Coming off my first Whole30, my gateway back into my old habits was coffee. Sugar sneaks into my diet through those delicious, tempting and even ridiculous latte flavors we see everywhere. For instance my husband just had a Cadbury Creme flavored coffee from our local shop for Easter. I was & am not willing to let go of my daily cup of coffee, although I do recommend accessing your emotional ties with your cup of joe first. Truth is that starting off the day with a sugary, caffeinated cup of coffee was setting me up for a huge crash later. I felt awful. I got to the point that before I had even finished a large hazelnut latte from Starbucks I already had a headache, stomach and sometimes even nausea. Even if you do not share these symptoms with me, there are plenty of reasons to get the sugar outta your coffee! Especially at home. I found that preparing my coffee in other delicious ways without the sugar made me savor it even more & knowing that I wouldn’t crash later is a huge gain!
- Add spices
The best non-sugar way to upscale your coffee is to add a spice to it, hot, iced or blended. My favorites are cinnamon, apple pie spice & pumpkin pie spice. Whatever you can think of, is worth a shot. In this case, spices are the spice of life.
- Infuse with tea
Throw a bag of chai tea in your coffee (hot or iced) to make a delicious tea infused flavorful cup of coffee. Other teas I enjoy are vanilla and apple spice tea, there is a ton of room to get creative here. Making a dirty chai latte or golden milk (turmeric) lattes are other tea infused ideas
- Foam your milk
I started foaming my non dairy milks before adding them to my coffee and it’s a game changer. I feel like a barista making my cup of joe in my own kitchen. Use a hand frother while you heat up your milk on the stove. I’ve found that oat milk froths the best (there is even a specific “barista style” oat milk made for this). Foamed milk with added spices is heavenly.
- Experiment with extracts
Extracts are a delightful additvive your coffee, they change the whole flavor without any sugar. Vanilla is of course my go to, but besides that I have been branching out to coconut, banana and cocoa extracts as well. You can even make your own! A little goes a long way with extracts, don’t add too much or it may taste odd being that extracts are typically 40% alcohol.
- Try different milk options
There are SO MANY milk options today, and if you can tolerate dairy, even better
(and wtf, lucky you). My favorite milks to add to coffee are oat, coconut, coconut cream (this one comes canned & is super thick and creamy) almond & coconut blend- can also be vanilla flavored & without sugar but check your labels! If you get bored, switch up your milk.
- DON’T LOOK BACK
Once you’ve gotten the sugar outta your coffee, don’t look back. It can be so tempting to try the new flavors they have up at the coffee shop, or to buy the syrup to follow the at home starbucks copycat recipe you saw on pinterest, just don’t. Remember you’ve already done the work to enjoy your elegant, simple and sophisticated cup of coffee now. It is delicious and lovely all on its own, now just revel in the fact that you don’t need all the addictive, sugar-riddled additives in it. I stay motivated to keep the coffee simple & sugar free by remembering that I love coffee (not all the junkie add-ins) and the sugar will create a huge crash & headache later!