Monday 4 February 2013


During the insanely cold winter days when you get brain freeze waiting for your bus, you might be inclined to buy a hot beverage to warm you up. Here are a few recipes to make your own yummy hot drinks. Making your own can save you some money, save a cup, help you avoid the nasty things that are often found in hot drinks (like artificial flavour, artificial colour, processed sugar etc.), plus it gives you the freedom to tailor it to your liking (dairy-free, soy-free, sugar-free etc.)
 
Mint Hot Chocolate
2 Cups Milk (regular, almond, soy, or coconut for a real treat)
2-3 tsp Pure Cocoa powder (Cocoa Camino is Canadian and fair-trade!)
Dash of salt
A few drops of peppermint extract
Sweeten to taste with agave nectar, raw cane sugar, honey or maple syrup
Heat the milk in a saucepan or in the microwave. Mix cocoa powder and salt in a mug. Pour milk slowly into mug, mixing as you go. Sweeten and add peppermint.
 
 Spiced Chai Steamer
2 Cups Milk (regular, almond, soy etc)
1 Chai Teabag
1/8 tsp vanilla extract
Sweeten to taste with agave nectar, raw cane sugar, honey or maple syrup
Heat the milk in a saucepan or in the microwave. Pour hot milk over tea bag, and steep for about 5 minutes. Sweeten and add vanilla extract. Add a pinch of cayenne for a kick!
 
 Hot Apple Cider
2 Cups Apple Juice (not from concentrate, or ½ C juice and ½ C water)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp ground ginger
Heat the juice in saucepan or in microwave. Mix the spices in a mug. Pour hot juice over spices.
 
Lemon Ginger Drink
2 Cups Water
3-5 Thin slices of fresh ginger (more if you like it really strong)
Juice of ½ a lemon (lime works too)
Sweeten to taste with agave nectar, raw cane sugar, honey or maple syrup
Boil the water, and pour it over the ginger slices. Let it brew for about 5-10 minutes (the longer the stronger). Add lemon juice and sweetener.
 
These are just a few ideas. Experiment with different spices, teas, and sweeteners! Try to go easy on the sweeteners though.
 
 
 


No comments:

Post a Comment