Quarantine Barista in the Making

I have a confession: I use iced coffee to cope with life.

Sure, it's not groundbreaking; drinking coffee is actually a common habit, especially among college students. I started drinking it my freshman year of college, and I’ve kicked it once or twice, but I always go back when I think I deserve - what I call - “a Dunkin’ reward.” Yes, that’s right. I am a true New Englander who will trek through freezing rain to get a Dunkin’ iced coffee, knowing full well I will lose feeling in my fingers as soon as I step outside again.

As I see it, coffee can be a quick fix for so many things:

Feeling tired after a late night of chatting with your roommates? That’s what coffee is for!

Procrastinating an online exam? Go on a coffee run!

Have an awkward amount of time to fill before class? That’s enough time for a trip to Dunkin’!

Trying to momentarily escape the reality that you're living at home in April instead of living your best college life, drowning in the fear that you’ll graduate in May 2021 without stepping foot on campus again? The Dunkin’ drive thru is open!

I’ll deny having a caffeine problem until my cheeks turn blue. I’ll tell you: “I can go a day or two without it,” but I’ll leave out the part where I get migraines when I skip an early afternoon cup of iced coffee or tea or soda.

Why am I sharing this with you?

Well, a few of my friends are turning social distancing into an opportunity to kick their coffee habits.

So, I thought I would give it a shot, too...

...but it didn’t last. As I mentioned, I can go a day or so without caffeine, but the migraines that it creates are not pleasant. The withdrawal feeling combined with the stress of the current state of our country - no, world... no, universe - results in these intense ultra-mega-stress-and-no-coffee monster headaches. So, I started consuming caffeine again through green tea, then soda, then coffee, and now I’m back to at least one iced coffee each day (honestly, it's usually two).

However, my almost daily Dunkin’ runs are not sustainable during a pandemic. Having used all of my gift cards, my bank account is starting to hurt, and my income will disappear with the semester coming to an end. More serious, though, is that the number of COVID-19 cases in my hometown is increasing rapidly, so taking unnecessary trips for iced coffee is not reasonable anymore.

This led me to a new mission: my time in quarantine will be used as an opportunity to perfect my at-home barista skills, in order to craft the perfect iced coffee recipe for me. Below is what this journey has brought thus far.

Flavor 1 - Frozen Mocha Coffee

I combed through just about every blog and video recipe for fun iced coffee flavors on the internet, and it resulted in a tasty disaster. In a chaotic combination of sorts, I made a frozen mocha swirl coffee. However, it required a lot of time, effort, and blending for someone who isn't exactly a fan of being in the kitchen.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of crushed ice

• 1 cup of room temperature coffee

• ⅔ cup of vanilla soy milk (or any variety of choice)

• 1 ½ tablespoons of hot chocolate mix

• 2 tablespoons of liquid sugar

• 1 dash of vanilla extract

Instructions:

• Blend together and pour into a glass. Add chocolate syrup to the sides of the glass if desired.

Verdict: Although it was time consuming, it was delicious, but it is not quite suitable for the cold and rainy days of April. I'll likely enjoy it more when June brings better opportunities for frozen drinks.

Flavor 2 - Vanilla Iced Coffee

This coffee was certainly not the best, out of the three drinks I tried. However, I am a sucker for sweet iced coffee. It tasted okay, in my opinion; it just isn't my top choice. I would certainly make it again if I was low on ingredients for the other two recipes.

Ingredients:

• Some ice (depending on the size of the glass)

• 1 cup of cold coffee

• ⅔ cup of vanilla soy milk (or any other milk of choice)

• 2 dashes of vanilla coffee creamer

• 2 tablespoons of liquid sugar

• 1 dash of vanilla extract

Instructions:

• Add ice to glass, so it fills ⅓ of the cup.

• Pour ingredients over the ice and stir.

Verdict: It was okay, but it is not my go-to iced coffee recipe.

Flavor 3 - Caramel Swirl Iced Coffee

Of these three recipes, this is the coffee I want to drink... as long as Dunkin’ is not an option, that is. I think the recipe still needs work, but it was relatively easy to make and tasty enough that I had two cups of it. It is not quite as sweet as Dunkin’s caramel swirl iced coffee, but it's good enough for now.

Ingredients:

• Some ice (depending on the size of the glass)

• 1 cup of cold coffee

• ⅔ cup of vanilla soy milk (or any other milk of choice)

• 2 tablespoons of liquid sugar

• A desirable amount of caramel topping for ice cream

Instructions:

• Add ice to glass, so it fills ⅓ of the cup.

• Pour ingredients over the ice and stir.

Verdict: If you like the fun flavors of Dunkin’ then this is the at-home iced coffee for you... it just needs some experimenting to be perfected.

My take-away so far:

Overall, I am happy with the fact that I even dared to attempt making iced coffee at home, since I am not one to experiment in the kitchen. My goal is to have perfected the art of a delicious iced coffee by the end of the summer. On that note, I'm inviting anyone who shares the same love of Dunkin' (or iced coffee in general) to discuss their own DIY iced coffee journey. Let's talk coffee.

I truly believe that if I can accomplish only one thing in quarantine, coffee will motivate me enough to accomplish this... but we'll have to wait and see. After all, we have all the time in the world right now.