After Being Charged $7 For A Cappuccino, I Decided To Finally Get A Coffee Machine Because Fuck Inflation

With all the money I'm saving on takeaway, I can finally justify drinking three coffees a day.

There are few things that give me greater pleasure in life than my morning cup of Joe.

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Didn't sleep well? Large cap to go, please. Catching up with a friend? Meet me for a coffee. Big day ahead? Pump that bean juice into my veins. 

But I am not immune to the consequences of inflation and oh boy, was the rage vein on my forehead a-pumping when I recently grabbed a takeaway cappuccino and was charged an eye-watering $7.

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A large one, mind you, with oat milk too — but $7?! My hand was twitching as I tapped to pay. 

No hate to the cafe owners though, I understand that they're feeling the squeeze just as much as consumers.

So, with my caffeine addiction firmly still in place, but a renewed need to save now front of mind, I decided to put aside my cafe-quality snobbery and ~test drive~ an at-home pod machine.

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Or more specifically, the Nespresso CitiZ model.

To help me on my new, wallet-friendly path to DIY coffee, I spoke to Nespresso ambassador, Mitch Monaghan, who assured me that: "Anyone can create great tasting and cafe-style coffee at home, provided you have the right tools and high quality coffee. However, there are also a few simple hacks to factor in."

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"First is cup size! When it comes to making café-style coffee, size matters. Cafe coffee cups come in a range of sizes designed to fit the different coffee servings perfectly. If you use a standard 350ml coffee mug for all your recipes, you’ll find it often looks half empty. As a general rule, your cup should always be filled to the top. The difference is normally in the quantity of froth.

The second is cup temperature — a cold cup steals 20% of your coffee’s warmth! That’s why most cafes take the extra step to warm your cup separately first, so you can enjoy it at its finest. Heating your cup is a simple and important step – particularly in winter."

With that in mind, I got myself a fancy Huskee coffee cup (you know the ones, made sustainably from old coffee husks) and ran it under the "Lungo" setting without a pod, which got it toasty warm. Then I simply popped my pod in and watched the magic unfold:

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I know people use all kinds of ultra fancy coffee machines at home — the ones where you can grind your own beans and the like — but I'm a lazy gal at heart, without a whole lot of time on her hands, so the one-button process suits me beautifully.

Then I just chucked my milk of choice (Oatly, obvs) into the snazzy little milk frother — and would you watch that froth grow!?

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As for when it comes to nailing the barista-quality milk pour? Mitch says: "It's all in the timing — and you don’t have long before the froth and milk start to separate!"

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"So once the milk is steamed, move quickly. I recommend tapping the jug or milk frother 2–3 times on the bench to remove any large air bubbles, and then swirl gently to help combine or reincorporate the froth with the milk.

I also recommend pouring the milk low and slow into the cup, lifting slowly as you finish. This will give you a silky, blended coffee and the perfect amount (1/3) of creamy foam on top."

Then all I did was top her off with a dusting of chocolate and oh MAN, was I happy with this little treat.

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Important side note: Because you can bulk-buy pods, this coffee only cost me 80 cents! That's a lot more palatable than $7.

As for the taste? I genuinely couldn't tell the difference between my DIY brew and the oat caps that I regularly buy out. It was creamy, rich, aromatic — I was blown away. So much so, I just had to make myself another, about an hour later.

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You can shop the CitiZ model on sale now for $329. Which — based on my inflated coffee price of $7 per cup — works out to just over a month's worth of coffees. And let's be honest, those inflated prices ain't coming down anytime soon.

If you're more of an espresso drinker — sans milk — you can also buy just the coffee machine without the frother for $209.

You, approximately 30 minutes after investing in your own pod machine:

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