Café drinks @ home!

[paralleljalebi]

I've been working at a Starbucks Coffee for around nine months now, and I have been getting more interested in making coffee drinks at home. I get free coffee beans every week and over time I've been acquiring new instruments for making drinks, including a french press, AeroPress, coffee grinder, electric kettle, and most recently, an espresso machine. I'm starting this forum thread to post progress on my barista efforts at home, and encourage everyone else to share theirs!

[paralleljalebi]

Today I figured out how to steam milk through the espresso machine (a Starbucks Barista-branded machine from around the turn of the millennium) and made some espresso-like coffee in the AeroPress. It was alright and a fun experiment in making a latte. I need to get an espresso tamper to use the espresso machine for pulling shots. I also want to get some more syrups from the US Foods Chef'Store in Beaverton.

[paralleljalebi]

Now I live in southeast Portland. I have a lot of stuff still in boxes, but all my kitchen things are in the kitchen. I have the espresso machine set up, a bottle of pistachio sauce I took as a "parting gift" from my Starbucks, and a tamper. Both sides of the tamper just barely don't fit, so it isn't very useful. I will soon measure the portafilter and trade around for a new one that fits. Anyway, Parker and I were able to still get it working right. We just made iced lattes. I bought some decaff beans for his sensitivity. Marigold Coffee's "Truly Delicious Decaf" coffee. It was really good.