Making a Texpresso
The only thing about Austin that I am missing so far is Texpresso’s signature drink. A Texpresso is just a cappuccino with half-and-half and extra sugar but made to perfection every time. Since I knew I was leaving Austin I started watching how they make them so I could try to reproduce them once I got to the Bay Area. What I observed.
- Make a shot of expresso
- Place two sugar cubes(three if you want it extra sweet) into the frothing cup
- Add the expresso to the frothing cup
- Add half-and-half to the frothing cup
- Froth
This seems pretty simple right? Not! I didn’t realize that there are so many variables to making a cappuccino. How much coffee grinds do you put in the grind holder? How hard should you compact the grinds? How much half-and-half do you use? How long should you froth it for?
My daily experimentation and results so far.
April 11, 2006
- 2 clicks of coffee grinds
- Double shot of expresso
- 1/3 carton of half-and-half
- Two sugar packets
Results: Less half-and-half and more sugar.
April 12, 2006
- 3 click of coffee grinds
- Double shot of expresso
- Cup filled up to the “g” with half-and-half
- Two sugar packets and 1 splenda
Results: Right amount of half-and-half but the coffee was too strong.
April 13, 2006
- 2 clicks of coffee grinds
- Double shot of expresso
- Froth cup filled to the first line with low fat milk.
- Two splenda packets
Results: Last time I try a diet Tex.
April 13th, 2006 at 6:54 pm
You should just make the cafe sua da coffee like Pho Tau Bay.
April 14th, 2006 at 1:18 am
How do you make one of those?
April 14th, 2006 at 10:15 am
Dude, even though the drink is a “Texpresso”, the coffee beans are “espresso”. You can’t go around California saying “X-press-oh”! They’ll kick you out!
April 14th, 2006 at 10:18 am
Also, Splenda® sucks. It’s better than aspartame, but when I put it in coffee it always tastes like someone secretly dumped in a pile of dust from the tray on a chalkboard. “We’ve replaced his normal sugar with this heap of limestone. Let’s see if he notices!” Bleah. Besides, there’s no reason to make a diet espresso drink anyway—the increase in metabolic rate you’ll get from the caffeine will burn any extra calories!
April 14th, 2006 at 11:50 am
[…] Catching up with people I care about around the CyberNetWebIntosh: E forces her students to make decisions. Amar has discovered a “6 foot 7inch Jew [who] Will Freestyle Rap For You.” Jason is working on reverse-engineering the Texpresso so he and Regan can survive life in California. […]
April 14th, 2006 at 12:24 pm
It’s very easy. You can use your eSpresso (lol) machine, but I like the meditative slowness of using the single small drip percolater. I’m sure you can find one at a Vietnamese store near you, if not, I’ll mail you one. If you use the percolater, you’ll want some nice dark unflavored coffee (I prefer Cafe Du Monde brand).
Here is the part that makes it great! You fill your cup 1/4 with condensed milk, set the percolator on the cup, pour boiling water on top, wait for water to percolate, remove percolater, mix. You now have your thick sludge of sweet strong caffeinated goodness. When I go to restaurants I usually throw it in a glass with ice, but hot coffee is just as good.
April 14th, 2006 at 12:33 pm
condensed milk?!? Holy crap, if Jason starts drinking one of those every day he’s going to weigh 400 lbs by the end of the month.
April 17th, 2006 at 1:43 am
Why don’t you ask the Dog how to make one? I’m sure he can hook you up with that.
PS. you’ve made the creep significantly more difficult. Bitch.
April 17th, 2006 at 1:44 am
Hehe. Fat monkey.