poured equal parts milk (used a spoon to keep the foam from spilling in) and cofee into cup, and then scooped the top layer of foam on top with chocolate shavings.





It wouldn't say that it was restaurant quality, but I suppose it will get better with practice. There are so many intricacies and details involved with making coffee that I was totally unaware of! One thing I could definitely get used to though, is an apartment smelling like fresh coffee in the morning!