Survive an espresso addiction during the recession

I'm a cheeky coffee fan. A cup of tasty beer in the morning helps me get started and stay active all day in the office, and a cup at night relaxing when I spend time with friends or just watching TV with my boyfriend Kate. In recent years, I've been hooked on the roasted, toasted taste of espresso. I just have to have a coffee with milk every morning, and I like to have an espresso after work before spending a relaxing afternoon at home.

It didn't take long before I realized I was spending huge amounts of money on both my favorite coffees, Giovanni's and Starbucks. My main problem is that I live a few blocks from my Manhattan office, and Giovanni is right between the two of us, so it's hard not to stop and have a coffee with milk. And of course, in New York City, Starbucks is everywhere. Then, one quiet afternoon, after reviewing our growing credit card bills and trying to find some budget cuts, Kate eventually counted all the money she had spent on coffee and Starbucks. She doesn't understand my espresso addiction so she got scared. "You spend more than $ 2,000 every year on your coffee!" We discovered that my two coffee drinks each day cost me about $ 2,300 a day. Years, a number that didn't even include other trips to coffee shops and food purchases at cafes. It costs my love for espresso! I was shocked. Well, I realized in that moment that I could no longer afford to spend that much money. I had promised Kate that we would spend a month in Europe, and since she probably wouldn't get the trip, I figured she'd do it that year, after all, things got tough. I knew I had to cut something.

Initially, I decided to limit my trips to coffee. However, it does not seem to work. I even tried some of the cheapest coffees, but they were not tasty enough. Then one day I came into Giovanni's and bought a coffee with milk, full of guilt. As I sat there watching the barista, a bored student from New York University, standing to wait for another drink of espresso to finish preparing, I realized that I could do what I did with the same ease in my own house I would probably enjoy it too. Then I remembered that Bill, a friend of mine from the office, had an espresso machine in his kitchen, which he was constantly using. Well, at that moment, I decided that was what I needed. I would invest in my own espresso machine.

First I did some research on the Internet and talked to some friends who also like espresso about which machine to buy. I read many articles on the Internet and looked for something that I thought would be affordable and easy to use, but it would also live up to my high-quality standards. In the end, I chose the same cafe espresso that Bill had purchased, a highly praised Italian machine that I found on the Internet.

I was extremely excited about the day he arrived! After quickly installing and preparing the machine in my kitchen, I prepared my first coffee with milk. Today it was the best coffee I have ever tasted! Not only was it delicious, but the process of preparing coffee and then drinking my own coffee with milk in the comfort of my warm and quiet home was very relaxing. Since then I have been experimenting with many different types of beans and ways to serve espresso coffee; I started with a cappuccino, coffee with milk and macchiato coffee. Trying all these new drinks and investing in the brewing process and then serving espresso was interesting and fun! Since then I have decided that I still prefer coffee with milk over other espresso drinks, but I still enjoy some variations from time to time.