Last weekend, I got sick of coffee. Staring at the menu board I realized there really wasn’t that much on offer.

Lattes, flat whites and cappuccinos are all milk and espresso with varying levels of froth. Black coffee wasn’t calling out to me and neither were the syrups gathering dust beside the espresso machine.

So I went home, channelled Tom Cruise and Bryan Brown and made some cocktails.

Vietnamese coffee is black filtered coffee poured on top of condensed milk. It is delicious and became the inspiration for my little barista bartending adventure.

I decided to go completely against the norm and not use milk; instead I bought some coconut and thickened cream. Furthering my outside the box experience was some rum essence and dark and milk chocolate.

I came up with two recipes that are very do-able at home.

The Espresso Lover’s Hot Chocolate

1 cup thickened cream

1 tablespoon icing sugar

2 square of dark chocolate (I used Lindt)

1 square of milk chocolate (Lindt again)

1 shot of espresso

Using a hand blender I whipped together the cream and sugar and made… whipped cream.

I picked up some Five Senses beans from my local and packed a shot and let it run on top of the chocolate. Alternatively you can use a stove top, once it’s finished brewing pour it on top of the chocolate and let it sit for a minute without stirring.

Then I put the whipped cream on top. It was fantastic. So good I tinkered with the recipe again and added a little rum essence, it was rich but it was phenomenal.

Coconut Cream Latte and Mocha

1 cup of coconut cream

1 shot of espresso

2 square dark chocolate (Lindt)

Very loudly, because of the consistency of the coconut cream, I steamed the cream. To steam at home check out this little post, this will get you close to the same results of that in a coffee shop.

I poured a shot then filled up the glass with the coconut cream. It was really nutty, which complemented the coffee I was using, yet it was delicious and incredibly filling. I also added chocolate the second time round, a bit sweet but tasty nonetheless.

Have you experimented with espresso? Leave some cocktail tips below or on Twitter #coffeecocktail.

Meghan Lodwick is a Master of Global Communications student at La Trobe University. This was originally published at her blog, For the Love of Beans!