Mad About Mochas

We love coffee, we like it hot, we like it cold, we like it strong and we like it often. We start the day with a freshly brewed pot, made with freshly ground beans. In the summer, we also like to make cold brew.

It’s not just about the caffeine, it’s also about the ritual. Wrapping my hands around a warm mug calms the soul and helps me ease into the morning. A reheated mug or a cup of cold brew in the afternoon helps me center myself before the kids crash through the door again.

It’s funny how much coffee is a part of culture, a way of life. One crazy part of American coffee culture has become the Pumpkin Spice Latte craze. What started out as a drink created to marry the scents and smells of autumn with Starbucks signature espresso has become a full-on addiction for some. Once Labor Day has come and gone, you see pumpkin spice everything, everywhere. You can get PSL scented candles, PSL flavored breakfast cereal, even PSL dog treats. It’s pure madness.

Now, I do not want to start a fight here, but I have to say I do not like Pumpkin Spice Lattes. I like pumpkin just fine, but in baked goods – where it belongs. I like a pumpkin muffin, bar or pie, but please do not put it in my coffee, or in my cereal, my Oreos or even my body lotion.

But I can get behind a Salted Caramel Mocha, which also comes out during the same season.  This is a flavor combination meant for coffee or espresso – a perfect marriage of bold coffee, sweet caramel and a dash of salt to balance it all out.

I have nothing against the institution of Starbucks but people who like coffee as much as we do can drop a lot of green supporting the habit. Because of this, we have experimented at home and come up with our own versions of our favorite espresso drinks. They are pretty darn close to the coffee shop versions and can be modified to suit your own tastes and any dietary needs.

We have learned some important things during our experimentation. The first and most important thing we have learned is the importance of good strong coffee. I like coffee strong in the first place. In fact, I was once “fired” from making coffee for Bible study at our church because it was too strong for most Baptist ladies – true story. My theory is that you can always balance out the strength of the coffee with what you add to it, cream, sugar, etc. You can never go back and make it taste bolder once you have perked a whimpy pot of joe.

So, you need good strong coffee for your base, or if you are lucky enough to own an espresso machine, you can use a shot (or 2) of espresso as your base.

Another thing we have learned is that you can get a better price on coffee sugar syrup at World Market than the grocery store. They have the large sized bottles of Torani syrup and often have good sales, and you can use their store coupons for them. In fact, this week, they had a sale for 20% off of 2 bottles. They also have a great variety of flavors and offer some varieties in sugar free. World Market also sells the pumps you can put into the bottles for easier dispensing.

Torani also makes chocolate and caramel syrups for topping ice cream, which work well for adding flavor to your homemade mocha or drizzling on top. I have found them at Walmart and Kroger. If you cannot find them, Hershey’s has a great Special Dark chocolate syrup and a caramel syrup that work well, too.

I found Fleur De Sel while traveling in Savannah, GA, at a specialty store called The Salt Table. It is a French sea salt that literally means Flower of Salt. It is more expensive than some salts, and it is flaky and delicate.  It pairs perfectly with desserts, and in this case, mochas.  You can order it online from The Salt Table here https://www.salttable.com/product/fleur-de-sel/. It is worth the splurge for special treats.

The other very important thing we learned long ago is that you need the canned, aerosol whipped cream for topping coffee at home. We did try “whipped topping” in our early days of experimentation and it does NOT work well. Because it’s made with oil, not water, it results in an oil slick look and feel in your coffee. Ick.

Generally, we use 2% milk when making mochas, but you can try almond or coconut milk.  We have also used both the sugar free and the full sugar syrups for flavoring and they both taste delicious in the coffee.

You’ll notice in the photo that I used Torani Signature Caramel syrup this time around.  I am not entirely sure what makes it different from the standard caramel, but it does taste delicious.  It has 100 calories in 2 tbsp, but if you are not counting calories and want to make sure you get rich caramel flavor, go for the Signature.

This recipe fits about an 8 oz coffee cup.  You can adjust for larger cups.  If you want to make more than one at a time, mix your coffee, milk and syrups in a 32 oz measuring cup and distribute evenly before topping each mug with whipped cream and drizzle.

One more note – we use roughly the same recipe for peppermint mochas when Christmas time rolls around, minus the salt.  You can also use Torani cherry syrup to make a chocolate covered cherry mocha.  The possibilities are endless.

If you come up with some other great flavor combinations, I’d love to hear about it.

 

Happy sipping!