Ah Coffee! What’s better than a good cup of coffee to start off the day right? While often associated with breakfast, it also evokes work and overtime for some people who like to drink it for a little energy boost. Nevertheless, it’s a beverage that remains extremely popular, and baristas continuously come up with creative ideas to reinvent it. Of course, the classic options are always going to be in style, but why not trade your cup of joe for a crazy alternative every once in a while? Check out these coffee trends! Coffee is the most popular beverage in Canada. According to a Coffee Association of Canada poll, 71% of Canadians drank coffee yesterday, compared to 67% who drank water and 48% who chose tea. Dirty Chai You’re crazy about chai tea but absolutely need your morning coffee? Combine both by adding spices such as star anise, cardamom, and cinnamon to your coffee for that enticing Indian touch. You could also make a dirty chai, which is a chai latte with a double shot of espresso. Another option: mix coffee with chai tea concentrate. However, be careful with shop-bought mixes since they often contain large quantities of added sugar. Instead, make your own concentrate following the instructions below. Ingredients: 1.5 L (6 cups) of cold water 1 piece of ginger (approximately 2.5 cm / 1 inch), coarsely chopped 5 cinnamon sticks 2 star anises 10 ml (2 teaspoons) of ground nutmeg 12 cardamom seeds (remove the pod and keep the seeds only) 10 cloves 8 allspice seeds 10 black tea bags (about 40 g of loose black tea) 15 ml (1 tablespoon) of honey Instructions: Put the water, ginger, cinnamon, star anise, nutmeg, cardamom, cloves, and allspice in the slow cooker. Heat for 8 hours (or overnight) on low or 4 hours on high. Add the tea. Let infuse for 15 to 20 minutes depending on desired taste. Filter the preparation. Add the honey and mix well. Note: this mix can be kept one week in the refrigerator. Coconut (or Other Plant-Based Beverage) Latte To try: replace cow’s milk with a plant-based beverage such as fortified coconut milk in your lattes (coffees and teas). This plant-based milk has similar nutritional values to almond milk, but, just like the latter, contains few proteins. Fortified coconut milk provides 60 calories for a 250 ml (1 cup) portion while your regular 2% M.F. milk provides 130 calories for the same portion. Each has its own advantages! For those who love cappuccinos and lattes, there are also plant-based beverages created by baristas that foam nicely to make latte art. The list of ingredients is however much longer. It includes xanthan (which has thickening and gelling properties), sodium (between 125 and 180 mg), added sugars, and carrageenan (for stabilization). You can find coconut, rice, soy, almond, and even macadamia nuts (noteworthy: there is yam flour in the milkadamia product, which is a natural thickening agent!) milks. Some people are quick to metabolize caffeine (and can therefore drink a lot of it without ever feeling its unpleasant effects, such as palpitations), while others are very sensitive to it. The latter should limit their consumption to 1 cup a day to promote cardiovascular health. Latte in An Avocado, The New Instagram Trend Also called avolattes, these lattes poured into avocado shells are not so much a trend but rather a kind of self-mockery of a generation obsessed with new trends—and avocados. In fact, this idea came to be in a Melbourne café as a response to millionaire Tim Gurner’s statement about how young people should stop buying speciality coffees and avocado toasts—which are expensive—and instead save up to buy a first house. A Few More Funky Coffees to Try Coffee infused with maple water Perfect for cold brew iced coffees and hot coffees, maple water can be added for a sweet touch that’s not overwhelming. Lavender latte You can get lavender syrup in some specialty stores, but it is in fact simple syrup infused with lavender, so you can easily make it at home as well. For lattes, we suggest adding 1 or 2 tablespoons of syrup. Floral syrups have been quite popular since 2018. You could get a similar result with hibiscus or elderflower. Bulletproof coffee Many keto diet followers have adopted the bulletproof coffee. It is in fact a coffee with butter. For one cup of coffee, you can add up to one tablespoon of butter. However, these two ingredients do not mix well, so you must use a blender to create emulsion. A diet, the “Bulletproof diet”, even sells its own coffee—which apparently doesn’t contain mycotoxins or mushrooms—to which you simply have to add butter and a few drops of medium chain triglyceride-rich oil. According to the creator of this diet, you should start your day off with a bulletproof coffee to cure many health problems and lose weight. Sounds way too good to be true… Activated charcoal latte According to Internet trends, the activated charcoal latte should soon have its heyday. This coffee can become greyish or even black. Some people claim it’s a great way to cure your hangover or to “detoxify”. Once again, the whole concept of eating or drinking something to detox is false. Your body has all the necessary organs to detoxify itself. Activated charcoal is used by doctors for patients suffering from an overdose or a poisoning linked to undesirable substances found in the stomach since it decreases their absorption by the body. It is therefore advised not to consume activated charcoal for any other purposes. In small amounts, it can be used to create a “wow” effect in theme parties, but it should certainly not be used in everyday life.
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