I live my frappachinos but cannot pay the price it just gets too expensive to have everyday

Are there any really good frap recipes that taste good and work well I like Carmel so i don't if that even helps but would love to hear your ideas!!!

Catherine
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15 Comments

Sam1148
Sam1148 August 7, 2013
Okay...this is not high class. But pretty much good for what you'd get from Starbucks.

Get a french press and make coffee. Let that cool to room temp and put in the 'fridge.
Now, a trip to the store find a product called "Yahoo" chocolate drink and mix that with the coffee...it's not going to win awards but that's basically the bottled StarBucks 'grab and go' thing.

 
ChefOno
ChefOno August 7, 2013

Moka pots percolate but they're not percolators.

 
creamtea
creamtea August 8, 2013
This discussion brings me back to my Berkeley days, before the invention of the Frappuccino....when I and my cohorts spent all of our spare time at the Caffe Med. So addicted was I to my cappuccino, that as a graduation present from Cal, my generally modest parents presented me a stovetop cappuccino maker, the stainless-steel kind with the gasket, screw on top and dedicated milk-frother. My then-boyfriend, scion of a very well-to-do family, received a Mercedes from his parents. Decades later, my machine is still fully functional; I don't know about his.
 
GIOVANNI50
GIOVANNI50 August 7, 2013
OK people. No percolating expresso coffee. This is sacrilege. DO what Pierino says, buy a Bialetti for $45 or so and a grinder for $20 and grind your own coffee beans. Having ground coffee around in an already opened bag for more than a day or two loses aroma and freshness. Buy the beans, keep them in the freezer and use as needed. You will find it to be a more enjoyable and flavorful experience.
 

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HalfPint
HalfPint August 7, 2013
@Giovanni50, in most case, I would totally agree with you. But she's make a frappacino. With the dairy, ice, and caramel syrup, I don't think it's really necessary to have the best tasting and freshest coffee. She might be alright with just Folgers ground coffee. Just make sure that it's brewed strong and I think the frappacino would taste just as good as Starbucks.
 
creamtea
creamtea August 7, 2013
Giovanni, I agree with you. Coffee geeks don't flavor in their coffee; for them (myself included) it's all about the freshest, perfectly-roasted and best-quality beans from reliable purveyors. But as HalfPint says, if you are drinking a milkshake-like confection, there is little point in sourcing best quality beans only to mask the flavor. I don't think anyone recommended a percolator. Pierino refers to a stove-top moka maker. I was referring to a Hario or Melitta cone.
 
creamtea
creamtea August 7, 2013
Heaven forfend that I should be misquoted with regard to caffeinated quaffs...
 
pierino
pierino August 7, 2013
Actually, I did mention "percolator" because in reality that's what the Bialetti is. The true espresso machines are a miracle of Italian design and engineering. Some are as sleek as a Maserati and just as high maintenance.
 
pierino
pierino August 7, 2013
ChefOno that is totally Zen!
 
creamtea
creamtea August 7, 2013
Depending on how particular you are about your coffee, you can go with any of the above suggestions. Either brew very strong coffee. I use 3 coffee scoops per 6 oz glass filled w/ice using a Melitta cone, directly over the ice-filled glass. I pour boiled water over slowly and stir the slurry, to extract the most flavor. If you are not particularly a coffee geek, then just go with Medaglia d'Oro instant espresso powder from the grocery store, make a cup according to package directions, blend in a blender with ice, half and half or milk, some Italian flavoring syrup and you're golden.
 
lizzyinthekitchen
lizzyinthekitchen August 6, 2013
You can buy espresso powder too. I've never used it to make espresso, but I'm sure you can. You could always buy an espresso shot and then go home and make your latte but that may be counterproductive.
 
pierino
pierino August 6, 2013
Espresso, the real thing, was the product of an engineer in post WWII Italy. In essence it's a strong black coffee thats brewed under high pressure steam. You can come close enough using an inexpensive percolator e.g. the Bialetti. Just stick on top of your gas range. Use an "espresso" grind. Better, grind it yourself.
 
HalfPint
HalfPint August 6, 2013
Just blend espresso, ice, caramel-flavored syrup, and whole milk or half'n'half, or light cream in a blender. Experiment with amounts to get the flavor that you like. Here's a recipe that you can use as a blueprint (I would use espresso, not just brewed coffee, since regular coffee would be too dilute when blended),
http://www.food.com/recipe/caramel-frappuccino-152707
 
Catherine
Catherine August 6, 2013
Can you explain like what espresso is and where could I find it or would I make it?
 
HalfPint
HalfPint August 6, 2013
You can brew a really strong coffee, in place of espresso.

You can make a really strong black coffee by doing what my mother use to do decades before espresso makers were sold, and use the filter basket of any coffee machine. She rested the basket, lined with filter, on top of a coffee mug. Added coffee to basket and poured in the hot water. When the brew had mostly filtered into the mug, she then took that just brewed coffee and poured it back into the basket and let it drip through again. It makes for a rather strong coffee. The important thing is to use a lot of ground coffee, more than you would normally use for a regular American-style coffee. Typically, espresso is 1 Tablespoon ground (fine grind, or espresso grind) coffee per 1 oz water. For a 16oz frappucino, you’ll probably need about 2-3 oz of strong black coffee.
 
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