I love coffee shops, whether they’re locally owned or corporate. I love chai, matcha, iced drinks, hot drinks, you name it. I’m not much for holidays, but I do follow the calendar according to what time of year it is for drinks.

Right now, it’s pumpkin spice season, which is probably my favorite coffee season other than winter, when peppermint and chestnut take over.

I love tea too, green, black, boba, as well as soda. I’m a fan of dirty sodas, and I enjoy an alcoholic drink here and there, although with my body composition and fitness goals, I try to limit how much alcohol I consume. Not to mention, it gets expensive. Gear already costs enough. Gym memberships and eating healthy do too, so I have to choose my battles.

That’s also part of why I’ve become interested in mocktails.

I have a habit, if you haven’t been able to tell, of picking up a hobby and going all in. Sometimes I eventually lose interest, and other times it becomes one of the many things permanently rotating through my repertoire.

The guitar is a good example. I’ve always wanted to get good at it, and I’ve gone through seasons of learning chords and practicing before slowly stopping. Now relearning feels like a combination of dedication and starting from scratch.

Other things have stuck with me more consistently, even after long breaks, writing, rock climbing, hiking.

Making drinks might be joining that rotation.

Part of the decision to start making more of my own drinks came from trying to be more fiscally responsible. I bought a collection of Torani syrups, chai powder, matcha powder and boba pearls. I have coffee and espresso at home, along with a coffee and espresso machine, and I usually stock some combination of soy, almond, oat or regular milk. I’ll occasionally keep mushroom coffee around too.

Depending on my mood, I might make something relatively healthy or something considerably more calorically dense.

Balance.

I’ve also been trying to cut back on energy drinks, especially Red Bull. On my last road trip out West, I stopped at a small coffee shop in Winnemucca and tried an orange Lotus energy drink. I liked it enough that I’ve since bought Lotus packets here and there to make at home.

The cane sugar version is already so sweet and flavorful that I usually don’t mix anything else into it, although you certainly can.

Keeping plenty of ice around has also become surprisingly important. You need it for iced drinks, cold foam and everything in between. I keep a handheld frother and a long cocktail spoon around too. They’re useful for coffee, but I also use them when mixing electrolytes into drinks or making smoothies with protein and vegetables.

For dirty sodas, I’ll keep soda on hand and experiment with flavored syrups and a little milk instead of half-and-half.

Then there’s my growing collection of club soda, tonic water, seltzer and sparkling water. Mix one with juice, fruit or syrup, and suddenly you have an easy homemade mocktail.

Of course, it’s fun to look up recipes for coffee-shop favorites and recreate them at home, but I think part of the appeal is simply learning how to make things yourself.

There’s something fun about becoming a part-time, unpaid barista for yourself and your husband. I’m fortunate he loves to cook and make drinks as well because I can rely on him to make me a smoothie, or caffeinated drink as well.

And apparently for everyone else too, because once I learn a trick, I start sharing it. I even put my mom onto using a handheld frother for her morning coffee.

Maybe that’s part of the hobby too.

Learning how to make something you love—and then showing someone else how to make theirs a little better.