Making das mochas and lattes at home, better for yo wallet and mother earth!!!!!!

 First let's talk about the coffee cups!!!

The process involved with manufacturing paper cups for take out coffee in the mornings is extremely resource intensive.  Manufacturing paper requires harvesting trees and using machines to turn the wood into wood chips.  The chips are heavily washed to remove any dirt, and then mixed with more water and processed.  The resulting paper pulp is dried and the fibers are pressed together to make paper.  The entire process requires a substantial amount of water, energy… and a lot of trees.

The U.S. is the #1 trash-producing country in the world at 1,609 pounds per person per year. This means that 5% of the world's people generate 40% of the world's waste.

Guess what!!!!! Are dear coffee cups add a whole lot to that waste!!!  The environmental problems associated with paper cups are only accentuated by their wide-spread usage among coffee drinkers.  Considering how big the coffee industry has become, it’s difficult to determine just how many disposable coffee cups get used annually.  According to the paper industry, Americans will consume an estimated 23 billion paper coffee cups in 2010.  Rob Martin, the Vice President of Merchandising and Production for Tully’s Coffee, estimated the 2006 use usage at 16 billion paper cups.[4]

Besides the waste there is the thing that turns me off the most, the cost!!! This cheap trick doesn't want to shell out money for coffee...  If I buy like one a day for a week that is almost $35 bucks down the drain...  I could of bought a new vintage dress or taken my kids to kick ass zoo for that money honey!!!

Here is a small statistic on the coffee addiction cost :

One person spends, at the least, $20 a week, $80 a month, and $960 a year. Now for the crazy math: 10 million people do that everyday. 960 multiplied by 10 million is…

$9, 600, 000, 000. Yep over 9 billion dollars a year. Girrrrrl Please!!!!!  That is crazy talk!!!

I have found that I can make a better cup of coffee in the morning or latte or chai tea or whatever else you crave at home, and it is  a) Cheaper and b) Contributing to less waste!!!  I know you are probably saying well I am not a stay at home mom Mel like you who has the time to make a mocha in the morning!!  Well my retort is if you have the time to get out of yo car and run into starbucks in the morning or sit in a drive thru at one, I promise you have the time to make a mean cup at home....  On top of that I feel good making my handsome man a nice foofy drink, he knows its made with care and love!!!!

So check it out here are my finds that have made making those specialty drinks at home easy and cheap!!!  I have turned in the last 4 years a true avid of tea, but once in awhile I will whip up some mean barista like  treats for me and my hubby when we need a real pick me up!!! 

These are the tools that I invested in a few years ago:

 So here we go, for the must have espresso maker this yo go to guy, he is awesome because he can make about 4 shots a pot and is a quick little bastard...  Cleaning and storing is so easy with this little one, you don't have a big bulky machine taking up lots of counter space!  You fill with water, and espresso and stick on the the stove top!!!  It does the rest!!!

http://www.surlatable.com/product/PRO-464859/Bialetti-Moka-Express-Espresso-Makers


For those of you out there that love the foam this is a magic tool, it makes your much loved foam for you so you get the real coffee shop feel.... You can even make the cutie heart shaped foam and all that fancy crap you pay for at a swanky coffee place!!!!

http://www.surlatable.com/product/PRO-699900/Rosle-Dual-Speed-Stainless-Steel-Milk-Frother


I use these bad boys right on my range, I just put my soy milk in and a thermometer and the milk gets hot in a flash!!!!
http://www.surlatable.com/product/PRO-7455/Sur-La-Table-Stainless-Steel-Steam-Pitcher


For a grinder to make the perfect espresso texture this is a good ole one
http://www.surlatable.com/category/SCA-177995/Coffee-Grinders?cleanSession=true&pCat=CAT-5782


My favorite reusable coffee cups to take to work, and once it's there and you need another cup during the day, you have a reusable mug to get it in!!!!!!!  These are so cutie!!!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/81921661/bright-green-travel-mug-with-a-lid?ref=sr_gallery_34&ga_search_submit=&ga_search_query=to+go+coffee+mugs&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=US&ga_page=3&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_facet=handmade

So okay, for those of you who never worked in a coffee shop during college and would not know how to begin making these delectable beverages here is a great website for all the ingredients and how to make all the coffee drinks imaginable!!!!  Promise you will be making them fast and furious once you get the hang of it!!!

http://www.gourmetcoffeelovers.com/

Now go get some mean fair trade espresso and get to sippin yo!  For fair trade info here you go:

This country consumes one-fifth of all the world's coffee, making it the largest consumer in the world. Few Americans realize that agriculture workers in the coffee industry often toil in what can be described as "sweatshops in the fields." Many small coffee farmers receive prices for their coffee that are less than the costs of production, forcing them into a cycle of poverty and debt. Buy "Fair Trade"

Trader Joes is the way to goes when it comes to coffee, it is by far the cheapest FAIR TRADE I have seen..

This company below really rocks as well

http://shop.equalexchange.com/




 You will be amazed how in a few months you will notice a huge savings when you are buying less coffee out and about!!! Not to mention mother earth will thank you!!!  Now if you must just must go get your starbucks fix for a gingerbread or pumpkin latte bring a reusable mug!!!!!  If money is not a option and saving your coffee money is not your thing then the least you can do is bring a reusable cup from home when you are going to go get das coffee fix!!!!  If you have any questions message me, and please tread lightly!!!!