Become a Home Barista in One Week

Whether working remotely or with some time off, right now many of us are spending a lot more time at home. Our resident barista, Levi Andersen, has seven recipes you can create to help pass the time and possibly learn more coffee skills. He’s put together a daily recipe guide to help you become a home barista in just one week.

Monday: Frothy Coffee

Frothy coffee, also known as the dalgona coffee trend all over social media, is delicious and an easy way to start your week of honing your home barista skills. All you need is granulated sugar, instant coffee and water.

Tools: electric whisk
Time: 15 mins
Ingredients: instant coffee, water, sugar, milk, DaVinci Gourmet syrup, water, ice

Add to a 12 oz. glass:
Ice (fill so glass is ¾ full)
1 oz flavoring such as maple syrup or DaVinci Gourmet
Milk (fill so glass is ¾ full)

Add to a separate glass:
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 tablespoons instant coffee
3 tablespoons water

Whisk the sugar, coffee and water blend with an electric whisk for a few minutes, allowing froth to come to the top. The color will start to shimmer more like fresh crema on an espresso shot.

Scoop the coffee froth and dollop it on top of milk, serve.

Tuesday: Coffee Gelatin Squares

Get creative! Yes, we are using coffee instead of hot water, but what about adding some ginger pieces or lime juice as well? Instead of adding cold water, you could add some milk or coconut cream. In our recipe, we used a coffee that had orange flavor notes in it, and the gelatin was orange, so it’s a win-win flavor combination.

Tools: whisk, bowl
Time: 10 mins
Ingredients: water, coffee, orange gelatin packet

Follow the gelatin packet preparation instructions, replacing 1 cup of boiling water with 1 cup of hot coffee. When it’s time to add the cold water, you may want to consider integrating another flavor enhancer, such as 6 oz. ginger kombucha. Pour gelatin into a dish or dishes and let set; chill in fridge.

Serve alone or top with hand shaken cream with vanilla, vanilla pudding, ice cream or chilled coconut cream.

Wednesday: Cold Brew Coffee in Granola

On Wednesday, we’re talking cold brew. First, let’s talk about how to make cold brew coffee at home. Very simply, you can steep coffee in a French press overnight. Use the same ratio of coffee to water. Now you can buy granola, or easily make it at home for more fun. We’ll let you decide on that.

 

 

In a French press: Combine coffee and cold water, using the same ratio you would for hot coffee. (I prefer a 16:1 ratio by weight, which would fill your brewing device about 20% with grounds, the rest with water. Allow coffee to steep overnight, as long as 24 hours.

In a glass: Fill glass halfway with cold brew, add a splash of heavy cream if you like, and top with granola for a caffeine snack attack.

Thursday: Stove Top Latte

By Thursday, you’ll be ready to make a stove top latte. Our recipe uses both a French press and a moka pot. A little strange, but here’s why: the moka pot creates a nicely concentrated ‘shot’ of coffee. Is it espresso? No, not by definition, but it is very potent, which is exactly what we want if we are to add a lot of milk. For this recipe, you’ll want to use milk with high fat content. You might want o use half and half or you can even try trendy oat milk.

Tools: moka pot, French press, small pot
Time: 15 mins
Ingredients: fine-medium ground coffee, ideally high-fat milk (such as half-and-half) although regular milk or oat milk will also work, sugar or flavor, water

In a moka pot: Add water and coffee per the moka pot instructions. Bring to a boil. Once it brews it will be very hot, so be careful.

In a small pot: Heat the milk slowly. Heat slowly, aim for 150-degrees, or until there’s a sizzle on the sides of the pan when you swirl the liquids. Remember, time is your friend.

In a French press: Combine the coffee and heated milk with sugar. Plunge the filter of the French press for 10 seconds to get nice tight bubbles. Slowly pull the plunger out of the milk, then pour into your pre-heated mug. 

Pro-tip: we can’t make the milk too hot because it will burn. As we transfer from stove to French Press, then to mug, then to enjoy, the milk loses heat. We can’t make it ‘extra hot’ without burning that milk. So, pre-heating each device simply with hot water is a great solution.

Friday: Cold Brew Non-Alcoholic Sangria

Remember that cold brew you made on Wednesday? This time you’ll use that same home brewing process with the French press, but you’ll add in fruits you have on hand. We recommend using a “natural processed coffee” if you can.

Tools: French press or mason jar, filter (metal, paper or cloth)
Time: 1 day
Ingredients: coffee, water, honey or sweet juice and fruits and juices such as berries, stone fruits and citrus fruits

In a French press: Using the same ratio of coffee to liquid used for cold brew, combine coffee, cold water and a mix of the fruits you have on hand.

You can make it super fun by adding in berries and citrus, a little sugar or “wine musk” if you’re fancy like that. Do you like balsamic vinegar? Just a dash can be very good here. Stone fruits or berries can create the best flavor for this recipe. Muddle all the fruits with a little of the water to ensure the skins have broken and the juices will steep.

Filter out the fruit through a metal filter, then filter again through a light cloth filter. There will be significant settlement. Now, chill down the liquid so you get the true flavor. Sweeten with honey or Luxardo cherry juice. Serve over ice and garnish with an orange slice.

Saturday: Coffee Frosting

Perfect for a big Saturday breakfast – or brunch – you can add sweet coffee flavor to pancakes, French toast and more with a few simple ingredients you already have at home!

Tools: spatula or bar spoon
Time: 10 mins
Ingredients: instant coffee, powdered sugar, vanilla extract or syrup, water

Add to a small mixing bowl:
1 pinch of salt
1/8 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 tbsp instant coffee
1 tbsp water
1 cup powdered sugar

Mix or sift instant coffee and powdered sugar together to prevent clumping. Once mixed, add liquids and stir till smooth. Spread on top of graham crackers, pastries, pancakes, French toast or another product of your choosing.

Sunday: Irish Coffee

To make a proper Irish Coffee the cream needs to float on top of the hot coffee. There is a sensation of sweet cold fatty cream, on top of alcohol and bitter coffee. The balance is brilliant. The cream should flow with the coffee below, but have its own structure.

Tools: small mason jar
Time: 10 mins
Ingredients: whiskey, coffee, water, heavy whipping cream, sugar or DaVinci Gourmet Vanilla Syrup

Add to a small mason jar: About 1 cup of heavy whipping cream and 1 oz. of sugar or DaVinci Gourmet vanilla syrup. Shake for around one minute to combine. You will start to hear the sound soften as air is incorporated into the liquid. It should look like a milkshake and be light enough to float on hot coffee.

Add to a ¾ full mug of hot coffee: 1 oz. of whiskey. Pour around 2 oz. of the heated cream on top of coffee. (Pour close to the coffee to encourage the cream to float.) Garnish with cinnamon or coffee grounds.

We hope you’re a better home barista now. Like any art the elements, skills, styles and tastes always evolve. Don’t be afraid to taste new things!