Part One-Plant Based Milks Enhance Better Buzzes-Coffee Substitutes, Cold Brew Coffee, Organic + Compostable Single Serve Pods
Even growing up in a junk free - real ingredient-freshly prepared foods' home...the kitchen condiments were decidedly the basic- basics...one kind of salt, 2 kinds of catsup (Del Montes or Heinz)-and the Grey Poupon = as glammy as it got.
via GIPHY
source: reddit.com
NOW-even a typical five year old in the USA.knows their honey mustard from their Dijon...and what gets stocked in the cupboards is often internationally inspired with sophisticated flavors=accents for the new New American cuisine.
AND (yay) companies take sourcing their product components-sustainably.
Some highlights: from the recent Fancy Foods Show, Healthy Products Showcase, Editor Showcase
PLANT BASED Beverages AreThe New Milk
Pacific Organic products-including pictured-Coconut Non-Dairy Beverage-we saw all kinds of USDA Organic coconut, hemp rice, 7 grain and super popular almond milks/beverages-from this company...even we switched up our daily coffee dosser...
MILKADAMIA-is made from macadamia nuts from free-range trees™ from Australia-Family owned Jundilli farm-dairy, soy, non-GMO, gluten and lactose free-we tried the unsweetened in coffee-it was as delicious as using our reg. almond version. The sweetened version contains cane sugar-both contain 50% more calcium than dirty milk-also a source of Vi. B12 = D. "MOO IS MOOT"
COFFEE ALTERNATIVES GET GOING
Energy without the caffeine and a whole lotta other health claims-like embedded with 60 vitamins/minerals/sterols/phytochemicals, no insomnia, improves digestion+metabolism, etc-has been on big trend...with various matcha -green teas, and now with selections imo are coffee-like. Macaccino-roasted MACA blend -no crash or jitters, is available in 3 flavors=USDA ORGANIC vegan, gluten-free and non-GMO. Low in calories (1 tbsp 35 calories) can make it 1tbsp powder-9oz of hot water or blend the roasted Maca Blend Powder in a smoothie- too...ECO BONUS POINTS-Macaccino uses mere 32oz of water per cup to produce versus coffee's 8.5 gallon water per cup need. A supporter of the Kuychi Foundation aids Peruvian children in need and the Rainforest Trust.
CRIO BRU...made like traditional coffee...is 100% ground cacao beans- and our cuppa sample- def subtly revived our 3:30 PM slump-without the usual typical coffee swig rush...and bonus -less the crash too. Pretty nifty-from a Utah based company. FYI-99% caffeine free-kinda tastes like hot cocoa-coffee combo available in various styles of roast...Crio Bru's beans are gluten free, and considered a 'superfood' high in anti-oxidants and theobromine for a focused Honest Energy™ boost.
HANDY-CRIO BRU comes in K Cups
Revive Kombucha-a new kind of BAR-great way to serve up 8 different brew flavors of craft teas-with Kombucha-taste decent. Certified organic, Fair Trade and non-GMO ingredients in the mix delivers in glass bottles-which can be exchanged or recycled.
COLD BREW BUZZES
(yes -we relate to this ad-completely...)
Flavorful coffee, robust true taste- less the bitterness...Cold Brew coffee-takes longer to make...hence the $ tag vs typical cuppa java.
Coffee from this part of the planet (bold) is a fav-so too Kopi Trading Co Indonesian Cold Brew-is full bodied smooth drink. We tried the delicious regular flavor. Other flavors-pictured, come mixed with plant based beverages-and sweetener. Made with micro-roasted beans- steeped over 18 hours-powerful, nuanced drink. . FYI Cold Brew was born in Asia-introduced in Japan by Ditch traders selling Indonesian coffee. Delivers in Cold Brew concentrate too.
Easily one of the most popular stops at the Fancy Food Show....CALIFIA Farms-has massive national distribution now for its plant based drinks, coffee creamer and VERY tasty cold brew drinks-of which there are several. Our fav is the rich bold taste of the Black and White-with almond milk/coconut cream but no sweeter (45 calories per serving) -the flavored ones-which might be too sweet for some-none the less have a huge fan base-made with almond milk and cane sugar-with typically waaay less calories than the usual coffee bar fare. Non-GMO, vegan, gluten free and delivered in non-BPA bottles.
The Big Easy has a great rep for serving up reviving rich coffee with chicory hints (like the French) -after all nighters -listening to great music LOL. Grady's Cold Brew takes 20 hours to make and then a two step filtration process-by hand-has a full body flavor with chicory+spices. Pictured-concentrate available in NYC-make it with water or like us-a shot glass sip it straight up for a BOLD TASTE-plus the handy Grady's COLD BREW BEAN BAGS-sorta work like tea bags-that you soak overnight in water...for homemade beverage. No special equipment required. NEAT-and available all over. BONUS POINTS now made in the BRONX.
CHAMELEON COLD BREWs are USDA ORGANIC!!!! Non-Gmo organic beans, Fair Trade wages+benefits for farmers, 50% of the water used in production is converted into renewable natural gas, and 90% of coffee fruit waste turned into fertilizer-while coffee pulp gets composted-Chameleon's Coffee Obsession extends into a winning MO of ethical sourcing standards. Plus-an inventive roasting method-aka- air roasted-via an Civix air-roasting machine (less bitterness)-only small batches at a time...and then meticulously brewed- made with highly mineralized water from Texas Hill Country-using 20% coffee to water ratio, steeped for 16 hours-available in 16 oz concentrate, 10 oz ready to drink, or pictured-32 oz Coffee Concentrate-8 servings per bottle-5 flavors .
COMPOSTABLE K CUPS delivering real flavor
Finally-true bold tasty coffee -available in compostable soft pods -works in most single serve machines as well as those plastic K cups- BUT filling up landfills.
OneCoffee USDA Organic single serve pods-are packaged correctly delivering the right amount for true coffee taste. Different blends (medium or dark roasts) including strong French Roast and realistic full flavor Dark Roast DECAF (yay) are available. Part of the reason soft pods work better-is that the hot water surrounds the coffee beans for more of a French Press 'experience' vs exiting through a tiny hole as the bottom of a plastic cup. Delicious-we made this our first stop of the day at the Fancy Food Show.
100% Compostable pods...COPPER MOON Single Serve, Fair Trade Organic - their PurPod 100 is made from bio-based materials, FYI-company has a lot of coffee products.
Ethical Bean Coffee delivers the taste as well as single serve delivered in 100% compostable pods-as one would expect, given the name-USDA Organic and Fair Trade Certified sourced coffee beans...fyi every bag of coffee from their roaster contains a unique QR code so one can track the journey of their purchase-transparency we'd like to see on every thing we eat and every item of clothing/footwear we buy. Available on AMAZON
bonus-member of The Coffee Trust LaROYA Recovery Project
WHAT ELSE:
when we lived SE Asia-pacific islands-coffee with butter/coconut oil-staple morning drink that has got a fad like cult status here (certain celeb gush on this). Coffee Blocks are insta that,-just add hot water. Made from 5 ingredients-clarified butter from grass fed cows, organic virgin coconut oil, organic egg yolk, organic vanilla and mycotoxin free coffee. The good for your fats in the brew stay with you-so it's good for people that sip breakfast. IMO. Available online
Love this...COLD BREW HIGH BREW COFFEE-with 2x the caffeine. made from 100% fair Trade Arabica Beans-gluten free.....8grams of sugar or less (various flavors)...and 130-150mg of natural caffeine. The Dairy reed Black+Bold has 20 calories and less than 1 gram of sugar-made with triple filtered water and a tad of cane sugar-w had this and mixed in some almond milk-delicious cold drink that kept us humming for hours.