Healthy Snacks With Coffee: Dark Chocolate
Unsweetened or dark chocolate is such a good choice for healthy snacks with coffee. But have you ever tried a coffee with a chocolaty taste?
Add dark or unsweetened chocolate to your coffee and enjoy a healthier-than-regular coffee.
The health benefits of these two types of chocolate include helping in balancing cholesterol and potentially helping to prevent cancer.
Starbucks Salted Caramel Mocha
If perfection is what you seek, dont look any further because mocha combined with salted caramel is the real deal.
This Starbucks drink is so easy to make and you will want to be brewing it up every single day.
Heres what we love best about this recipe. You can prep the main ingredients and have the mixture ready to go at all times.
Store it in mason jars in your fridge for a quick treat any day of the week.
For some families, heading to Starbucks to enjoy Peppermint Hot Chocolate during the holiday season is a family tradition.
But what if you could make this delicious version of the classic hot cocoa right at home?
You can! And its easy as can be.
Peppermint is what makes this hot chocolate so special, and its even cozier when youre making it at home.
Why is that important? Because this is a seasonal drink at Starbucks, so they dont have it all the time.
Key Coffee Storage Tips:
Good coffee storage leads to good coffee quality. Credit: Michael Flores
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Next Lets Talk About The Espresso
How to make an Americano? Start with espresso. Simply using strong coffee will not do! This means youll need the following:
- Espresso roast coffee: This is important to get the right dark, bitter flavor. Espresso roast is simply very, very dark roast coffee.
- Espresso machine, espresso maker, or Aeropress: There are several ways to make an espresso! We use an espresso machine, which sits on a countertop. You can use a small manual espresso maker too: its cheaper and portable. Or you can use an Aeropress: its our least favorite option for flavor, but its the cheapest. Go to our Aeropress Espresso recipe.
Best Grind Size Drip Coffee Makers
Drip coffee makers are some of the most popular ways to brew. There is a great variety of different types, sizes, models, and shapes for drip coffee brewing, but they all need a simple grind.
Drip brew coffee needs a medium grind, although there is some difference depending on your filter shape For a flat-based filter, youll need a medium-fine grind. For a cone-shaped, a medium grind is going to give you the best cup of coffee.
Drip brew coffee is made similarly to pour over, but with a few differences. A drip coffee machine uses the steam of boiling water to propel a constant stream of drips onto grinds in a filter. The coffee filters through these grounds and into the pot.
Brewing by dripping water that is constantly pouring makes the grind needed a bit different. There is less contact time between the grinds and the cup, and a lot less water in the filter at once.
Because of this, a finer grind is going to be needed to make sure you still get a rich flavor from your coffee. A medium or medium-fine grind is the best choice here, but you can make some small adjustments depending on your machine.
If your coffee doesnt seem to be tasting of very much beyond cloudy water, then your grind is too coarse and you need to make it finer. Equally, a very bitter and overpowering cup will be too fine. Youll need to make it coarser.
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Brewing Equipment & Filters
Theres a wide range of brewing equipment beginners can choose from. The two main things you should consider are the flavor profile you want and the ease of use.
For filter/pour over brew devices, the most famous ones are the Chemex, Hario V60, and Kalita Wave. A pour over coffee tends to have a cleaner profile than an immersion one.
The main immersion brewing devices, on the other hand, are the AeroPress, French press, and Clever. These are associated with greater body.
However, there are many more types of brewing devices! Youll find innovative refinements on the traditional pour over methods, brewers designed specifically for use on the go, batch brewers, and more. And of course, theres also the syphon and the ibrik complex, traditional brewing methods which are not recommended for beginners. Trust us, youll understand why when you see them.
You should also take into account your serving vessel and filters. Different filters will catch more or less of the oils in coffee .
Which Is Stronger: Iced Coffee Or Iced Latte
Ounce for ounce, espresso contains more caffeine than coffee. One ounce of espresso contains about 63 mg caffeine. One ounce of coffee contains about 14 mg caffeine.
However, since a medium iced coffee contains about 12 ounces of coffee and a medium iced latte contains 2 shots of espresso , a medium iced coffee is actually stronger than an iced latte . Who would have thought!!
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Mocha Latte From A Sweet Pea Chef
When you recreate a coffee house drink, you not only get a better taste but a sense of pride. And your wallet is happier since its a fraction of the price. Because lets be real, buying lattes from a coffee shop on a regular basis is an expensive habit. And, since its not very healthy either, considering the ingredients used in a mocha latte learning how to make a mocha latte at home is the way to go.
Believe it or not, making a homemade mocha latte is actually very easy. And you dont need expensive appliances to make it happen. This recipe teaches you how to make a healthy mocha latte without an espresso machineyou can also experiment with other flavors like cinnamon, vanilla, and hazelnut.
Starbucks Roasted Tomato And Mozzarella Panini
In the early days of Starbucks, who knew that they would one day become the go-to place for healthy lunches? Well, we were in for a surprise.
Their Roasted Tomato and Mozzarella Panini is absolutely delicious. This little sandwich is packed with healthy ingredients and has lightly salted mozzarella cheese.
In terms of size, its the perfect-sized sandwich for a light lunch or brunch.
To make this at home, gather together your bread, spinach, basil pesto, juicy ripe tomato, olive oil, and creamy mozzarella cheese. Its almost like a portable vegetarian pizza.
We all know how nutritious green tea is, and when you drink it in an iced latte format, its also stunningly delicious.
When you want something lighter than coffee, this refreshing tea is just what the doctor ordered.
Green tea is made with matcha, also known as green tea powder. Its well-known for its multiple health benefits, so you can explore the wonder of matcha right in your own home.
You can get a healthy caffeine fix without reaching for the coffee.
Using over-ripe bananas to make banana bread is a tried-and-true frugal way to get a sweet treat.
Our moms and grandmothers were making banana bread way before Starbucks was.
However, Starbucks truly outdid themselves with their rendition of this American classic.
This banana bread is perfectly moist, sweet, and tender. Best of all, this banana bread is absolutely bursting with wonderful banana flavor.
The chopped walnuts make it wonderfully crunchy.
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How To Make Espresso With An Espresso Machine
Do You Froth Milk For An Iced Latte
If youve ordered a hot latte from a coffee shop, then you know that hot, frothy milk is poured into a cup with espresso. Great baristas often make pretty latte art with the steamed milk.
But for an iced latte, theres no need to froth your milk. The reason for this is because hot milk will melt your ice. So you want to use cold milk for iced lattes.
Using cold milk means that making iced lattes is much faster than making hot lattes since you dont have take the time to steam the milk. Plus! Theres no extra clean up of the milk steamer.
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The Best Espresso Drink Recipes
The most well-known and best espresso drinks include the Cappuccino, Latte , and Mocha , although there are many more, and everyone seems to have their own personal favorite recipe which they like prepared in their own special way .
Many people enjoy their espresso drinks with a snack, and the most traditional foods to accompany espresso and espresso-based drinks are biscotti and brioche, perhaps a croissant, or an Italian desert such as gelato, sorbetto, or affogato. Check out recipes for these tasty foods in our Espresso Cuisine section.
Espresso Recipes – Below are detailed instructions on how to prepare the following Espresso Drinks.
You Probably Need A Scale
The biggest takeaway from talking to experts about at-home coffee is that its a craft, an art, and requires some level of precision. Rosenberg laid it out pretty simply:
I liken a lot of the things with coffee prep to cooking or especially baking, she said. You can not follow a recipe and get different results every time you bake a cake. You can follow a recipe that uses volume measurements thats not gonna be quite as accurate, or you can pull out your scale and really hit the mark on predicting whats going to come out.
I think a scale can be really intimidating, so I understand theres a fear or it feels fussy, but think about how many ingredients go into a cake, she added. Coffee is just two. Unless youre a super confident baker, you wouldnt eyeball ingredients, so just use some sort of measurement tool to make sure youre being consistent.
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Another reason a scale is so important? Your coffee maker could be lying to you. If you look at the carafe at the lines that say three, four cups those arent actual cup sizes, and that can be very confusing, Lyman said. Especially because they dont tell you theyre not real cups. I think theyre considered five-ounce cups. I dont know why they do it that way, they just do.
Of course, having a good, fresh product matters, too.
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Remember: Do Not Drink Coffee On An Empty Stomach
Heres a little reminder for all of you who love coffee. When drinking coffee, make sure to eat something with it.
This helps to prevent the anxiety sometimes associated with drinking coffee, and it protects your stomach lining from damage. In addition, avoid drinking coffee too late in the day, especially after 3 p.m., to avoid problems sleeping.
If You Use A Keurig Or Another Capsule Brewer You Dont Have Any Control
Speaking of convenience, Keurigs were pretty much universally panned by our experts, though not for all the reasons you might think. Some agreed that the ratios are just too small and out of your control, most agreed that the environmental impact is enough to avoid them and a couple pointed out that when you break it down, its actually more expensive than buying a pound of coffee.
I think everyone has an empty, slight disappointment after a K-cup, Carmichael said. You know that slight depression when you eat two Big Macs, like, Why did I do that? Thats kind of like the K-cup.
Carmichael and Manson both pointed out, though, that there is room for improvement when it comes to the process, and both were curious as to why its taken this long to figure out a better, more environmentally friendly and tasty way.
We have these cars that are destroying the earth, but then other people are like, Well, lets just make a car that doesnt destroy the earth, Manson said. But thats not really happening with Keurig. Theyre not resolving the issue by creating something people can get on board with, but its only a matter of time, and it will get resolved.
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How To Make An Americano
Once you know about the water ratio and espresso technique: theres not much to know about this coffee drink! Here are the basic steps for how to make an Americano:
- A 1-shot Americano can mostly fit in an espresso mug . A 2-shot drink is best suited in a latte mug.
- Make the espresso. Use espresso roast coffee to make espresso using your favorite method: with an automated espresso machine, manual espresso maker, or Aeropress.
- Boil the water. Use a regular or electric teapot to boil the water. The standard ratio is 2:1 water to espresso, but you can go up to as much as 3:1.
- Mix the two and enjoy! Pour the boiling water into the espresso. Instant Caffe Americano!
Did you know a drink with the same name is an Italian cocktail? Go to Americano Cocktail!
Youve Got To Find The Perfect Ratio Of Coffee To Water
It seems everyone we spoke to varied slightly when it comes to the gold standard of coffee to water ratios. Carmichael was steadfast in his assessment of one part coffee to 17 parts water for hot coffee and 1:9 for a cold brew. Rosenberg called the industry standard 1:16, while Lindberg said 1:15.
Theyre close enough margins to experiment for yourself, sure, but not precise. Its an interesting notion when you consider how precisely they all agree one should be when measuring coffee.
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The Best Milk For A Cappuccino
Whats the best milk to use for a cappuccino? Heres what to know:
- Use milk thats as fresh as possible! Milk thats nearing its expiration date does not foam as well. Trust us: we learned that the hard way!
- The best milk for a cappuccino? Whole milk. Whole milk froths the best because it has the highest milk fat.
- You can also use 2% milk. It works fairly well, but you lose a bit of the richness.
- Use oat milk for a vegan cappuccino. The best non-dairy milk to use is oat milk: it froths up the best and has great flavor. Go to How to Froth Milk for more details.
Ingredients To Make Frozen Coffee
- chilled brewed coffee
This recipe can be customized into any flavor you want!
Use different kinds of brewed coffee and different flavors of creamer to change it up.
One of my favorite hacks is to use half of one creamer and half of another.
Hazelnut, caramel, french vanilla, white chocolate, anything you want!
You could even swap out the chocolate syrup for caramel syrup.
Many times I will use half vanilla and half caramel creamer to switch up the flavors!
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What Type Of Coffee Should I Use
Like any cup of joe, you should choose high-quality coffee beans to make the coffee for your iced coffee recipe. I swear this is not a plug for Lavazza but I love their dark roast coffee. You can buy the beans on their own and grind them using a coffee grinder at home, or you can buy pre-ground coffee your local grocery store. It’s up to you!
I will often try to go to my fave local cafes as well and buy their house blends, or pick up some coffee from Starbucks. That way you get the same taste of your favorite coffee place without having to spend $5 per drink!