First off, I have to say thanks to Nik J. for the hook-up. He's the Midwest Signal Snowboards rep and he drove 80+ miles to personally deliver it to my door. Nice service Nik!

Okay, as long as we're in the off season I should be practicing the art of the bean. My goal is to create a frothy mocha in under 3 minutes by November. The advantages of creating your own coffee beverages are two fold. One, you'll save shit-tons of money making it yourself instead of getting robbed at Starbucks. And two, if you perfect your timing, you should never miss a first chair on a powder day.

Step one: I dumped the beans into my vintage, electric coffee grinder. Note, Signal throws some stickers into the beans, so keep an eye out. The two that I got read, "Blending sidecuts AND beans," and "Grinding rails AND beans." It's all about the details, huh?

Grind those beans into a nice powdery consistancy and then fill up the cappacino strainer. Don't pack it too tight!

Now you're going to attach it to your esspresso machine and run boiling water through the strainer. Catch the liquid on the other side because this is where all of your caffine is concentrated. Some people drink this part straight-up, but I'm a foo-foo bitch when it comes to morning drinks, so I'll be adding a little more.

With your concentrated cappacino sitting on the side, use the rest of the boiling water in the machine to steam up your milk. Make sure to use skim if you're a lard ass.

So now you have hot cappacino, and hot milk. Mix the two together in the mug of your choice, and add some chocolate syrup to sweeten up the bite.

When that's complete, you'll want to put the lid on your mug and run out the door. The most important part is to wake up first, so you don't have to clean the machine. Leave a note for your roommate/wife that suggests you left all the good grounds in the machine just for them.

So now you're your own barista! Remember the faster you can create your drink, the faster your morning headaches will go away - 'cause your an addict, and you have a problem. Make it strong and enjoy the caffine tremors on the first chair up!