Most mornings, and frequently in the afternoon, I buy an iced coffee drink. I usually don’t like homemade coffee. Although everyone in my family drinks coffee daily, we only make it at home when we have company. I think it has something to do with those automatic drip coffee makers we, and everybody else, have. Nescafé is better than that stuff that comes out of the glass carafe.

While in college in Seattle and living with my sister, I often used her espresso machine. I loved getting to botany lab with my homemade mocha and sipping on it as I dissected plants and flowers. When I moved back to Wenatchee, I no longer had the use of her machine. I had to buy the stuff at a store.

Last night, though, I was inspired by Mark Bittman’s blog to make a coffee granita. I had forgotten about it, but we do have something better to use than the 12-cup coffee maker that lounges on the kitchen counter. It’s a Bialetti Moka Express stove-top Italian coffee maker. It’s perfect and takes probably 10 minutes to create strong, smooth coffee. Every time I use that thing, I say to myself that there’s no need to buy prepared coffee.

Anyway, my coffee granita is good, though I didn’t follow his directions to the letter. I cut my Italian coffee with water and just froze the stuff overnight. I don’t suggest doing this if you want to drink it in the morning. But after thawing for a few hours and shaking my Nalgene bottle every half-hour or so, I’ve got to say, this coffee granita thing makes a nice start to the day.

If you’re looking to cut back on expensive prepared coffee drinks, I really do recommend any kind of stove-top espresso/coffee maker. They’re cheap, and fun, too.