Cups and cups...

A typical morning desk situation

Hazelnut latte 

I have a confession - I'm a coffee addict. (Ok, probably not worth a confession if you know me in real life)A day without coffee is like a day living in fog. I will be like a living zombie, walking around the town, go to lecture and talk to people, without really absorbing what's going on at all. When I miss my morning cup of java, it's usually the days when I wake up 15 minutes before lecture, and I know the day won't be splendid. It'll be fine, I mean, I don't have drug-addict like withdrawal syndrome. Oh wait, I do get really irritable and if I could, I would hang a card on my neck, 'you owe me a cup of coffee. Get me one, or get lost!' Whenever I am idle, my body fall into a default state of mininaps every few minutes, though this article says it's the key to success. *shrugs* I rather be sharp and less irritable. So since year 1,, no, since A levels, I have had this habit of drinking at least 1 cup of coffee every day. And I've been doing well keeping it to 1, or at most, 2, on the days I go out for coffee with friends. 

I've been living well with any sort of coffee for the past 5 years, you see. From the RM1.50 canned Nescafe from the vending machine during college years to the 40p instant coffee from the vending machine in Pathology tearoom, I was happy as long as the liquid in my cup tasted like coffee. Then these random coffee shops start popping up in UK and Malaysia, so I started cafe-hopping whenever possible. To enjoy the cafe ambience and to enjoy the good coffee. The thing is, a cup of latte costs around 2-3 quids. If I drink 2 per day, that's at least 6 quids... And we haven't even take into account the amount I spent on food! I have a hunch that if I ever become broke one day, it'll most probably be because I spend all my savings on food.  

So I tried to save by having instant coffee and milk at home. But once you go on cafe coffee, you can't go back! Somewhere in your mind, you'll know that you're missing out something! and that something is clear - a good cup of coffee. 

One day, a close friend's coffee machine broke down. (Many of us used to leech on this lawyer/barista's good coffee :p) He was looking for a new machine, and he was aiming for a 130 pounds one. I had a look at the review and did some maths (thank God for almost non-existing math skills). If each cup in the cafe is 3 pounds, and I have it twice a day, I can easily spend 130 pounds on coffee in a month. 

If I make le coffee on my own: 

• Each Illy coffee capsule for the machine is 40p 
• milk from Sainsbury/M&S 25p for a cup.  
• Total cost for a cup of good Illy coffee, in the comfort of my room is only 65p. 
• So I save 2.35 pounds for a cup. 
• After only 55 cups, I would have covered the machine cost 130 pounds. 

That is so cheap! I get to enjoy good coffee anytime I like and also practise milk steaming and pouring skills to be a barista just in case medicine doesn't work out...

WHY DIDN'T I GET A MACHINE EARLIER? 

It has been 10 weeks since I got my machine. I'm learning bit by bit from my friend and from Youtube videos while experimenting different pouring skills and recipes on my own. The affogato's espresso was made from the Illy espresso and it's oh-so-good! And I bought a bottle of Hazelnut syrup from M&S today to make my first ever Hazelnut Latte and it tasted soooooooo good! Planned to go proper barista classes, but have yet to save enough for the classes after making a few major purchases for the past few months...but I'm definitely planning to go to for one! 

Investing in a coffee machine may not seem attractive at first glance but if you are drinking as much coffee as I do, and enjoy having good coffee. I said investment, because look at the amount of money and time it saves, and the amount of good coffee it brings! So, if you are in doubt, don't ask me, because you'll definitely buy one after you ask for my opinion.