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Monday, March 22, 2004
3:31 PM

Mmmm Starbuck's
I'm a huge Starbuck's fan. For so many reasons. First there is the basic Mocha - Chocolate and coffee blended together to sheer perfection. Then there is the Christmas variation on the Mocha - the Peppermint Mocha, with added Peppermint Syrup. (Rachel got me hooked on this one - I'll get her back some day). It's like a thin mint girl scout cookie with coffee (those girl scout cookies are omnipresent in my life it seems). I also have to get back at Rachel for pointing out the Gingerbread latte. Then there are the Frapuccinos (I found those all by myself). Particularly the Brownie Mocha one. Sort of like a coffee/chocolate milkshake, but with chunks of brownies in it. Mmmmm.

As you can see, I have sampled perhaps more than my fair share of Starbuck's offerings. But last night, I found yet another favorite - the Caramel Macchiato. It's a cafe latte with vanilla syrup and caramel sauce on top. It's coffee and a dessert all in one! What more could you want?

The pathetic thing is that we have an espresso/capuccino machine of our own, which I love and use quite often. But it too has its own problems. First of all, to make good espresso you have to have a special grinder (a burr grinder) which is capable of very fine grinding. So we have one of those too. You also need special beans to go in the special grinder. Beans - check. And I was happily making many a capuccino or espresso with the foregoing items. Everything was fine on the home-capuccino making front. Until I decided that I should actually try to make the Starbuck's flavored drinks myself in the comfort of my own home. As a result, more special items were needed. I now own the chocolate powder and peppermint syrup, in addition to the likely overpriced coffee producing and grinding machines.

The first step in the home-Starbuck's experience, is to gather all the necessary items. Once I have the special machine, the grinder, the beans, milk, chocolate power and peppermint syrup, I'm ready to make my own peppermint mocha. Ooops - almost forgot a cup to put it in, as well as a measuring cup in which to mix the chocolate, milk, syrup, etc. Even with my vast kitchen I'm starting to run out of space on my counter.

Next you have to grind, measure, and compress the espresso coffee grounds into the machine. So I have figure out how to use the special grinder to get the grounds. Naturally the little symbols on the side of the machine are profoundly unhelpful. Does 1 dot mean more grinding or does 4 dots? Even if I knew what the dots meant, do I want more grinding or less?? I take a stab at the 2 dot setting and figure average will just have to do. Then, after wiping up the stray beans and coffee grounds that have inevitably spilled all over the place, I finish packing the espresso machine.

Then, I need to mix some chocolate powder with milk or water to dissolve it. Sounds easy doesn't it? Not when the powder is the most moisture repellent substance on the planet, perhaps in the universe. So after much stirring, I now have milk and powder perfectly happily co-existing in the cup while maintaining their own separate identities, but no chocolatey milk. Maybe if I heat it up a bit. Into the microwave it goes, which luckily seems to help. While it's heating, I can, again, wipe the counters, this time to get rid of the chocolate powder and milk that have been thrown everywhere by my crazy but oh-so useless stirring frenzy.

Finally, coffee is ready, chocolate is ready. Just need some steamed milk. Now I must admit that I have a healthy fear of the milk frothing part of my machine. Mainly because it gets hot! Really, really hot. But luckily it isn't hard to use and in no time I have steamed milk and only a first degree burn on my hand.

Then it's time to combine everything. Except the espresso is now cold. So back over to the micro to zap it a bit. And then I'm ready. In goes the espresso, chocolate substance, milk. All I need is the yummy peppermint goodness. But how much do I add? Unfortunately the stupid bottle (bought from Starbuck's no less) has no information on it. So I wing it. In goes some peppermint.

Ahhhh. I take the first sip and, incredibly, it's pretty good. But then I realize what I'm missing - whipped cream on top sprinkled with little peppermint sprinkles. Mmmmm. Sprinkles.

That's it. I quit. There is no way I'm buying anything else for this process. No cream, no sprinkles, nothing. And it just isn't the same without them.

So now, when I crave anything more complex than a simple capuccino, I just get in the car, drive up the hill (actually, poor Mark usually drives) and wait approximately 45 seconds to receive the real thing made by a "professional," sprinkles and all. And this way, I don't have to clean up after myself (which, as we have seen above is no small task).

Now you know why I love Starbuck's. I encourage you to do the same.

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