It used to be that simply holding a mermaid-stamped coffee cup was enough. This cup announced to the world that you were in demand at all times (why else would you require such a jolt of caffeine?), flush with disposable income (why else would you pay five times more than what the Valero station charges?) and fluent in a lingua java that required certain foreign-sounding words to be used in a specific order, often with the suffix “-achino.”
With the nation’s financial markets gasping, it’s no longer cool to drive 10 miles to burn fuel for 20 minutes in a drive-thru just to spend $5 on something you could arguably make at home. Call it recessionista chic, but DIY coffee is back in vogue.
And yet, moms brandishing brushed silver travel mugs aren’t fillin’ ’em with Folgers. Nope, there’s foam and syrup and espresso in there, thanks to elaborate home coffee systems.
Moms-in-the-know take their java German, specifically with a Miele system, says appliance specialist Tony Rallas, who works at the Morrison Supply Company’s just-renovated Plano showroom. Plan to spend up to $3,000, he says, depending on whether the model is plumbed into the water line. Then get ready to add in extras like a trim kit or a warming drawer.
But, notes Rallas, “If you love your coffee, it’s worth it.”
