First of all, focus on a simple order. If you order one of the featured drinks on the huge billboard, it may cost you anywhere upwards of six dollars because it is a specialized drink that has many different components. If you are purchasing a fancy coffee shop drink, then it will be much more expensive than your average cup of Joe. If you purchase a regular cup of coffee, it will cost almost half what a fancy cappuccino would, so it is best to keep that in mind. It is also great to know that a regular 8 ounce cup of Joe does have more caffeine content than a shot of espresso by itself, so that is what you need to look for if you are trying to stay energized throughout your day.

If you want something a little different than coffee, it would be good to choose a café au lait, which is a drink with coffee and steamed milk. This simple drink will also cost about 30% less than a regular latte. Along those lines, make sure that you are avoiding adding any extras to your coffee drink. Once you start to add flavor shots, extra espresso shots, or even soy milk, it will increase the price of your coffee drink by up to a dollar. You can always use the free sugar or sugar substitutes available to you if you want to sweeten your drink.

Make sure that you focus on ordering a medium-sized drink instead of a large. A medium-size coffee drink will have the same amount of espresso or coffee as the largest size, but it will cost less because less milk is added. It is also important to use any type of customer rewards perks that your local coffee shop offers you. If you are going to an independent coffee house, they will often times give you a punch card that will enable you to buy a certain number of drinks to get one free.

Lastly, consider taking all of the money that you are spending on your daily coffee drink to invest it in a premium home coffee and espresso machine. The advantages to doing this are huge because it will save money in the long run, and you also will be able to become your own professional barista to make custom cappuccino and latte creations! So worth it…

Cold Brew It

In the cold brewing process, coffee grounds are mixed with cold water and allowed to sit between 12 and 24 hours. The coffee is then filtered through like a typical brewing process. Coffee connoisseurs claim that this process yields a coffee that is lower in acidity and caffeine, with more bouquet and character. The lower acidity not only allows more flavor to come through, it is also easier on the digestion. Cold brew enthusiasts often note that that have a much lower rate of acid reflux; a classic symptom of too much hot coffee consumption. Perhaps the only disadvantage of cold brewing is that it’s not an instant gratification process. While a hot brew may be faster than a cold brew, remember that good things will come to those who wait.

Chill With Coffee Cubes

This can really make or break and ice coffee experience. One of the most common time saving practices in making iced coffee is pouring hot coffee over ice. Instead, try freezing some fresh brewed coffee in an ice cube tray and the next day pour coffee over the frozen cubes. The result is a much richer, less diluted drink. A quick tip: store the coffee ice cubes in a zip lock plastic bag to maintain their freshness.

Rock Sugar Swizzle Sticks.

You see them in coffee shops all the time. Don’t underestimate them. You might enjoy a little sweetness to your swizzle. Stirring with a rock candy stick can add a festive touch to an otherwise mundane ice coffee session. The cold drink won’t melt the sugar as fast, so drink it slow and let the sweetness catch up to you.

Whip Cream Rules

You’ve worked hard all week, and sure, you’re trying to watch what you eat. But it’s the weekend and you’re already hitting the early afternoon doldrums. You are in need of an iced coffee, however you want to go all the way. Do it. How often do you add whip cream to your coffee anyway? Whip cream in iced coffee is like jelly on peanut butter, only better.

Milk Brewing

You wouldn’t necessarily think of Australia when iced coffee comes to mind, but the Land Down Under has been indulging in commercialized iced coffee drinks perhaps longer than any other nation. Australians are noted for brewing it with milk, rather than water. The milk brewed process is so popular that Australia is one of the few countries where milk based beverages to outsell Coca Cola. The result of milk brewing is a cold coffee beverage with an amazingly smooth milkshake-like flavor. The Starbucks Frappuccino attempt to mimic this process, but fall short by using plain ice in the recipe.

The Potential for Mudslides

A Mudslide is a drink for adults only. But it tastes like a drink for a kid. There aren’t many coffee drinks that are as addictive. Add a healthy shot of Kahlua to two scoops of vanilla ice cream. Finish with half a shot of Bailey’s Irish Cream and a touch of vodka. Blend it up for instant heaven.

History

Starbucks acquired the rights to a frozen coffee drink similar and the trademarked name, Frappuccino, when it bought out the Coffee Connection of Boston, a chain with 24-stores mostly around New England.  A pretty good deal in hindsight.

The original Frap, however, was completely different from the one that Starbucks serves.  

The name, Frappuccino, is a combination of frappe and cappuccino.  An original cappuccino is a strong Italian coffee drink topped with frothed milk — and still served at Starbucks and every other coffee bar.

Frappe is either taken from frappé, a Greek coffee-based milkshake, or from the local New England term for a thick milkshake, frappe.  Or perhaps both. 

Cinnabon serves similar drinks called Mochalatta and Caramelatta and Dunkin’ Donuts also has a drink called Coolatta .

So I suppose this is 4 recipes in one.  Cool.

Starbucks Frappuccino Recipe

Ingredients

Directions

To make the “Mocha” variety:

Add a pinch (1/16 teaspoon) of cocoa powder to the mixture before combining.

You should be able to make a week’s worth of these before leaving the house for what Monday’s Frap would have cost you at the corner Starbuck — thus saving yourself time and money. 

Today, a cup of espresso coffee or any other gourmet coffee still costs a few dollars, and a cup of kopi is only between 70 and 90 Singapore cents.

Latte or long black is unknown in local coffee stalls and kopi tiam.  Tiam means shop in Hokkien, a Chinese dialect.  Instead it is commonly called kopi, kopi-o, and kopi-c.

Kopi is not brewed in coffee maker, but steep in a tall metal pot with a long spout with a cotton coffee filter, a long cone bag, within.  Milk and sugar are not served separately on the table.  When you order your kopi, you have coffee with condensed milk, a sweetener, and sugar, already added.

Kopi-o is black coffee, with sugar added.  O sounds like black in Hokkien.

Instead of condensed milk, Carnation evaporated milk is added to kopi-c, with sugar.  The c stands for Carnation, a brand, even though some have replaced it with other brands.

Most of the early kopi tiam are started by Chinese who are Hainanese.  Today their lingo still stays.  Ask for kopi-c siu tai, it is coffee with evaporated milk and less sugar in the cup.  More sugar, ka tai.  But for no sugar, it is kosong, a Malay word which means nothing.

Sarabat stalls are coffee stalls run by Indians and Malays.  They are famous for their teh tarik.  Teh means tea, and tarik means pull back.  A cup of tea with milk and sugar added is then juggled between two cups at an altitude.  The original purpose is to lower the temperature of very hot tea for easy drinking on a hot day, for the climate in Singapore and Malaysia most of the year is of summer.  However, the action has also produced a foamy top for the tea, much like cappuccino.  This spurs the creation of kopiccino, using the same method but instead of tea, it is coffee.

Many migrants came from China in the old days.  Chinese meal will always have a cup of Chinese tea besides their food.  It is not surprising to find in the local coffee shop and food court, too, that coffee and tea are usually ordered together with meals, much like having a cup of Chinese tea, or ice water in western meal.  But for some, hot kopi is still best reserved after a meal.

Nevertheless, for those who still crave for a piece of cheese cake with gourmet coffee, it is still Starbucks, hotels, or café.  For others with a budget, Ikea offers value for money for a cup of brewed coffee with cheese cake.

Any opportunities to travel to Singapore and Malaysia, kopi with roti kaya is a must.  Roti is bread in Malay, and kaya is a coconut egg jam.