Morning Fix

Starbucks Frappuchino in my own ka-ching-kitchen $

This recipe consists of two recipes- Simple Syrup and Coffee Concentrate. Since I've started work, I found myself drinking a lot of coffee. Having had a lot of cheap tasting coffee, I decided to take things into my own hands. Since I am not really a morning person, I try to avoid getting up earlier than neccessary and brewing coffee in the morning is not my cup of tea- coffee i mean. This recipe for starbucks frappuchino for less $ is perfect as it can be prepared the night before, or even long before you want to enjoy a cup of coffee.

This drink is great for the summer because it makes a great Iced Coffee. I prefer to enjoy this drink cold, but if you enjoy it hot, just microwave it and your good to go.

Let's start with the Coffee part. It is cold-brewed and therefore no coffee machine is needed. And it's sooo simple.

Coffee Concentrate*
Prep: One quart Mason jar
Ingredients: 2/3 cup of coarsly ground coffee

Pour in 2/3 cup of coarsly ground coffee in the jar. Fill the jar with cold water and let it sit for 12 hours at room temperature. After 12 hours, strain the coffee. I use a paper filter.


Keep it in a jar or container in the fridge; after three weeks it still tastes great.

For hot coffee: mix 1/2 concentrate with 1/2 water (or part water part milk, depending on how you take your coffee) and microwave.
For iced coffee: mix half concentrate, half milk and pour over ice. If you want to get super fabulous, shake your milk and concentrate in a cocktail shaker with ice, which makes a nice little foam on top. I do this, and add a spoonful of sweetened condensed milk, too; this makes it a little sweeter and a little thicker.

*this recipe is adapted from the blog "One particular kitchen"

Note: Sugar won't properly dissolve in cold coffee or tea so syrup is the best solution. Store bought syrup can get very pricy. For a fraction of the cost, you can do it at home.

Simple Syrup*
Prep: a glass bottle with a cap, a pot to boil water in
Ingredients: granulated sugar

Instead of making the syrup and then trying to get hot syrup into a bottle, just make it right in the bottle to begin with. Using a funnel, fill a glass bottle halfway with sugar. Measure how much you add, and add the same amount of water.

Put the bottle, with no cap on it, in a pan filled with water, and put it over medium heat. You want the water just barely boiling.
As the sugar dissolves into the water, it loses the cloudiness. You're done when the syrup is completely clear.

Anyway ... put the cap on and let the syrup cool down until the bottle no longer feels hot to the touch. Then put it in the fridge until you need it.

Last week, I made vanilla syrup which in addition to white granulated sugar, also uses brown sugar and a tsp of vanilla extract. It also tastes oohhh-sooo-good.

*This recipe is from "How to cook like your grandmother" by Drew Kime