I have a little bit of an unpopular opinion: I absolutely love the school year. I suppose I’m one of those people who thrive under pressure and deadlines, where I’m happiest when I have something to do. Whether it was balancing work and calculus homework in high school or balancing my social life with my lectures in college, there’s really something about having a set schedule and a load of deadlines that keeps me stable.
It was when the summer started my schedule briefly became “sleep and do nothing all day,” that I started to fall apart. This complete 180 shift from a daily routine of going to class, doing homework, and grabbing dinner with friends to a daily routine of sitting around all day was like a complete slap in the face. My days started to blend into one another, and it felt like my brain had gotten foggy.
My saving grace wasn’t what you might expect. For years, the coffee machine at my house was the typical Keurig pods that you throw in and in about 30 seconds, you have a fresh cup of hot, watery coffee. I’d add some Trader Joe’s creamer and a couple spoonful’s of sugar and that was pretty much all.
While I wouldn’t say I’m anything close to a coffee connoisseur, I’ve tried numerous coffee shops throughout New York and by this point, I can confidently say that I can tell the difference between good and bad coffee. So at some point at the beginning of summer, I decided I’ve had enough with the k-cups and looked into buying my own espresso machine.
Of course, it wasn’t as easy as going to Target and buying the first espresso machine I saw. The rumor about college students being broke is not a rumor and I certainly did not have $700 to spend on a Breville. So, I turned to good old Facebook marketplace and began searching.
It wasn’t long before I came across this De’Longhi espresso machine listed at $20. The seller described how it had only been used a couple of times, and before I knew it, I was driving to a stranger’s house with $20 and a dream.
The lady I bought it from was thankfully very nice and not a murderer, and after I drove it home and gave it a deep clean, my new espresso machine was ready for use. Now, I can’t lie, learning how to use this machine was not easy. As much as I wish I could tell you that I powered this sucker on and immediately started whipping out perfect coffees and beautiful latte art, that was absolutely not the case. It was only after a dozen YouTube videos, a lot of technical issues, and some trial of error that I finally created my first kind of okay tasting latte.
While I wasn’t any good at making lattes for the first few weeks, that didn’t matter to me at all. For the first time in a while, I woke up every morning with a set plan: get up and make some coffee. And slowly but surely, a routine finally began to develop again where I knew exactly how every day was going to start. With a stable foundation in my summer routine, my days became much more productive and meaningful.
While my latte art is arguably still terrible, the art of homemade coffees is something that I’ve had so much enjoyment in learning. Each day, I learn a little more about how to pull a proper shot of espresso, how to properly froth the milk, or how much syrup I need to add. Every single day, my coffee gets just a little better and I look forward each and every morning to learning that much. While I’m sure one day, I’ll splurge on a proper espresso machine, my $20 De’Longhi has already done more than I ever imagined that it would.