Why must I be eluded by excellent Frappes?

Tonight, I was in the mood for coffee, and being of the thrifty sort, I decided I'd try to make my own frappe.  So, out came the stovetop espresso machine, blender, and milk frother, and I try my hand.  Again.  I have yet, after about four attempts, to come up with a passable frappe.  Cappuccino is easy to make, as is mocha, but the excellence of the chocolate or caramel frappe eludes me.  How hard can it be to perfectly blend ice, milk, and espresso?!  I may now actually have to break down and ask a real barista how they make it, but I hate asking advice from people who do this for a living.  I suppose I'm afraid that they will find out that I'm stealing business by making my own $5 coffee.  Anyway, back to the frappe.  First attempt, FAR too much ice and milk, and it was made with a very thin caramel-flavored coffee syrup.  I believe that this syrup is made to simply give a little flavor to a drink, not truly flavor the whole thing.  A much thicker syrup would probably work better.  Second attempt, I added more coffee and syrup, and it was better, but still needed flavor.  Third attempt turned out much better than the first two, as I used plain chocolate syrup (just like the stuff used for chocolate milk), but the texture was still off.  There was liquid and ice, not an icy liquid.  It was blended well, but there was still a very thin liquid and tiny bits of ice floating in it, and it separated badly.  My last attempt still was far from perfect, as the texture was even farther off, but the flavor was better.  At any rate, whipped cream and a drizzle of chocolate syrup help smooth it nicely.  Perhaps a heavier cream would help, but a poor college student can in no way afford to buy cream as often as I drink coffee, especially when there are always several gallons of milk in our refrigerator that I do not have to buy.  For such a modest price, I believe I can stand a slightly sub-par frappe, but that will not stop me from experimenting further.  I will post again on the coffee, especially if I develop a superior frappe recipe.  If it is pretty, I may even post a picture.  Be blessed, friends.