LATTE - TREAT OR NECESSITY? UPDATE

I thought you would be interested in an update to the posting I made this summer. In an earlier posting I mused about whether a latte is a treat or a necessity. I posed this question based on the service and product provided from purchasing a latte at a specific coffee bar that I went to. I have been to some great coffee bars where the server makes great a latte and she/he puts effort into it and you get a high quality latte. The opposite is also true. Because of the poor quality latte I got that one certain day, it made me think about the investment I have made at these coffee bars. I don't buy lattes every day but you can count on an average of three purchases a week. Over a month that could add up to $60.00. If you invest those dollars into an espresso machine instead, it would pay for itself in less than six months.

I have owned an espresso machine before. About a dozen years ago I got an italian machine as a birthday present. It required a bit of fussing and it was the coffee bar version scaled down to use in one's home. It had the latte steamer. I bought espresso cups to use with the machine along with some other accessories. I used this machine for some time and then it got delegated to a shelf in the basement after I got tired of the fussing and the counter space it took.

In the last while I have had the opportunity to drink coffee made using coffee pods. Those pods are a neat invention and quite efficient. I discovered that there are coffee machines that use pods and make regular coffee and those that make expresso. I have been making my own lattes at home, but not on a frequent basis. I make coffee and have a stand alone milk steamer which heats and froths the milk. The coffee is not quite the same as it is not the same strength and taste as espresso. After spending time doing some research on the internet and tasting a latte at a friend's place who has a latte machine that uses coffee pods, I bought my own machine today. It is red, one of may favorite colours and made by Nespresso. I made lattes tonight for my DH and they turned out well. The interesting part of this adventure is that I spent much more time thinking about purchasing a machine, justifying it and researching on the internet than the time I spend in a clothing store making a decision to purchase a suit or jacket which is more expensive. Go figure.....