Coffee Conundrum?

Chipps

I love latte, but when it comes to drinking it at home it seems that you have to have some super duper coffee machine which takes odd shaped little pods and apparently, according to the ads, sings and dances round the kitchen and undoubtedly costs a fortune.
Or you buy it ready made, or in strange containers you have to twiddle with.
It's all too much for me!:o

So, my question is, is it possible to make HM latte with ordinary, common or garden ingredients that are likely to be found in a normal OS kitchen?



Thank you.

razra

ummm not to sure what latte is but would making it with hot milk that youve whisked (until its frothy) and then added coffee powder to be about the right sort of thing?

If so thats how my mom has her coffee when she wants a treat

emg

It's not quite the same but I make coffee in the microwave using milk instead of water (just bung it all in a cup and heat for about 1min30s). It makes a really nice creamy coffee that is quite similar to the latte texture and taste even if you only use skimmed milk. I add vanilla syrup to mine to make it a little bit more authentic. Sometimes I use a milk frother to make a bit of foam for the top but I usually cant be bothered, it tends to have a little bit of foam already anyway.

student100

The ingredients are ordinary - coffee (the proper "bits of roasted bean" variety) and milk. The art is in how you make it.

Really you need a decent espresso machine (and coffee grinder, and to use decent fresh roasted coffee beans). But decent machines are quite expensive and making decent coffee is an artform much like making good wine or brewing good beer.

You can try other substitutes but nothing is going to come close to proper well-made espresso. Strong filter or cafetiere coffee with hot milk might be about the closest you can get without taking up a new hobby...

(I'm saving that one until I've earned a bit of money and got to the "early mid life crisis" stage.... ;-)

Jayar

If you were to ask for a latte in Italy, you would get a glass of milk, so caffe e latte is just coffee with milk
student, you definitely do not need fancy schmancy machines to make perfect espresso. All you need is a stove top espresso maker. I've been using one for years and, if I say so myself, I make wonderful coffee
So, back to the lattee, just make espresso and add hot milk.

kodokan

Ditto to the stove top expresso maker (little aluminium hexagonal looking pots with handles). I bought one from Whittards a couple of weeks ago, and it was half price in what the lady at the till told me was an on-going half price sale, not stock clearance, not closing down, just until further notice so long as the customer demand was there. (Which makes you wonder what their usual profit margin is...)

Anyway, back to the point, 3 cup (which makes enough for 2 mugs of latte) stove top expresso maker and coffee from Whittards, possibly still half price, so easily less than £10 all told, and micro'd hot milk whisked up with my mini whisk I got free from joining Bailey's (the drink) club. It's perfect.

Mmmmm, want one now, where's my expresso maker...

kodokan

lindadykes

A sort of "cheats" version, not pretending this is authentic but it does taste quite good - better than the packet "latte" mixes and is cheap and with no additives that you can't pronounce IYKWIM!

4 heaped teaspoons of dried milk (not nasty additive full coffee creamer)
1 teaspoon instant coffee
sugar to taste

Add a little cold water to above in a mug and mix well, add boiling water and stir.

Instant Latte!

organic_wanabe

I'm another fan of the stove top coffee pots (noticed that TK Maxx also have them for about £5.99). I was going to buy one of the expensive machines but then thought - why? I can make a delicious latte for myself in 2 minutes 50 seconds in my tiny pot with milk heating in the microwave, or for two (in a pot for 3) in 3 and a half minutes. I also have a pot that makes 4 (which is supposedly for 6 servings).

seraphina

For frothing milk, try one of those little hand operated battery whisks - you can get them on ebay for a few quid. They have a handle, a long spindly wire with a little circular whisk at the end.

Heat your milk in a jug to near boiling point, then start whisking. Different types of milk (ie full fat, skimmed) will give different degrees of frothyness.

Combined with a stovetop espresso machine you should be on your way to coffee heaven!

daisyroots_2

Yeah, stove top coffee pots rule !
And they look so cool.

Have you ever tried evaporated (like carnation) in your coffee ? Just a tiny, tiny bit, barely enough to cover the bottom of the cup. You get the milkiness without diluting heat or strength. But it's not latte, of course.

student100

Jayar wrote: »

student, you definitely do not need fancy schmancy machines to make perfect espresso. All you need is a stove top espresso maker.

OK, I guess that's a matter of opinion . The result isn't quite the same as from a pumped espresso machine (the sort you get in Starbucks et al) but I guess it's similar.

Personally I usually drink strongish drip brew coffee at home since it's about the least hassle to clean up afterwards...