So this latte is a little different from the other recipes because it contains alcohol. What's even better about this latte is that it's a Lazy Girl Latte. You guys know I love my lazy girl lattes.

I have been in love with orange mocha lattes since Starbucks introduced them years ago. They were only around for one season, never to return again. It made me sad, but I was determined to find a way to recreate the magic, and boy did it take some trial and error. I couldn't get the simple syrup right for the orange flavoring, or the orange extract wasn't quite enough. It was always something, and then one night I got frustrated and just made a regular mocha. I wanted to add a little something-something to it, so into the liquor cabinet I went and I realized we had a small bottle of Grand Marnier left over from Christmas cooking baking! Sweet! So I poured about a shot's worth of liquor into my latte and then realized that there wasn't even half a shot left in the bottle, so I dumped that in too.

IT WAS AMAZING. This was the coffee I'd been trying to recreate for all those years. I am now going to (finally) share the recipe with you all.

Orange Mocha Latte

• 8 oz strong coffee or espresso
• 1 C milk**
• 1/8 C hot cocoa mix
• 1½ oz Grand Marnier or Triple Sec

Add the hot cocoa mix to the mug before brewing your coffee, after you've brewed the coffee stir until mixed. Add liquor. Follow the recipe for our original Mason Jar Latte {HERE} to froth the milk. Omit the sugar.

** Instead of using milk and hot cocoa mix, you could substitute 1 C chocolate milk and then just heat up the chocolate milk in the same manner as the milk.

And that, my friends, is the latte that Dana has been begging me to share for well over 6 months.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Happy July, friends! Dana here. I'm not gonna talk about how friggin' hot it is because we're probably all painfully aware, and that's all I'm seeing online of late. I feel, y'all *sweats profusely*. Let's try and bring ourselves some relief, shall we?

I used this recipe as a guide, with (as usual) some changes. Specifically, no rosewater. I like rosewater, but 1) I have no idea where to find it 2) I already had all the other ingredients in my house, and why am I gonna change out of my jammies if I don't have to? The original recipe tells you how to make a cold version, whereas mine is hot, though you could easily make this version cold too (see recipe below).

Ingredients
30 whole green cardamom pods
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions
Combine cardamom pods, sugar, and water in a small saucepan. Turn burner to medium-high and bring to a light boil, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar. Once the mixture is bubbling, turn off the burner and let the mixture sit for at least fifteen minutes. This will give the pods more time to steep and infuse the syrup with their flavor. Add vanilla and stir again. Then strain (if desired) into a jar. I personally like leaving the pods in because I think it looks kind of fun and reminds me of what's in the jar. They're big enough to not really cause an issue too. When I make syrups with any kind of bitsy flavorants, though, like zest, I'll filter. It's up to you. Then just flavor your coffee as desired. I personally don't like my coffee too sweet, so I use two tablespoons in a standard coffee cup.

For a hot latte, use Heather's Mason Jar Latte recipe here, sans the sugar. Or you can be lazy like me and just combine coffee and milk and zap in the microwave to heat it up.

For an iced latte, I recommend using my aforementioned lazy method, but add some ice cubes instead of zapping it in the microwave. Easy peasy!


Here you can see my ingredient layout. Anyone else listen to audiobooks while they cook? I use a great app called Librivox. It has loads of classic literature. Currently listening to the leviathan that is Moby Dick. There's a geeky reference in there. 😉 If you've read other guest posts from me, you may notice I make pretty easy recipes. Yeah, because I don't like to have to work too hard for my food! Especially first thing in the morning when I'm stumbling around like a zombie.



I think I did a load of dishes while this baby was doing its thing. It really doesn't get much easier. And you can see what I mean about seeing what's in the jar. I use raw sugar, so my syrups always resemble maple syrup, meat juice, broth, etc., and I am not looking to mix any of those into my coffee. Well, the maple syrup is actually really nice in coffee, but you get my drift.



Once your coffee is ready, it's time to settle in with another book. Yes, more books! I always have at least three going at a time: an audiobook, one on my Kindle, and a physical one. The resulting concoction has a warm, spicy flavor. It's almost got a whisper of something that reminds me of mint and cumin, but it's not at all minty or cumin-y, if that makes any sense. Anyway, it's absolutely delicious. Give it a try and let us know what you thought in the comments below 👇.

I finished reading the book pictured above, Chasing Shadows by KN Salustro, before writing this post, so feel free to have a look at my spoiler-free review over on my blog.

Thanks for reading!

Dana here.  Time for another coffee recipe!  Because who doesn't like choices?  My gingered dark chocolate mocha is one of my all time favorites.  Mmmmm, it's dark and complicated and a little spicy...wait, am I talking about coffee or a fictional romantic interest?  Well, I did first feature this recipe on my own blog when I reviewed Hell's Teeth by James Fahy, and that description definitely fits a character in the book called Alessandro.  Spoiler alert: he's a vampire and he's as delicious as this drink. 😈

Gingered Dark Chocolate Syrup
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/8 of a teaspoon salt
1/2 ounce ginger root, grated or sliced very thinly
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Drop all the ingredients except the vanilla extract into a small saucepot.  Stir occasionally and cook over medium heat until it starts to bubble.  This shouldn't take more than about five or ten minutes.  Make sure all the sugar is dissolved and then remove from the heat.  Let sit for fifteen to twenty minutes to allow the flavor of the ginger to really infuse into the syrup.  Then add vanilla extract and stir to combine.  You can strain the mixture now if you want, but I leave my ginger bits in so that they can continue to give off flavor.  You'll just have to either avoid or deal with ginger bits down the road if you do this.  You can then use the syrup to flavor your coffee, make hot chocolate, drizzle over ice cream, eat it off the spoon...hey, no judgement.  What you do with your syrup is your business.  And it can be stored in a glass jar in the fridge for a couple of weeks.  Enjoy!

• Pumpkin Spice Latte
• Honey Almond Latte
• Lavender Latte
• Butterbeer Latte

Lavender is my favorite.  Hands down, nine times out of ten, I will choose lavender in whatever I'm buying.  It just smells so fresh and clean and slightly sweet without being cloying.  It's delightful.  I know some people don't like it...

If you know me, or follow Sew Half Crazy on Facebook or Instagram then you know I have a love affair with coffee. It's not just a drink, it's more of a comforting ritual. Kind of like slipping into your favorite sweats and kicking back with your favorite book or movie. It's calming, which I know is weird, because caffeine and what not, but caffeine doesn't make me antsy the way it does some people. I could fall asleep just as easily with a cup of coffee at 9 pm as I do without. Like I said, coffee is my version of comfy sweats. Not that I'm giving up my comfy sweats. Those yoga pants are the very best thing to lounge in after a tough day. I digress.

So back to my coffee affair. I love coffee, but I get bored with the same old, same old. Upping my visits to starbucks or other local coffee shop is expensive though, and I am not made of money. So what's a chick to do? DIY it! Just like I do most everything else that I don't want to pay retail for.

Now there are a plethora of sites and recipes and how-to's on the web, and this is just what I do. I talked to a lot of friends, and did a lot searches on the best way to accomplish the milk steaming part of the latte process, and I'm going to share what works for me. Dana and I will also be bringing you tried and tested recipes using the basic latte recipe.