Doubling the buzz for half the bucks

Nothing wakes me up better than a fresh double shot of espresso or its milk-laden derivatives. I made myself a latte this morning and I'm still buzzing (it's now close to dinner time). Since good caffeine can be so pricy, I used to wait until I can get gift cards before I hit the coffee shops. Fortunately, thanks to the generosity of my friends, I now have an espresso machine of my own.

A friend of mine has a great way to get as much buzz as possible in a latte that costs $1.50 or less. That's almost unheard of! A regular brewed coffee costs that much already! So what's her secret? She gets a double shot of espresso, then add milk to dilute it. If you're a coffee afficionado, I know that you're not gonna like this, but for most of us, presentation doesn't really matter since the coffee will be hidden in a cup anyway. It's all the same stuff as a latte, macchiato, or cappuccino anyways--all 3 names sound fancy, distinguished only by the proportions of foamed or steamed milk in each.

An added benefit of a latte as opposed to a straight shot of espresso is that your caffeine will lasts you longer, which means less money spent throughout the day. With a shot, it's not good unless you down it, well, as a shot. You might run the risk of being so jazzed up that it becomes hard to concentrate, and you might even crash hard--that'll seriously backfire if you have a deadline. With a mixed drink, the buzz is much more sustained. It's more like a steady IV drip.