Espress-Fro

Kelly’s husband Mitch and I love to geek out over the nerdiest things. We do have a group chat, but whenever things move into the nerdy side of things, we sidebar in our own conversation as to not drive Kelly crazy. The latest Amazon device? We’ve discussed it at length and convinced each other to buy it. A solve for a bug in a WordPress update? It’s shared. An Apple rumor about a new laptop keyboard? We discuss at length. Nothing is off limits (I believe there was a full day where we tried to figure out what the best brand of smart lightbulbs were and why….), but we’ve recently begun sharing coffee tips and tricks. You think I’m obsessed with my Breville machine? Mitch has the SUPER FANCY ONE. (I’m jealous.)

I’m doing this post for two reasons. One, to share that the Breville Bambino Plus (the machine I use) is at the lowest price I’ve ever seen it, including holiday sales. It’s half off. Yes, it’s still a splurge but if you’re into drinking espresso-based drinks, this could be a game-changer for making them at home. I bought mine as a gift to myself for my thirtieth birthday because I knew I’d get a lot of use out of it, but I had NO IDEA just how much I would love it. (And Mike is obsessed with it too.) Plus I had no idea that going out to coffee shops six months later would not be happening. You don’t have to have the skills of a barista to figure it out either… it’s very simple and after watching one video on Youtube and reading the quick-start guide that it came with, I pulled my first shot in a snap. I have had at least fifteen people say they or their husbands or their parents bought the Bambino Plus in the past two months and it’s been a huge hit.

The second reason I’m writing this is to document, on the blog, the Espress-Fro. Mitch casually mentioned that he’d been putting his espresso in the freezer to make it like an iced espresso and that one day it was in too long and it froze a bit. Inspired, I put mine in the freezer, and once the top was frozen over, I took it out, poured milk into it, and broke up the icy parts. It was…. divine. Like a cross between having ice cream and a cup of coffee at 2pm.

A few people have DMed me pictures that they did it with regular coffee, so no need for an espresso machine if don’t have one. It’s so simple though and a really “fun” (relatively speaking here, ha) way to break up your afternoon. There was a lot of confusion when I said to freeze the espresso so I’ll just walk you through quickly how I do it.

– Pull a double shot of espresso and then pull another double shot with the same grounds. (This makes it sound like you’re making four shots, which technically I guess you are, but the second double ends up being more like just hot water, so it’s more like an Americano. I run it the second time so I have more volume and to dilute the espresso taste so it isn’t quite as strong. You could also do a single shot and add hot water, a double shot and add hot water, or use a small cup of coffee that you saved in the fridge from your morning pot.)

– Put the cup with the shots (or shot or coffee or shot/water mix) into the freezer. Let it freeze for about 45 minutes or until the top layer is frozen. An hour in our freezer is too long and the sides start to freeze and 30 minutes isn’t long enough for the whole top to freeze. You may have to experiment with your freezer to get the timing down.

– Once the top layer is frozen, pour a splash of whatever milk you want (almond, oat, cream, whole, etc.). Again this will be something you can do to taste– if you want it creamier or less creamy. I think I do slightly less milk than a 1:1 ratio.

– Then I take a fork and crunch and break up the frozen layer. They become like little shards of ice and it mixes the milk into the still liquid espresso.

– And that’s it. It’s really so easy but, especially now that it’s getting warmer out, it feels like a fancy little afternoon treat!

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