Home Brewed: a Guide to At-Home Lattes During Quarantine
By: Jackie Wagaman
Tags: Quarantine, Coffee, Espresso, Homemade, Latte

Hello all! My name is Jackie and I have been a barista at small, successful coffee houses for the last few years and I am now a baker by trade. I have a passion for good, quality, no-nonsense coffee. My dream is to own my own coffee shop/roastery called Old Forge Coffee.

Old Forge is a location along the Appalachian Trail where my father and I would hunt during the Spring and Autumn. If you have never imbibed the beauty and crispness of the Appalachian Trail in Fall, it is definitely worth checking out!

So let’s say you are craving a latte, but you also don’t want to pay $4–5.50 (or even more) for a decadent drink. Not to mention the extra syrup, whipped crème, and additional trendy bits that take away the integrity of the simple, delightful latte.

So what is the standard, traditional latte?

A latte is a beverage with 2 shots of espresso (doppio) with 6–10 ounces steamed, lightly foamed milk. That’s it. Not all of us have an espresso machine at home, however. That’s where innovation comes into play.

For my lattes at home I use two main pieces and then a few accessories pieces. For the espresso I use a Moka Pot (I paid $5.99 for a little one from a Tuesday Morning, Bialetti is also a good brand but it’s a tad more expensive) and a French Press (Bodem, $17.99) So to create latte’s at home, it is about $25 for equipment and roughly $0.50 in ingredients (milk, coffee grounds, water). This is a way better investment then buying $6 coffee drinks everyday. I will write a post about Moka Pot Espresso at a later time. What I really want to touch on is how to create milk foam in the French Press: A technique that a lot of people didn't know existed.

Standard French Press

There are two components to a standard French Press: The carafe, the long cylinder body with a handle attached, and the plunger, which is attached to the lid, has a metal rod going down, and with a mesh/metal plate at the bottom. The technique is really simple, making this at-method a total game changer.

Best part is is that you don’t have to be a trained barista to make a latte at home!

Step 1.) Brew Espresso in Moka Pot, about 2 fluid ounces. This espresso will not form a crema, but it will still be sturdy enough to pour latte art.

Step 2.) Heat up milk in microwave or stovetop. This might be tricky, as cooking it too long will cause the milk to change composition, resulting in the “eggy” milk taste and smell. I usually test a few different times and settle on the best one, or until the milk is just below boil. (Microwave: Between 1:45 minutes or 2 minutes.)

Step 3.) Transfer milk into French Press. Now, make sure the milk only fills up 1/4 or 1/3 of the French press, as it will double in volume. Drive the plunger down rapidly, mostly pushing it down and up near the top of the milk. I typically plunge about ten times at a fast pace.

Example of Foamed Milk

Step 4.) At this point the milk will be highly aerated, as shown in the picture on the left. You can pour straight into your espresso filled cup, but there are a few optional things that can take this to the next level.

Optional Steps:

Transfer foamed milk into another pitcher (metal pouring pitcher), polish, and pour. This way will help with latte art. Add Syrup of choice before adding espresso to cup. (I love my homemade cardamom syrup!) Add syrup into the milk before you froth it. (I like vanilla, maple syrup, or white chocolate.) Starbuck’s Macchiato: Add milk and syrup into cup BEFORE espresso. I don’t stand by this type of drink since I like the traditional, Italian 3 ounce macchiatos more. But, there is no “wrong” way to enjoy coffee. (Unless it’s winter and you have it iced, then I have all reason to think you are a psychopath…)

I hope you enjoyed this post! Happy Home Brewing, lovelies. ✌