Amazing how time goes by. It’s almost a year since we began a Keto way of eating – not 100% clean, but making an honest effort for the most part. It has proven to be a very positive change, not only in weight loss, but also been very helpful for my wife in managing diabetes.

We used to go through a fair bit of milk, and now we use none. We do go through whipping cream – perhaps a litre a week. Much of that was being used making lattes. Recently, after our blender broke down and I replaced it with a Vitamix, I’ve been making almond milk, and discovered that it is awesome steamed up and used for lattes.

Making the almond milk is so simple. I almost fill a 4 oz mason jar with almonds (unsalted), then fill the jar with water. After putting lid on the jar, I put it in the fridge. The next day, 12 – 24 hours later, I empty the mason jar into a sieve, and rinse the almonds under running water, then dump the almonds into the Vitamix. I add 2 cups of cold water, pop the lid onto the blender and run it at full power for about a minute or so if using blanched almonds, and maybe 30 seconds longer if using almonds with the skins still on them. I then pour the milk through a mesh bag. I’ve been saving the filtered almond pulp in the freezer, and will try using it like almond flour at some point :).

When making a latte, the almond milk steams up very nicely, and get’s slightly thicker and more cream-like. I’m able to get some very good microfoam and pour some pretty decent rosettes. The almond milk has a very mild flavour that doesn’t get in the way of the coffee flavours, unlike some of the commercial almond milks, that have various additives for stabilizers etc.

Just discovered NXT Roasters a couple weeks ago, and I’m pleased with their coffee so far, and their roaster is pretty cool too!

I’ve only tried their Brazilian Yellow Catuai beans – I prefer the medium roast of these beans, perhaps in future I’ll try some of their darker roasts.

I just picked up a couple more bags today, beans were roasted yesterday 🙂 I really like the bloom of the coffee when brewing, and the crema in the espresso shots is so rich and tasty.

Their roaster is very interesting, in that it recirculates the heated air, and through a special process, the air is cleaned before being exhausted. It has operated indoors without any chimney, and no burnt smell typical of other roasters I’ve seen, and is very efficient, using far less energy than conventional roasters. There’s some pretty detailed information on their roasting profiles for the different beans they use, and more information on the roaster itself in the NXT Roasters Blog.