My favorite drink at Starbuck's is a Chai Tea Latte, and recently it's turned into a Chai Tea Latte with 2 pumps of cinnamon dolce syrup. After questioning my baristas on multiple occasions, I discovered that I can save a lot of money by making my own drink at home, without sacrificing the flavor! I can spend $4 on 16 oz. of pure goodness, or I can buy four 32 oz. boxes of chai concentrate for $16 and a gallon of milk for $2. For those of you who don't care for word problems, this means I can make sixteen 16 oz. chai tea lattes for $1.125 each from the comfort of my own home! Now, you might be thinking, "Sure, you are saving money, but you are sacrificing your time." WRONG. It actually takes less time for me to make my drink at home than it does for me to drive to the nearest Starbuck's, walk in (no drive thru), order, wait for my drink, and drive to work. "That's a lie." I am not a liar. More on this later...
My friend Andrea, who recently became a Starbuck's barista, came over on Saturday and gave me a bottle of cinnamon dolce syrup with a pump! OMG! I seriously almost peed in my pants due to the rush of excitement streaming through my body. So I brought the chai concentrate over to Kristen's, but I forgot my syrup at home. Crap. So the only catch for Kristen was that she had to drive to Starbuck's and ask for 4 pumps of cinnamon dolce syrup so we could put it in our drinks. Sucker. The Starbuck's run was a success and $0.32 well spent. Here are some pictures from our evening as well as the recipe for the drinks (unless you have vision like no other, you'll have to enlarge the picture).
Back to time vs. money in regards to my chai tea lattes. Here is my morning routine (Steps 3-11 take a total of 10 minutes):
1. Get out of bed.
2. Straighten my hair (only if I didn't do it the previous morning because I only wash my hair every other day).
3. Put small pot on stove.
4. Turn stove on level 4 (low-medium heat).
5. Pour drink contents (equal parts) into pot.
6. Squirt two pumps of cinnamon dolce in travel mug.
7. Walk back to the bathroom.
8. Put on makeup.
9. Get dressed.
10. Turn stove off.
11. Pour drink contents in travel mug.
12. Walk out to car and drive to work.
BAM! Saving time and money, there really is nothing I love more!
P.S. The Biggest Loser continues tomorrow night. Thank you Mr. President.