I can't live without my almost daily latte or cafe au lait either, but since it's an hour drive to the nearest Starbuck's, we bought an espresso machine and make our own.

About the caffeine: first of all, espresso is made from a different type of coffee bean, robusta, which has 50% of the caffeine that regular coffee beans, arabica, do. Second, the water goes through the ground espresso so quickly that it does not pick up very much of the caffeine. (This according to an article in The Economist magazine.) So if you crave coffee but want to limit caffeine, espresso is perfect.

And if you are having trouble keeping your fat intake high enough, what could be better than some heavy cream? I use that when I make a latte or a cafe au lait because it has the least number of carb grams (6.6 in a cup).

And third, according to TrainerDan, a little caffeine helps burn fat faster when you exercise.

So throw away that guilt and follow a new motto: a latte a day keeps the fat away! :lol:

Karla

Oh wow! Thanks for all the responses and suggestions, coffee-lovers are indeed a special group, haha!

I just ordered a bottle of the DaVinci sugar-free vanilla syrup online (Netrition) & my local Caribou said they'd put whatever I wanted in it for me as long as it wasn't illegal, lol. I think they got scared of losing their best customer & they're being super-flexible and nice saying they'd experiment with anything.

Thanks again, everyone! :roll: