Good Finds

I can't live without coffee. Beside red wine, it's my vice. I stumble into the kitchen every morning to start the coffee pot and wait patiently for enough to brew that I can pour a cup. Then it's onto the tasks of the morning. I'm a 2-3 cup person before I feel like I'm human. I have a nice coffee pot - nothing fancy but not Mr. Coffee. Just a good old (new) Cuisinart. I use good beans, usually Peet's or Tully's. Then I have to doctor my coffee with half-n-half and Stevia or sugar to make the bitterness go away.

I've always wanted an espresso maker but, honestly, they look like too much work for me. There's too many steps to execute when I'm not awake. This week I had an enlightenment.

My friend and I had just finished another long run and she knows I'm a coffee addict so she asked if I wanted to come in for a latte. I don't know... drip coffee with Stevia or a latte? Latte, please. She made the best tasting latte with the yummiest foam. The foam was so fluffy I ate it with my spoon. I was in heaven. To top it off she had Lu Cinnamon Sugar Spice cookies which were the perfect complement to my creamy latte. Crunchy and sweet.

I began to think - I need one of these machines. Then I wouldn't need to drink 2-3 cups to get me going, just one big latte. Her machine was a Jura-Capresso. Her milk steamer the Nespresso Aeroccino Plus. If I can't work an espresso machine, I could at least steam my milk. All I have to do is pour in the milk and hit the button. I can do that and it would make my drip coffee taste better.
Later in the week I was at another girlfriends who just bought the Nespresso Le Cube Automatic Espresso Maker. This is a pod system espresso maker. You purchase the espresso pods, put them in the machine and push a button. Out comes your espresso. If you want a latte, you use the Aeroccino Plus to steam your milk. So easy and quick. No beans to grind or measure. I can do that!The only downside is that you have to buy your Nespresso pods online and they are about 50 cents a pod. But in comparison, it's about what I spend on coffee beans each month anyway. And the coffee is so much better. You can purchase just the Le Cube for $279 or both the Le Cube and Aeroccino Plus for $349. While not cheap, it's cheap in comparison to most espresso machines.

The Nespresso latte was every bit as good as the Jura-Capresso latte. While it may not be a true espresso machine, it's fast, delicious and EASY. The coffee was 10 times better than any I would buy at the coffee houses and a lot cheaper. Sorry Seattle. Sorry Kristie, that your house has become my new latte stop!

I'm in the market for a Nepresso Le Cube and Aerocinno. I already stocked up on the LU Cinnamon Sugar Spice cookies. My mornings just got a lot brighter.