Creamer anyone?
I’m a coffee drinker
I began drinking coffee in my late 20s. I noticed most of my team teachers would drink coffee and even set up a coffee station. That’s when I discovered I love the smell of coffee. What I didn’t know is that I was going about making my cup of coffee the wrong way. Being new to coffee, I would add creamer and sugar to my coffee cup and wonder why the appearance was different compared to others who were sipping the hot beverage as well. Turns out, creamer already has sugar within it so adding sugar is redundant- it made sense as to why I’d gulp water after sipping the syrupy concoction. But something I also noticed is the creamer container had a large number of ingredients for something I felt should be simple to produce.
How do you like your coffee?
I had a conversation with a coworker who was prehypertensive and she told me that she now had to drink her coffee black to make her coffee healthier. Now, in education we get up EARLY to get into the building before our coworkers, use the printers before they jam and have parking since our inner-city school only had parking for about half of the building. I knew she would still drink her coffee. At this new school I set up the coffee station and began making coffee each morning for those who also enjoyed drinking the hot bean juice as I call it.
How do I make coffee?
In my classroom I have a K-slim Keurig (purchased on special). It’s small and takes up a minimal amount of space and I make tea there as well. It’s quick in the winter when I want something warm and less work than the electric kettle and drip coffee maker, I used pre-pandemic when students wanted cocoa etc... during reading time. Now the warm beverages are only for me.
Most days I wake up, turn on my electric kettle and grind beans for my Bodum French press. I can make the coffee as strong or weak as I need for that particular morning. It’s not as lengthy of a process as many would think especially since I keep the water at room temp by filling the kettle the night before I get ready or pack my lunch while the water heats and coffee steeps.
His coffee is percolated in a Brim Macchinetta / Moka pot. He likes the rocket fuel as he calls it. This is the closest he can get to espresso while at my house, he actually has two espresso machines. I can barely drink espresso shots, Moka pot coffee a.k.a. rocket fuel even after adding creamer and whipped topping.
Back to the creamer
I began noticing I would be gassy while drinking the non-dairy creamers that contained 1001 ingredients. I began researching and started to make my own creamer. Since he eats here, he likes it as well and has made no complaints. By making my own creamer, I can easily shift between numerous creamer flavors by swapping out the different extracts. He likes hazelnut and caramel, I like caramel, and also the classic vanilla. I use mason jars and when in the kitchen, he’s my “Shaker 3000″ and combines the ingredients by shaking the mason jars for me. We went from using mason jars with metal lids (that rust), to plastic lids with a rubber gasket to plastic spouts with rubber gaskets. This is much easier and takes up less space than most creamer containers. Plus, reusing jars cuts down on plastics (if you’re into that sort of thing). Check out this SHORT coffee creamer video.