Good day all of you lovely people.
I wanted to touch on one of my loves today and that is cooooooofffffffeeeee!
I can not tell you how much I love a good coffee.
I think my love of coffee first started when I was at university and they opened a Costa Coffee. I remember spending hours in there (supposedly studying) talking about boys and trying different flavoured coffees!!
When I first became a mumma coffee was a NECESSITY to get me through the day. It became part of my routine and I was drinking 2-3 a day, cue ingrained in my sub conscious so very hard to break as a habit.
I am not saying coffee is bad for you. There are far too many conflicting studies and it's a complicated area, so I wouldn't dare to draw any conclusions on that. What I do know is that, as much as I love my coffee, it's acidic and drinking too much causes irritation of my stomach and flares up my acid reflux.
Recently I've been experimenting with lots of alternatives because I found on the occasions I tried to cut it out, I missed the experience of coffee, the smell of coffee and having a hot drink to sit down with.
A tumeric latte is something I have really enjoyed. I've tried this various ways including using plain tumeric powder from my cupboard with almond milk or coconut milk and a little maple syrup. This is definitely the cheapest way to do it.
Pret also does a nice "tumeric elixir", which is good if you're out for a coffee but fancy something different. If you're in Aberdeen Bonobo do the nicest Tumeric lattes with oat milk and lots of super tasty vegan food too. I also really enjoyed the Turmelixir blend above from YoGlow, which I ordered online. It contains tumeric, black pepper, cardomon, cinnamon, ginger and saffron.
Price-wise it seemed quite expensive initially at $19.96 (approx £12 plus shipping) for 50g. However, you only need a half teaspoon of the powder per drink, which means it still works out a lot cheaper than buying a Starbucks every day.
Fizz sticks are probably my all time favourite alternative to coffee. They are a bit like a hot sherbet dib dab and come in citrus and pomegranate. They are vegan and gluten free and only 12 calories per drink. They come in a handy little sachet and are super quick to make. All you need to add is hot water. They still contain 55 mg of caffeine (about the same as a cup of tea), plus vitamin B12 and B6 and minerals. They help contribute to normal energy yielding metabolism and a reduction of tiredness and fatigue. These are perfect pre or post workout and I like mine with a squeeze of lemon or lime (hot or cold). In terms of cost, they work out pretty cheap for me at £1.01 per fizz stick, as I am a consultant with the brand. If you'd like more info on these ping me a message in the contact section.
Matcha green tea is another drink which has become very popular recently. It's a stone ground powdered green tea, traditionally used in Japanese tea ceremonies. Like it's pal tumeric, matcha is known for it's antioxidant properties. You can get one of these in Starbucks to try it out, but their Matcha Green Tea Latte does contain some sugar if that's something you're looking to avoid.
Green tea also contains caffeine but in a similar quantity to a regular cup of tea, so a lot less than coffee. I really like this drink with hot almond or coconut milk. You can have it with plain hot water too but I find it's too strong for my stomach. I've made the mistake of drinking this on an empty stomach a few times and it's just too strong. I felt pretty nauseous after. You can buy a 40g sachet of green tea powder for about £10 but similar to the Tumeric blend, you only need half a teaspoon of powder. When you spread that out it's way cheaper than a coffee a day.
The last one I am going to touch on is the newest edition to the non coffee drinks. It is a beetroot latte!! Yes, that's correct.... beeeetrooot in a drink. I saw my sister with one of these on Instagram and off course, I couldn't have it that she'd tried the latest super food drink and I had not! I googled myself daft on how to make these and discovered all that was needed was some beetroot powder and a little sweetener so I got myself some powder and stevia and knocked one up last week mixed with almond milk. Apart from anything, the colour does it for me.... I just loved the deep pink. I do think this may be more of an acquired taste. It's kind of earthy, which I really like but maybe not to everyone's taste. It's also a lot cheaper than the others, at about £5 for a 100g bag of beetroot powder.
My final hot drink I'd like to share is a hot chocolate made with cacao powder and coconut milk, with a little maple syrup or chocolate protein powder for sweetness. This is a dairy free version of hot chocolate and the cacao powder doesn't contain any sweeteners unlike regular hot chocolate powders.
I can't honestly tell you that any of these hits the spot of a really good flat white but they do curb my need for coffee every day and are a nice alternative if you're trying to cut back.
If anyone has tried alternatives I've not mentioned I'd love to hear what they are and let me know if you try any of these too.
Jo x
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