Espresso!

So as promised I set up the espresso machine for it’s inaugural run this weekend. It was a little daunting at first, but by mid-morning on Saturday I had it up and running. I followed the step-by-step directions in the book, which led me to cleaning the machine by running water through it. I had it all set up but there was no water running through at all. I was worried the machine wasn’t working properly and consulted the internet. On the Cuisinart website they have a demo video of how to use the machine. As I watched though I didn’t really learn much about the cleaning part, but I tried again. I fidgeted with the water tank in the back and voila, it worked! I ran the water through and decided it was time for the real deal.

This leads me to the espresso. I ended up buying Whole Foods organic espresso. At Whole Foods they had several brands of espresso ranging in price from $7.99 to $15.99. I really could not discern one brand as being better than the other so I went with this one, which was in the middle of the pack at $10.99. It comes in a burgundy, round canister. Anyway, I am really pleased with how my drink came out. I microwaved  1/4 Cup of half and half and added two shots of espresso. Simple, but good!

I enjoyed it very much with my bacon and eggs. Also, as two-cup a day coffee drinker I have to say I have not felt the effects of caffeine in quite a while. The espresso was a nice change and really got me going. I am yet to mess around with the milk frother but I am sure that will come soon! This will definitely be a weekend treat as it was a little more time consuming than making regular coffee and much more messy. All in all, I love having this option at home now! Also, I realized I need to buy some espresso mugs!