If you're like many I know, you'd rather run over to Starbucks for your cup of cappuccino than making it at home yourself. If you're like me, you prefer a fresh cup of cappuccino, and you'd much rather make it yourself than running over to Starbucks.
What's the big deal? Taste, and cost!
Taste:
Starbucks, though convenient, is not fresh. Sure they grind the beans and even pull the espresso shot in front of you but the beans are generally stale, which means less body, more bitterness. They usually even get rid of the espresso crema which would add to the texture!
You can discover green coffee beans from many regions all over the world. When you roast them, you can actually smell and taste the nuances of their origin, adding to the enjoyment of every cup. "Green coffee beans" are the product of dry or wet processing the coffee fruit from the coffee tree to make them ready for export. When stored properly, green coffee beans can stay fresh for over two years without any appreciable loss in flavor. You can even choose green coffee from Fair Trade Certified and USDA Organic sources.
Roasting takes about 10-16 minutes and you will want to let the roasted beans rest for at least four hours before grinding. Personally, I find that a 12 hour minimum rest or "overnight" makes for a better tasting brew. A burr grinder is highly recommended, you will have grind consistency over a blade grinder and a wide range of grind coverage between turkish, espresso, drip coffee, french press and anything between. You will have a truly exquisite cup for less cost over time!
The general rule of thumb is that roasted beans start to stale after about a week. This means that unless you have direct access to a local roaster (friend or business) you're probably getting stale coffee beans.
Cost:
If you have one cup of cappuccino every day of the year, what is the cost between Starbucks and Home Brew?
For comparison purposes, let's take out variables like tax, water, electricity, fuel, time, etc. and focus on the main question.
Starbucks Cappuccino = $2.50 per
$912.50 per year for one person
$1,825.00 per year for two people
Home Brew Cappuccino = $0.25 per
$91.25 per year for one person
$182.50 per year for two people
Equipment I use for Home Brew:
Gaggia Classic, espresso / cappuccino machine = $499.00
Rancilio Rocky Doserless Coffee Grinder = $349.00
Gene Cafe, Coffee Roaster (came with 8 lbs of green coffee) = $495.00
Rancilio Base, equipment stand = $108.00
Total Equipment Cost = $1,451.00
Essentials:
A quality expresso / cappuccino machine
A quality burr grinder
A quality roaster
A quality tamper
Filtered Water
Whole Milk
Understanding the fundamentals of bean selection, roasting, grinding, pulling shots (espresso golden rule)
How I Got Started
Making espresso and cappuccino at home isn't for everyone, there needs to be consideration of time, space, equipment, research, storage, and expertise. After living in Germany for many years enjoying all types of cafes in surrounding countries, then moving back home to the U.S., I longed for the taste of European cafes. For me, Starbucks is like a McDonald's, it's a convenient last resort. Real cafes can be hard to come by now days, and finding one that roasts their own beans is even more rare. I decided to start my quest for making espresso and cappuccino like I was used to in Europe.
I received a wonderful gift one year, a coffee / espresso / cappuccino combo machine! This machine was about $100, and I thought it was great! Well, now I needed to find ground coffee beans, so off to the supermarket I went for prepackaged goodness.
The next step up was selecting my own beans at the supermarket and using a blade grinder to grind them. With some experimentation, wow what a difference! The grinder was fairly inexpensive, maybe $40, which fit the bill perfectly at the time.
The next step up was a big one, a high dollar burr grinder and espresso / cappuccino machine. After not being satisfied with the taste the home cafe was producing, my wife and I did quite a bit of research and determined that if we are to achieve a high level of quality, we need high quality equipment, and some expertise. At that point we dropped $850 on a Gaggia Classic and Rancilio Rocky Doserless Coffee Grinder. With much learning and experimentation we were very pleased with the results for quite a while.
Our final step up was when we decided to roast our own beans at home. Roast our own beans? What?! We had no idea that was even a possibility! After we came home from a vacation to Italy, we HAD to find that missing link to achieving home cafe status. That link was fresh coffee beans. A friend at work was kind and roasted some for us to try at home. From the moment we could smell the fresh roasted aroma we were hooked, the difference is immeasurable between fresh roasted coffee beans and prepackaged supermarket beans! That's when we did a lot more research, and got the $495 Gene Cafe to roast the beans. What a difference! Now we have fresh cappuccino every morning, and love every cup. You can even taste the origin of the bean, it's amazing. Far better than any Starbucks, there simply is no comparison between the two.
The Bottom Line:
If you truly desire a fresh cup of cappuccino, consider equipping yourself to make it at home. There is some up front cost and a learning curve to deal with but you will be well rewarded with every cup! As you see above, one can easily recoup the cost of coffee equipment in the first year alone if you're like me and brew two at home per day. Besides, where else can you roast, grind and brew to your personal liking?
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