Here’s how to easily make a latte at home

I must admit I love a good barista-prepared latte, but the habit can be hard on the wallet. With some experimenting, I’ve found a way to have my cake and eat it, too! (What does that actually mean, anyway?) Did you know you can easily make a latte at home – without spending hundreds of dollars on barista equipment?

In the beginning

Coffee and I have had a close, personal relationship for as long as I can remember. As a youngster in elementary school, my friend and I would sneak into her parents’ kitchen, find their container of instant Sanka crystals, and whip ourselves up a cup. My own parents shared a strong love of coffee (or maybe it was a love of strong coffee). It was a rare occasion that a pot wasn’t readily available in our home.

During my teens I was mostly a Mountain Dew connoisseur but with my first real job at the age of twenty, coffee became my go-to. It may have had to do with the fact that the coffee pot was about six feet from my cubicle and that it was provided for free. Or, that it gave me that little boost I needed to dig into my work every morning. Or, that it just tasted good!

I’ll take a tall latte, please

As much as I love my coffee, I do NOT enjoy it black. When given the choice between black and nothing, I may actually chose the latter. From way back in those early Sanka days, I’ve required a little cream/milk (and sometimes a bit of sugar, depending on my mood) to smooth things out and create that perfect comfort beverage. Imagine my joy when I discovered….the latte! Oh goodness, it’s like a cup of liquid happiness!

For years my budget supported my near-daily Starbucks-or-Caribou habit and I thought little of it. Thankfully, somewhere along the way common sense kicked in and I decided to give my coffee purchases their own category in my personal finance software. Yikes! I was dropping over $1,000 per year, and that was almost ten years ago. I can’t imagine how much it would equate to in 2022’s inflation-bloated dollars!

Can I make a latte at home?

Guilt got the best of me. There were lots of things we needed to be spending our money on and all that coffee wasn’t one of them. I tried to go back to the Mr. Coffee pot at home but it wasn’t the same. Also, as I’ve gotten older, regular coffee sometimes doesn’t play well with my tummy. I’ve found that a latte really does sit better.

I missed my lattes! I needed to find a way to make an acceptable latte at home. For a few years I used a specialty maker that Keurig sold called a Rivo. It was functional, and even after the cost of the machine I did save several hundred dollars the first year alone. However, they used a proprietary pod that was tough to find and was expensive. The final straw came when the Rivo began to malfunction, because Keurig doesn’t sell them anymore.

I was shopping around for other ideas and trying to avoid anything that was expensive, that used proprietary pods, or was difficult to clean and maintain. Around the same time we (read: I) got this wild idea that our family should experience the joys of tent camping. This would have been spring of 2020. You remember – Covid-19 lockdown, no toilet paper, social distancing from the world. We spent a fair amount of that year’s vacation budget on camping supplies (so many additional blog post possibilities here) and we actually did put them to use a few times, much to my husband’s surprise, I believe. Camping may be “roughing it” but one thing this girl doesn’t intend to go without is her morning latte!

Amazon to the rescue

(As an Amazon Associate I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases made through the links below.)

I am a big fan of Amazon Prime and the ability it affords to search up just about anything and have it in my possession within 24-48 hours. My husband likes to joke about how it seems like Christmas year-round because boxes appear so frequently on our doorstep.

On a whim, I found this Wacaco Nanopresso portable espresso maker and decided to give it a try. It works by creating pressure when you pump it which forces the hot water through tightly compacted coffee grounds resulting in something very close to a real espresso. And, it’s small and portable! The price was reasonable and it received good reviews. I figured even if it just worked for a couple summers of camping I’d probably break even. Plus, it allows me to the coffee of my own choosing. I also purchased this Stanley Adventure camp cook set to heat my milk over an inexpensive backpacking burner (no milk frother at that time so I just steamed it). On a cool midsummer morning out in the middle of nowhere that latte tasted like the best one ever!

My discovery during our first camping trip paved the way for the small but mighty Nanopresso to become my daily go-to latte maker. Over two years of near-daily use and it’s still working like a charm! Even better, my current daily cup of coffee costs me under $.50 including the cost of all equipment (assuming a 2-3 year life) and the coffee I use. By comparison, a Starbucks tall latte in my area is now $4.23 including tax. I’m easily saving over $1,000 per year, even if I allow myself the Starbucks version once in a while!

The current set-up

I have refined my home latte-making process slightly over time. First, I do grind my own beans which means I always have a fresh grind available. I keep about a week’s worth in a small container. I often mix half caffeinated/half decaf and have found the Starbucks espresso roast beans (available at many major grocery retailers) to be my favorite caffeinated version. Decaf is always trickier because it can sometimes taste bitter. I now use Volcanica espresso decaf from Amazon. It’s a bit more expensive than other options but I really enjoy the flavor!

Also, while I do take the lazy way out and I heat my milk in the microwave before adding it to my coffee (I use Lactaid because lactose and I don’t always get along), I finally picked up a handy frother from Amazon to give it a little foam and make it more authentic. I haven’t owned it for long so can’t attest to its reliability but it has a number of positive reviews on Amazon.

One word of warning – if using a frother, be sure to select a cup or container for your milk with a lot more room than you think you need. My first attempt was using an 8-oz. measuring cup with 4 ounces of milk. One millisecond after depressing the frother power button, at least an ounce of warm milk went flying onto my countertops and down the front of the nearby cabinets. I poured things into a larger glass and tried again – perfect results!

All in all, while I realize my version isn’t a latte in the truest sense, the savings to my bank account compared to the slight difference in taste (and it’s not a bad difference at all) is more than a fair trade-off!