This is the first in a new series on Jessie Bea Eats! called Coffee Fix.  Each Tuesday I will post about my undying love of coffee, offer recipes, tips, and information on one of my favorite beverages.  I hope you enjoy it!

-Jessie Bea

When I was studying for the bar exam, I spent a decent amount of time at Starbucks.  I’m easily distracted at home, and Starbucks was one of the few places where I could really concentrate. Maybe it’s that I can think more easily with the ambient noises of a coffee shop, or the cheesy music they play. Ok fine, it’s probably just the caffeine buzz.  Plus, they have free wifi and most locations have outlets so you can plug in your laptop.  Whatever the reason, it certainly isn’t a cheap place to hang out. However, there are ways to make a Starbucks trip more affordable.

Hi Mex!

If you plan on stopping at Starbucks at least 6 times in one year, you should buy yourself a gift card and register it online for Starbucks Rewards. <–The online registration is important, you don’t get the perks if you don’t register your card.

You pay for your first 5 purchases-each time you use your card you get a star-with the card (more on how to do so within a budget later). Once you rack up 5 stars, you reach the green level on the rewards scale.

The green level means you get free hot and iced coffee refills, and hot and iced tea refills, free syrups, free soymilk upgrades, and a free drink coupon on your birthday.  The gold level, reached after 30 stars, gives you all the green level perks plus you get a free drink for every 15 drinks you buy. You also get a fancy personalized gold card.

Studying for 2 bar exams = gold level

Those free coffee refills were invaluable while I was studying, because it meant I could pay for one coffee, get a refill whenever I wanted, and not feel bad about sitting there for several hours.  Since I lived in an attic apartment with no air conditioning last summer while I was studying, you can bet I milked those free refills and soaked up Starbuck’s free air conditioning for hours on end.

Etiquette Tip: By the way, if the place is packed and you plan on taking up a table for a while, you should actually buy something after an hour or two.

For those first 5 drinks, you don’t get any freebies, but I do have some suggestions on how to make your drink order cost less.

• If you’re into lattes, consider ordering a Misto, which is called a cafe au lait at most other coffee shops.  It’s essentially brewed coffee topped with steamed milk.  You get the richness of the steamed milk without the cost of ordering an espresso drink.  A grande will set you back about $2.50.

• If you like a normal cup of coffee, but don’t care for Starbuck’s normal Pike Place Roast, opt for their “bold pick of the day.”  I never thought I would go for bold roast coffee because I assumed it was more bitter that regular, but I find it has so much more flavor without the bite of the regular coffee they serve.  A tall coffee is around $1.50.

• You can even order your Misto with the bold pick of the day instead of the regular coffee they usually use.

• Follow Starbucks on Twitter.  Once in a while they post promotions that include free drinks/treats or other good deals.

PS- Starbucks doesn’t know that I exist and they haven’t paid me or given me free stuff to write this post.  If they would like to give me free stuff or pay me to write for them, I’d be all about it, but I would, of course, let you know that they had done so.

Question: Do you have any tricks for getting great deals by utilizing rewards systems at stores?

I’m a morning person.  I don’t know when this happened, but I tend to blame it on law school.  Either way, I’m always up early whether I need to be or not.  I’ve really come to enjoy my mornings because it means some quiet alone time.  I usually make a cup of coffee or tea, grab a book or something else to read, and just chill out for a while.  If I’ve been working on a project, whether it’s for a class or for work, I always look it over in the morning (or, who am I kidding? finish it…).

I don’t have a picture of my drink project this morning because one of the ingredients wasn’t right, but it was still pretty damn good.  Homemade London Fog Tea Latte! I’ve heard a lot of chatter about the Starbucks version of this drink, and I immediately thought to myself “I can totally make that at home!”

Pretend this is a London Fog Latte, that it isn’t near The Bean in Chicago and is sitting on my desk in Syracuse, NY okay?

This drink is a cinch to make!  And suuuuuper cheap!  I’ll even tell you how.  Isn’t that nice of me?

London Fog Latte

Serves 1

1 cup Water

2 Earl Grey Tea Bags

1 Tsp. Sugar

1/2 cup Soy Milk

I have a fairly crappy espresso machine that has a steaming attachment, which makes this frothing the milk a snap although the foam isn’t as good as you can get in a coffee shop.  I’m ok with this, since I don’t have to leave my apartment to have tasty drinks, and you totally can’t beat the cost.

As I mentioned above, this turned out not so pretty because I bought this junky 8th Continent fat free soymilk that’s super watery and just would not stay frothed.  I’ve never had this problem with any other brand of soymilk, and I certainly won’t be buying fat free soymilk anymore for adding to tea and coffee, because it totally lacked the body that I like in my drinks.