The Benefits of Having An At Home Café: 4 Reasons You Need A Hot Beverage Bar
It's no secret that I am a big coffee and tea drinker, so with every home I've ever had, I've always made sure to have a dedicated space in my kitchen for my daily coffee & tea routine. In my apartments, it was a dedicated corner with my machine(s) and a drawer or some other kind of storage for teas & coffees; and now at the hygge ranch, it's evolved to a full on café for brewing tea & coffee, as well as making hot chocolate, smoothies, cereal, and other breakfast essentials... just like a café.
I've always believed that our homes are - or should be - a reflection of who we are & the lives we want to live. I designed the hygge ranch to be exactly that. When renovating our kitchen, I knew I had an opportunity to have more than just a corner & a drawer for one of the most used areas of our kitchen - how could this area serve & support us in exactly all the ways that we need. Before we get into why you should have your own at home café, I wanna make something very clear about the how - you don't need to completely renovate your kitchen or have a large footprint to create your own at home café experience. None of what I'm sharing is about square footage or money. It's all about creating the experience... an experience that you can enjoy without every leaving your home.
No matter the footprint of your home, if you are a tea and/or coffee lover, here are four reasons you need a coffee corner, tea cart, and/or hot beverage bar.
Convenience
Being your own at home barista means have convenient access to your favorite brewed beverage - no standing in line, no waiting in the drive thru, no putting on pants. With the growing work-from-home job market, fewer people are picking up coffee on their way into the office. If the office is at home, why shouldn't the coffeeshop be at home too? Imagine if every time you had a caffeine craving or felt like you needed a pick me, you had to go outside. As someone who would much rather stay home anyway, this isn't a very attractive option. For the rest of you though, you can still step away from your desk & create break routines throughout your day to go outside with your drink. On more than one occasion I've gone for a walk with one of my to go cups or sat on the deck
Cost Savings
Normally I would've pulled out my calculator & some receipts to give y'all exact number; however, even with guesstimations, I already know that there is a major long term cost savings to learning to latte at home. Yes, coffee & tea supplies add up, especially depending on the equipment & accessories you choose. Here's the difference - YOU control that. You can play around with what you're purchasing over time to fit your budget needs knowing that it's an investment of sorts. Going to a café, however, means you're beholden to the prices they set. Imagine if you're a 2 cups of tea or coffee a day kinda person. And a cup of whatever you're drinking averages about $5. That's $10 per day multiplied by 365 days. That's $3,650! I dunno about y'all but the specialty drinks I typically order would easily be $6-7 a cup. What I spend up front on my loose teas, coffee pods, almond milk, and syrups far exceed $7. The trade off is having as many cups per day, in a variety of flavor profiles & caffeine levels.
Beverage Choices
Speaking of variety... as your own barista, you can enjoy classic favorites & explore new-to-you café recipes whenever your heart desires. My café always have 4 syrups, and throughout the year, I rotate 2-3 additional flavors into the mix depending on the season & availability. I also have a assortment of loose & bagged teas depending on their flavor profiles, medicinal benefits, and caffeine levels... and this is in addition to the 3 coffees we always keep stocked. Whether I was using a single serve, kettle, french press, tea pot, or whatever else, didn't matter. Variety takes priority. Instead of standing in a coffee shop staring at a menu trying to decipher drink names I don't understand, I can take my time in my kitchen deciding what I'm in the mood for & which drink fits that mood.
Elevated Experience
Y'all know I subscribe to a hygge inspired lifestyle - finding bliss in all things... even (and especially) in the little things. The at home café experience is an elevated experience. Yea, you could just go to the kitchen & quickly rush through brewing your tea or your coffee. Or you create an opportunity to prioritize mindfulness & intention as part of your lifestyle. Having a dedicated part of your kitchen set up for your drink experience transforms this simple & daily act into a moment to be still and/or to gather with family. Whether it's the first thing you do in the morning, a mid day mental respite, or how you close out the day before bed, it's a lifestyle choice.
Five years ago, I wrote all about beverage bar basics, after setting up our holiday inspired coffee corner. I'll def be updating that post this year after over a year of living with our café. The principles are still the same though - beverage maker, storage, drinkware, utensils, condiments, artwork, and seasonal touches. When I wrote this we lived in a 2 bedroom condo apartment with a super small galley kitchen & very little counter space. With a 2-tier turntable I created our coffee corner - much smaller footprint, same elevated vibes.
While we'll still occasionally pop into a local coffee shop - this is Seattle after all - the amount of money that I used to spend on daily drinks... well it feels much better spending it on being my own barista. My mornings are less rushed, my quiet time is more precious, and my days have more hygge. Have I convinced you yet that you need your own tea/coffee/hot chocolate/pick a hot beverage set up yet? Tap in & lemme know!
