a rainbow of latte’s to try

January is that month isn’t it when we all have these high hopes of giving stuff up for the coming year and I don’t know about you but I am not usually very good at making new habits stick, lets just say it takes a while and alot of glue to get there. So in order NOT to set myself up for an epic fail this year I actually started this one back in November just to check that I could pull it off.

There are loads of us out there who are just mad about our coffee, are you one of them ?. Its that morning habit that sets us up for the day, right and most of us would not be without it for anything. Now those of you who know me, know that I looooove coffee, I really do but I was noticing back in the autumn that I was getting jittery after drinking coffee all morning (pretty blooming obvious now I look back!). To be honest I wasn’t just getting jittery, I had migraines and full on heart palpitations to go along side the shakes. I thought it was stress or something (living with teenagers is enough to send your heart rate through the roof on any given day, so how was I to tell the difference ?‍♀️) and I thought, well if it is stress or my adrenals telling me to take it easy the first thing that has to be cut out is anything that’s hyping me up and as much as I just couldn’t bring myself to blame the coffee, who was I kidding, it had to go. Does this ring alarm bells with any of you guys too cos if so then spare a thought for the humble coffee you are enjoying every morning, you may have to switch it out for something less stimulating.

If the truth be told, the first month was tough, I missed it so much that I even found myself smelling my tin of ground coffee every morning, how sad is that but it’s not all doom and gloom I can hand on heart say that now I actually look forward to a turmeric, matcha or chaga latte in the morning – no, really I can !

Anyway, long story short, I felt the only way to do this was to have loads of yummy alternatives to help break my usual morning coffee brewing ritual (we never want to feel deprived or lacking when cutting something out – always find a positive replacement!) so I set about trying just about every latte version I could whip up at home. I tried all colours of the rainbow from beetroot through to gold !

I have not covered the health benefits of these ingredients as we could go on and on here (see Note at the bottom??) but purely on flavour and what hits the spot for a tasty hot drink in place of my usual morning coffee see below some of my favourites. So, if you too fancy cutting back on the liquid gold and going for something a little less stressful on your body this January maybe some of these combinations will tickle your taste buds. Let me know how you get on by posting a comment at the very end ! xo

need a few ideas ?

There are a world of options out there when we are in a cafe but at the end of the day we want to make our own at home, right, so here are my top three which I have most days:-

Matcha Latte – up to 1/2 tsp quality Matcha Green Tea Powder, its worth getting the good stuff so look for premium or ceremonial grade, and bare in mind that it does contain some caffeine so go easy with the amount you have each day if caffeine really is something you want to cut back on right now (I never have more than one of these and have it first thing in the morning). Whisked the matcha powder with 50ml of hot water to make sure there are no lumps, froth up your favourite milk (I love coconut milk) and pour that on top (add honey if you need it sweeter) and don’t be put off my the odd smell of the powder it doesn’t taste like it smells ! (Tip: I sometimes add a tsp of coconut oil or cacao butter before adding in the frothed milk to make it taste more creamy).

Chaga Mushroom Latte – this is surprisingly similar to coffee out of all of the latte’s as it has a smoky/earthy taste and although it doesn’t look very pretty when you make it yourself (unless you have a Barista Certification !) it is quite good for when you really crave a coffee. Start with under half a teaspoon of ground chaga powder (I buy mine here) and slowly add some hot water to blend but be careful when pouring the water into the powder as the powder is so fine it tends to fly about a bit. Whisk or heat up milk (I love Rude Health hazelnut milk for this one) and pour into your premixed base. Don’t take more than a tsp of Chaga Mushroom powder in any one day so bare that in mind before you pound 2 or 3 in one morning !.

Turmeric Latte – I love this one in the afternoon or when I have gotten super cold from being outside as the black pepper really warms you up from the inside out and thats a winner at this time of the year. I have to confess I do make a turmeric latte paste (you can buy it here) which I have ready and waiting to blend with hot milk as that takes away the faff of getting all the spices out, but for those of you who aren’t as nutty about turmeric as I am there are loads of recipes out there to help you on your way, like this one !

N.B A little note on health and safety here…. Please remember when you are introducing adaptagens, strong antioxidants, mushrooms or any other herbs into your diet, do take advice if you have any health issues which you feel may not sit well with these drinks so always check first with your doctor if you have any doubts at all.