i have a thing for good espresso as i have mentioned before. when i used to run a coffee shop a friend of a friend offered to help me with whatever i needed. he ran a shop downtown vancouver called Paradise Cafe. anyhow, he showed me the correct way to pull shots and introduced me to an awesome place called Lava Java in Ridgefield Wa. the owner actually won fourth place in a national barista competition a few years ago.  those guys that worked there knew what they were doing and it was so amazing! it takes a lot of effort and know-how to pull good shots and my equipment that i was using at the time was old and caused the shots to be bitter. besides the fact our grinders werent very good either and we were still learning the techniques to have delicous crema! anyways, so ever since then i am rarely satisfied with most coffee shops or church espresso bars for that matter. once you taste a really good cup, it kind of ruins you! unless you are the kind of person (my sister) who needs equal parts sugar and milk in her coffee (= then it really doesnt matter either way!

we started going to a church down town olympia recently and i noticed they had an espresso bar. i was reluctant to even bother ordering something for fear i would be disgusted. but i gave it a whirl anyhow... oh my goodness the first sip and i was in love! so i went up to the guy in charge and asked him if he worked at a shop around town and where i could get a yummy cup up coffee! he is great and told me of some worth while shops around. so at least every sunday i can have my latte and only pay a dollar for it too. they just have a donation suggestion box. but i give two bucks since it is so good and i would have paid like 3 bucks anywhere else for something half as good. and it is for the church so why not (= i would love to volunteer at the espresso bar at church too so i talked to him about that too. what a great way to get to know people and have fun making espresso again. 

all that to say.... we have been considering buying an espresso machine for our home. i mean what other time in our lives will we be getting like 2000 bucks from the government??! we want to buy stuff we might not buy otherwise and that would be useful.

some days i really could use a cup of coffee and also when we have people over or parties i would love to serve it. but we found out that a good machine costs at least 300 bucks.... so ummm no. but i dont want to pay 10 bucks a week going thru drive thrus all the time. so i thought ok well maybe we can buy a coffee pot, at least to get some caffeine. sure it wont taste good, but i need something. but they cost 25 bucks or more plus a grinder and then buying the coffee... i just dont like drip coffee enough to waste money on that. man i am a cheapskate! so i ended up buying a jar of instant coffee for four dollars. isnt that hillarious! i go from being a coffee snob to resorting to instant coffee the nastiest way to drink it ever! but this way i am not expecting a latte that is good, so i am not disappointed. but i found a good way to enjoy it.

i like it strong, so you might not want to try this at home (=

8 ounces of milk hot

2 heaping teaspoons coffee

1 tsp cocoa powder

splash of almond extract

2 tsp honey