If I had to be honest, one of the things I miss most about working is driving past an abundance of Starbucks locations daily (don't tell my boss). I usually start at least two mornings a week meeting my partner at a Starbucks to plan out our day, review data, set routing, etc. We have three that we like to frequent depending on what our day looks like. A couple of months before COVID changed our daily life as we know it I discovered what is currently my favorite Starbucks drink - Vanilla Bean Coconut Milk Latte. Let's be real - a drink at Starbucks isn't "cool" unless it's complicated to order. What makes this drink even better is that it isn't officially on the menu- you have to ask for it to be customized, which drives my husband crazy.
A week into the stay-at-home order in New Jersey I decided that I needed all the things to make my afternoon pick me up if I was going to be able to survive distance learning, virtual selling, becoming a short order cook - basically quarantine life. Luckily, we already owned the Nespresso with milk frother. What I really love about this is that you can use it to froth and heat milk, or just froth. The "just froth" setting is what I use for this drink. Since life is basically now all about ShopRite curbside, Target Drive Up and Amazon deliveries I needed to be able to procure my ingredients from one of those three places. I couldn't find the actual Starbucks Vanilla Bean powder, but this one from The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is a close second - and it's unsweetened. For Nespresso pods I bought the knock off Target ones in one of my many Target Drive Up orders - they normally have the So Delicious! Unsweetened Coconut Milk, but I wasn't able to locate it there, so I had to get it from ShopRite.
After a few trial and errors - I learned that when you make the espresso, it's best to dissolve the vanilla bean powder in the hot liquid then let it cool. I just pop the cup in the freezer for a few minutes. Then I froth the coconut milk and serve it all over ice! While this is super convenient and delicious - I still can't wait to be able to walk back into a Starbucks. Thanks for following along ~ LC