How to Make a Frugal Mocha

by Lynnae on January 8, 2009 · 22 comments

I love mochas.  I used to be a regular at Dutch Brothers and Starbucks.  Unfortunately, the costs of mochas from the coffee shop can add up quickly.  So now I make my own at home.  Here’s how I do it.  (RSS readers may have to click through to watch the video).

YouTube Preview Image

For those who can’t see the video, here is the recipe

1/3 cup milk

1 1/2 cups coffee

3 tablespoons hot cocoa mix or Hershey’s syrup.

Pour milk into blender and mix until frosty ( a few pulses).  Microwave milk for 30 seconds, watching to make sure it doesn’t boil over.  Pour milk, coffee, and cocoa mix or syrup in blender, give a couple of pulses to mix, and voila!  A frugal mocha.  You may have to experiment with the amount of cocoa powder to find the combination that you like.

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{ 17 comments }

1 Nicki at Domestic Cents January 8, 2009 at 4:59 am

That looks SO yummy. My husband’s been wanting that Magic Bullet. You may have talking me into it :)

2 Jessica January 8, 2009 at 5:55 am

Can you write it out? I can’t access videos :)

3 Celia January 8, 2009 at 7:00 am

This isn’t quite as strong as the Mochas you’ll by in the coffee shop, but it probably tastes good.

4 Melissa January 8, 2009 at 9:34 am

This is great! I used to love a Rasberry Mocha at Starbucks and crave it! Never attempted to make it on my own. Can’t wait to try out the recipe.

5 Liane January 8, 2009 at 11:06 am

That looks SO Good! We’ll definitely have to try it here in this family of coffee fiends! Thanks!

6 livingmyrichlife January 8, 2009 at 11:56 am

Mmmm….Mocha. We have limited our Mochas at Starbucks also. We make ours at home with Nesquick powder. Doesn’t taste quite the same, but we enjoy them at home nonetheless.

7 momstheword January 8, 2009 at 12:02 pm

I have to admit that I don’t like coffee but I do like their vanilla fraps (with whipped creme) so we make them at home and they taste just as good! We use a blender though, but we do have the Bullet.

8 Sarah January 8, 2009 at 2:07 pm

Hmmmm…..I will have to give this a try. I had perfected my iced coffee this summer, so I would stay away from the Starbucks down the street. But the mochas were calling my name this winter. :-) Maybe you have saved me from bankruptcy. ha!

9 Sara January 8, 2009 at 2:30 pm

Do you not add sugar to the mocha? I can’t stand coffee without sugar, though I really want to try this. (Actually, I’m going to go make it now, just to see what it’s like, without and with sugar.)

10 AngelSong January 8, 2009 at 3:29 pm

Don’t you love it when you find ways to make things like this yourself? I make my own salsa, and it’s so much better and fresher than the commercial ones, and less expensive, too.

11 Jeff Smith January 8, 2009 at 5:54 pm

Just tried it – very good. I’ll play around with the recipe a bit. I added a couple of choc. chips. Maybe next time I’ll add dark choc. to the mix.

Thanks!

12 Heidi @ GGIP January 8, 2009 at 7:01 pm

Yum! Thanks for sharing!

13 Jessica January 9, 2009 at 5:42 am

I don’t have a blender. do you think a handmixer would work just as well?

14 Brad January 9, 2009 at 12:50 pm

Your method is a little more refined than my “office mocha” as I call them. I just make my coffee, then pour a packet of hot chocolate mix in, here at work, then stir…

15 Zach Younkin January 12, 2009 at 8:41 pm

Although it doesn’t taste as good, it feels so much better :)

16 Funny about Money January 25, 2009 at 3:20 am

Hot diggety! That looks wonderful! It would be a good way to make plain hot chocolate, too…nice & frothy, I’ll bet.

I had to knock off the mochas after cultivating the fancy-coffee habit put ten pounds on my rear end! ;-)

Funny about Money’s last blog post..Cheapskate’s landscaping

17 Charlotte January 25, 2009 at 11:57 am

Good recipe but no matter how I tried using brewed coffee and cocoa, it is never quite the same.

I decided to invest in an espresso maker. They were all very expensive but after extensive research, I picked the DeLonghi machine from Target for $79.99. Though still expensive, I consider it frugal, considering it paid for itself in one month by keeping me from going to Starbucks. The only drawback, the milk steamer is not very hot so I still have to heat up the milk separately. Best of all, it tastes MUCH better than Starbucks because I use good ingredients.

Recipe:
8 ounces milk or 1 cup (I use soymilk)
0.5-1 ounce chocolate syrup (I buy the Trader Joe’s brand, no high fructose corn syrup. I also found some cocoa mixes work good like Dagoba brand)
3 ounces espresso (I like Italian Roast)

Cost: Less than $1 per cup.

This is just my experience, do what works for you.

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